Messier Marathon Observer’s Results

Here we plan to list all reported Messier Marathon Observer’s Results.

Please notify me if you’d like to have

your results/score/report/link to be added !

Historical Messier Marathon Results (before 1990)
1992 Results
1993 Results
1994 Results
1995 Results
1996 Results
1997 Results
1998 Results
1999 Results
2000 Messier Marathon
Messier Marathon Eternal Hall of Fame:
All reported results with full success of 110 observed Messier objects

Historical Messier Marathon Results

(widely based on Don Machholz‘s report in his

Messier Marathon Observer’s Guide, and private communications with

Tom Hoffelder and AJ Crayon)

In 1976, Tom Hoffelder and Tom Reiland of Pittsburgh, PA,

noticed that it would be possible to observe most, if not all Messier

objects in one night around the first day of spring (March 21) each year.

They decided to try it in 1977. That year, both of them did (though Tom

Hoffelder had moved to Akron, OH), and also Ed Flynn of Pittsburgh

did a marathon (which was probably the first ever). Tom Hoffelder notified

Walter Scott Houston of Sky & Telescope who published the

story in March 1979 (when Tom had already moved again to Florida).

Don Machholz states to have realized the possibility even in the late 1960s,

but did not begin further investigation until 1978.

Eventually, Gerry Rattley was the first marathoner to log all 110

Messier objects in the night of March 23/24, 1985 from Dugas, Arizona.

Ed Flynn of Pittsburgh logged 98 Messier objects on March 24-25,
1977
Tom Hoffelder logged 101 on March 25-26, 1977 from Akron, OH
with a 10-inch f/5.6
Tom Reiland of Pittsburgh, PA logged 103 on April 11-12, 1977
(6″ f/6)
Don Machholz logged 107 (all but M74, M110, and M30) on the
weekend of March 23-25, 1979, in San Jose, CA (in a SJAA event)
Tom Reiland logged 107 (all but M74, M77, and M30) “a few nights
later”
Don Machholz and Gerry Rattley logged 108 (all but M74 and
M33) on March 30/31, 1979.
Don Machholz logged 109 Messier objects (all but M30) on March
12/13, 1980.
Tom Reiland and Ken Wilson of Pittsburgh logged 109 objects
(all but M30) on March 15/16, 1980.
Don Machholz and Ken Wilson of the SJAA logged 109 (all but
M30) on March 15/16, 1980.
The Saguaro Astronomy Club (SAC) held their
first Messier Marathon on April 4-5, 1981 in

New River, Arizona. This was the first greater Messier Marathon event

recorded. Paul Maxson observed 108 (missing M74 and M77), Greg

Askins, Wally Brown, Bob Buckner and George Kohl

107 each (missing also M33), and Ron Caciola found 103.

In addition, the SAC held their first Messier Plus

Marathon (75 Ms, 34 NGCs, and

Brocchi’s Cluster, Collinder 399) on September 26, 1981 at New River,

Arizona (we have more info on

Messier Plus Marathon).
The Saguaro Astronomy Club (SAC)‘s second
Messier Marathon was held on March 27/28 at Dugas, Arizona, but

clouded out at the end – Wally Brown bagged 103. SAC held their

second Messier Plus Marathon on

September 18, 1982.
The 1983 Saguaro Astronomy Club (SAC)
Messier Marathon was held on March 12/13 at Dugas, Arizona. Four

observers, namely Wally Brown, Ron Caciola, Ron

Hatcher, and Gerry Rattley got 109, and four more got over

100: Grant Klassen (108), Jim Glass (107), Tom

McGrath (106) and Roland Scharer (102).
David Levy logged 109 Messier objects (all but M30) on
March 15/16, 1983, as documented in his book,

The Sky: A User’s Guide (p. 222-225) with his 40-cm scope.
(drums !) Gerry Rattley logged all 110 Messier objects for the
first time from Dugas, AZ, on March 23/24, 1985, with his 10-inch f/5.7

