Messier Marathon - March 8-9, 2024
Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society and the Community Observatory will be trying to image objects from Charles Messier’s list of 110 deep space objects that will be visible on March 9th and 10th.
When: The observations will begin soon after sunset on March 9th and end when it is too light to observe anything the next morning.
Where: You may bring your equipment to the observatory, or you may join us at the observatory and mingle with us as we acquire targets. We will be uploading our images or observations to a Notion Database. we will allow you to use the access road to drop off your telescope in an area where we will have electricity and Wi-Fi. We will have hot drinks and snacks available as well. We will have portable heaters and a semi-warm room.
What: Our goal is collect images or observations of as many of the items on the list as possible. Theoretically, 109 of the 110 should be possible from Placerville on that date. We will share a list of when each object should be best observed, and we will be using the livestream to coordinate our efforts. Our goal is quantity rather than quality here, so we won’t necessarily be spending much time on each object. We won’t need to process the images. If you can live-stack your images, you will want to only do that for a short time for each target.
Our database will be hosted by notion.so. Notion will allow multiple images to be uploaded for each Messier target. The contributor for each will be identified. People will have to register for a free Notion account.
NOTE: We will be sending you additional information about how to get on the database and about the Messier objects as we get closer to the event. Be sure to sign-up below.
Links
Here is a link to the Messier Planner that we will be using. Put in our (N 38° 44', W 120° 52') or your coordinates (You may also choose a city from the list) , March 9, 2024 as the date and 8 as the UTC Offset. Press "Submit" and it will give you the objects in the Messier List ordered by when they will be best to see or image. Options allow you to change the order or modify the information in the table.
This is the spreadsheet that has the data, sequence, and timing for this year's marathon. Click here to download it.
Here is a link to the Notion.so database that we will be using for those imaging during the event. I will need to add you to the approved users before you can access it. I'll grant you read/write permission when you register using the form below.
Note: Feel free to play with the database. I will erase all of the content prior to the event so we can start fresh.
Imagers - Your image should have the M number followed by your initials in the file name. For example, a picture taken from the Observatory of M101 could be named "M101 OBS.jpg." A picture taken by James Dillon of M13 could have the name of "M13 JD.png." Any of the popular image formats should be acceptable. Clicking onto the "Image(s)" field will allow you to upload an image by just dragging it into the field. Put your initials in the "Who - Image" field so that you get credit.
Useful Links
MESSIER MARATHON: WHAT IS IT AND HOW DO I PLAN
The Ultimate Guide to Conquering the Messier Marathon
How do I sign up?
Fill in the form below to register for this free event. Please use the message box to tell us briefly about your equipment and where you want to observe from.