Messier Marathon 1999

This year 1999, March New Moon will occur on March 17.8, giving the best

opportunity for a Messier Marathon weekend on March 20 and a secondary

chance on March 13, 1999. As the second-best chance occurs first, one may

be well adviced to take this one also, or of course any date during the

week if possible. At least near the second (better) date, there will be a

good chance to see all 110 Messier objects

in one night for observers between 20 and 40 degrees Northern latitude.

This year, there will be a considerably good chance to combine the Messier

marathon with an all-planet marathon, i.e. you can observe all

solar-system planets during this night. While no spectacularly bright

comet and – up to now – no considerable supernova was detected to be

present at this time as in former years, four cometsbrighter than

magnitude 13 are visible, accordint to the JPL

List of Currently Visible Comets:


Comet    RA (2000.0) Dec  RA (2000.0) Dec  mag

    March 13, 1999  March 20, 1999



C/1998 M5 (LINEAR)  20:04      +87:29.0 07:39      +87:19.8  9.6

C/1998 P1 (Williams)  07 48.87   +41 59.3 07 38.37   +42 03.8 12.6

C/1998 U5 (LINEAR)  21 02.68   +14 00.8 21 01.01   +14 14.1  12.2

P/1998 U3 (Jager)  06 39.25   +22 13.9 06 44.97   +21 18.7 10.8

Also,

meteors from various showers may occur, and depending on your

location, you may be able to observe the

International Space Station, ISS

or the

Russian Space Station Mir.

Messier Marathon Events 1999

The following Messier Marathon Events have been announced:

The 1999 All Arizona Messier Marathon will
be held Saturday, March 13, 1999, again at Ray Farnsworth’s site south

of Arizona City, AZ (see map).
There will be a Messier Marathon at Hudson Lake Michigan on Mar 13-14
sponsored by the University Lowbrow Astronomer’s Club. The actual event

will be at the Lake Hudson State Park just outside of Hudson Michigan.

That park is an official state-sponsored dark site.
The Astronomy Connection in
the San Francisco bay area will hold a Messier Marathon, in the new

California state park, Pacheco State Park, which

has the darkest skies available in that area. This event will take place

March 19-20, 1999.
The Local Group of Deep Sky Observers will sponsor a Messier
Marathon, the Highlands Messier Party ’99, during March 18-21.

Actual Marathon date will be March 19, and will be tried again on

March 20, should the weather go sour. It will be held at 9 Mile

Campground, 17 miles west of Okeechobee, Florida. For more

information, contact

Susan S. Carroll

([email protected])
The 1999 East Coast Star Party’s Messier
Marathon, organized by Kent Blackwell, will take place in

Coinjock, NC (one hour south of Norfolk, VA) on March 12-13, 1999

(rain date: March 19-20).
The Northern Virginia Astronomy Club will hold a
Messier Marathon on

March 20-21, 1999 at C.M. Crockett Park.

Late Additions!

The San Diego Astronomy Association is holding a Messier Marathon at
it’s Tierra del Sol observing site. This year the Marathon is hosted at

the Tierra del Sol site by Craig Ewing (e-mail Craig,

[email protected]

or call at 619-581-2582 for details, or come to TDS).
The Puerto Rico Astronomy Society held their first Marathon
at Hacienda La Esperanza Manati, Puerto Rico on March 20th 1999

(communicated by Rafael Castro

Sociedad de Astronomia de Puerto Rico)
There will be a Messier Marathon at Hudson Lake Michigan on
March 13-14, 1999 sponsored by the University Lowbrow Astronomer’s Club.

The actual event will be at the Lake Hudson State Park just outside of

Hudson Michigan. That park is an official state-sponsored dark site.