Newton, during the 1985 Saguaro Astronomy

Club Messier Marathon. Congratulations ! On this event, three

more observers got over 100: Dan Ward (109), Paul Lind

(108) and Shane Fortune.
Tom Hoffelder and his wife, Lynn Hoffelder, logged 106
objects on March 8-9, 1986 with a 6″ f/10 refractor from Palm Beach, FL

(this night, he also observed comet Halley with a 5 deg tail !)
Tom Hoffelder tried it two times in 1988, from Oklahoma City with
an 8″ f/6 telescope, and logged 104 objects on March 12-13, and 109 (all

but M30 which he didn’t try) on March 18-19, 1988
Tom Hoffelder logged 104 objects from Oklahoma City on
March 31/April 1, 1989, with his 8″ f/6

1992 Messier Marathon Results

A group of German astronomers from the Volkssternwarte Hagen, led by
Dirk Panczyk, undertook a Messier hunt on February 28-29, 1992 from

a location in Sauerland, and bagged 78 Messier objects, losing especially

many of the southern objects around Sagittarius, due to hazy horizon

conditions (a report of this marathon was published in the German

Sterne und Weltraum of January 1993).

1993 Messier Marathon Results

The 1993 All-Arizona Messier Marathon took
place on March 20, 1993, under less favorable weather conditions. Paul Lind,

in the first place, managed 94 objects with his 8-inch f/4.5 Newton, seven

observers caught 50+.
In March 1993, a Messier Marathon was held at the

Centro de Observacao Astronomica no Algarve (COAA),

Poio, 8500 Portimao, Portugal, led by British amateur Paul Money,

logging a total of 105.
Amateurs from Nuremberg, Germany hold a Messier Marathon on March 19-20, 1993
at their Wetterberg observing station and obtained the following results:

Ronald Stoyan (120mm f/8.5 Refractor): 103,

Thomas Jaeger (317mm f/5 Newton/Dobson): 101,

Klaus Veit (200mm f/6 Newton/Dobson; 2 hours late): 98.

1994 Messier Marathon Results

The 1994 All-Arizona Messier Marathon was
hold late for Marathon season: April 9, 1994. Weather conditions were good,

and four observers bagged 107 objects, a total of ten 100+.
In March 1994, led by Paul Money, a Messier Marathon was hold at the
COAA, Algarve, Portugal;

a total of 99 objects was logged.

1995 Messier Marathon Results

The 1995 All-Arizona Messier Marathon
was held lately, in the night of April 1-2, at Arizona City, AZ. Weather was

severely clear, except for one early evening hour. 58 scopes attended, and 26

forms turned in, 30 observers participating (52% participation). There was a

new record of 22 observers with 100+ ! 3 observers scored best, each of them

with 107 hits: Adam Block with Stephanie Garko, and

Paul Lind. They all missed the early evening objects M77, M74, and M33.

On this event, M77 was only seen by Stephen Alden and Janna Scott

(who logged 106), while M74 and M33 were missed by all observers.

Congratulations for these good results !
Peter Nicholl hunted down about 60 objects on his first attempt, which
ended at 2 am, however, as

reported in his March 1997 observing report
In March 1995, amateurs led by Paul Money held a Marathon at the
COAA, Algarve, Portugal, and

logged the complete set of 109 objects they had looked for (their list did not

include controverse M102).

1996 Messier Marathon Results

..with Great Comet of 1996, Hyakutake..

Tony Cecce logged 101 objects on March 15-16 with a 8″ F7 Coulter
dobsonian (one of the last of these instuments). He posted his report to the

ASTRO mailing list, so it is here.
Wesley Stone scored 103 (all but M74, 30, 55, 70, 72, 73, 75); look
at his

1996 Messier Marathon Results
Shawn Clark hunted down 108
Messier objects (all but M74 and M30) on March 19-20, 1996 in his first

Messier Marathon; congratulations for this high first-time talley !

Read his observing report !
Phil Harrington has run his second best marathon this year. He picked
off 107 of them (missing M30, M55, and M73) using his 18-inch reflector from

a dark-sky site on eastern Long Island.
Carl Lancaster of Greenwich, CT, used his 10-inch to find 100 of them
from the same site on eastern Long Island.
The 1996 All-Arizona Messier Marathon was
hold on March 16-17, involving about 65 telescopes all crewed with observers

in an excellent location 35 miles north of Kitt Peak (but 100 miles to

drive), about half-way between Phoenix and Tucson. 30 observers published

their results, including David Fredericksen of the SAC who hunted

them all down with his 12.5-inch Dobsonian, 4 observers who logged 109 (all

missing M30), and another 13 who logged at least 106, and two more in the

“100 +” (thus a total of 20 observers). Congratulations!
Dawn Jenkins was less
lucky with the weather this time, but here is her

Messier Marathon Report of March 15-16, 1996, when she, together with

friends, logged 22 Messier objects + one NGC globular, plus observed comet

Hyakutake
Jim Hendrickson
completed his most successful marathon to date on March 16-17, 1996.

He tagged 76 objects with a 70mm Pronto (!). He pretty much skipped the

entire Virgo cluster, and missed a few of the globulars in Sagittarius when

dawn started.
Musante of the University of Massachusetts bagged 98 Messier
objects on March 16/17, 1996, from his local group’s dark sky site in the

Berkshire’s of western Massachusetts (i.e., Arunah Hill). He missed the first

six objects (his scope was in a bad place and couldn’t get them through the

trees), and he didn’t get the last six (partially for the same reason).

His observing companion, John Davis got 104 by using binoculars to get

the first six. This was his second marathon; his first, in 1995, suffered

from clouds after about 1:00 AM.
The
Northern Virginia Astronomy Club hold a Messier marathon, and

the members achieved the following results (observing site given in

parentheses):

Bruce Miller (Crockett): 95, Craig Tupper (Savage): 89,

Rich Kaiser (Savage): 88, Jon Stewart-Taylor (Parsells): 39.

Read their Messier Marathon page.
Tom Hoffelder logged 104 objects on March 16-17, 1996, with his
8″ f/6 from San Jose, CA. He also observed 4 comets: two Hyakutake’s,

Szczepanski, and Hale-Bopp.
Peter Nicholl logged 93 Messier objects on March 23-24, 1996, as
reported in his March 1997 observing report
Out of the run, but notable to see what can be done at any date, not
only at Marathon time in March: At the Winter Star party this year,

Scott Smith

1997 Messier Marathon Results

..with Great Comet of 1997, Hale-Bopp, and Mars near its best..

The Astronomy Club (TAC)
members held their 1997 TAC Messier Marathon on March 8-9, 1997, at Henry

Coe park in Morgan Hill, California in rare clear weather, which turned

cloudy and windy as sunset approached. Bill Arnett has collected the

reports of the members

of his informal

Ptolemy Supper Club.
- Attendent Akkana Peck
  hunted down 102 Messier objects, Centaurus A
  
  (which was christened the Hamburger Galaxy on this event), obtained several
  
  photos and observed brilliant comet Hale-Bopp.
  
  Read her observing report !
- Mark Taylor hunted
  97 Messier objects, and saw an additional 12 using his LX200 computer
  
  which are not counted as Marathon score (so he saw the achievable
  
  maximum of 109).
- Rich Neuschaefer scored
  105 objects with his A-P 130mm f/8 EDT refractor, missing M74, M72, M73
  
  and M30, and forgot M2. He also observed comet Hale-Bopp.
- Bill Arnett scored zero as he
  observed many Messier objects using his LX200 to its fullest; at least,
  
  he had his fun.
Together with his friend Dean,
Darryl Stanford hold their first Messier Marathon in Santa Rosa.

As Darryl states in his report, he logged 50

while Dean scored 97 Messier objects. They have also observed comet

Hale-Bopp, Mars, and several NGC objects.
Jay R. Freeman‘s Messier Observing report
of March 7 and 8, 1997
Mark Wagner viewed from Henry Coe State Park south of San Jose,
California on the night of March 8. Using a 14.5″ f/5.6 dob and a 19mm

Panoptic, Telrad finder, he viewed 104 Messiers.
The 1997 All Arizona Messier Marathon was held
on March 8-9, 1997, at a dark place near Arizona City.

This was really a good night: 9 observers hunted down the possible

maximum of that night, 109 objects (as M30 was impossible):

The Alber‘s, Carl Anderson, Steve Bell,

Paul Dickson, Flynn Haase, Bill Peters,

Bernie Sanden, Bruce Walsh, and Charles Whiting.

Five more observers achieved the 100+.

Comet Hale-Bopp gave an extra show as it rised at 3 am.
Messier Marathon inventor Tom Hoffelder finally managed to hold a
20th anniversary marathon in the night of

April 6-7, 1997, and logged 101 Messier objects, by chance the same number

as in his first marathon 20 years ago.
The
Northern Virginia Astronomy Club hold their second Messier

marathon this year, and the members achieved the following results

(observing site was Crockett, unless otherwise noted):

Bruce Miller and Craig Tupper: 105 each, Rich Kaiser: 104,

Mike Walker: 102, Jon Stewart-Taylor (Rocky Mount NC): 20.

Read their Messier Marathon page.
Members of the German “Volkssternwarte Hagen” have held a Messier
Marathon (their 6th since 1992) in Sauerland on March 7-8, 1997.

As the location is not as favorable as others at this about 51 degrees

Northern latitude, the “magical” mark of 100 was again not achieved,

but their results are as follows:

Frank Döpper (280 mm SC): 96, Dirk Panczyk (333 mm Newton): 88,

Johannes Hernsdorf (114 mm Newton): 76.

1998 Messier Marathon Results

.. with

Supernova 1998S in

NGC 3877 ..

unusually many observers weathered out ..

We continue to hold our Messier Marathon 1998 page

for the record.

Jeff Jenkins and Stephen Horan ran their Messier Marathon
on the night of March 27/28, 1998. They were located north-east of Las

Cruces, NM (approx: 106.7W, 32.6N). The main problem encountered was

Zodiacal light and heavy haze near the horizon due to blowing dust much

of the 26th and 27th. Stephen used a C-11 and star hopping, and finally

bagged 104 Messier objects. Jeff used a Meade 8 and setting circles and

found 108. Stephen missed M74 (sky too bright), M75, M2, M72, M73, and M30,

Jeff missed only M77 and M30 but got the rest by using setting circles.

M 32 and M33 were very difficult due to sky background brightness.

However, during a practice run the week before, the two observers had no

trouble with these objects.

This is the first marathon for both observers. They had tried in 1997

but had been weathered out.
Robert Davidson did his very first Messier Marathon on March 27/28,
1998 and immediately bagged all 110 Messier objects from the Arizona

City observing site with his 8-inch f/8 telescope in a wonderful session

with the coyotes as his only companions in this great site with room for

well over 100 telescopes.

See Bob’s excellent report (based on our form).

Congratulations, Bob !
Dave Mitsky logged 58 Messier objects
in a weather-limited Messier Marathon session from ASH Naylor Observatory,

Lewisberry, PA on March 28-29, 1998.
Jay R. Freeman, looking in vain for fellow observers in the San
Francisco Bay area, eventually

logged 40 Messier objects with his Meade 127 ED

refractor from the Henry Coe State Park observing site on March 28, 1998.
Troy Johnstone bagged 69 Messier objects on
March 29-30, 1998 with his 8-inch Meade Starfinder Dobson from

Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.
The
Northern Virginia Astronomy Club Messier Marathon was pretty

successfull, with a number of new “contentants”, and with many previous

participants increasing their totals. The 1998 results are available at

their website,

and a quick list is:
```
   Total          Name

    107       Craig Tupper

    104       Barry Wolfe

    104       Jonathan Bein

    102       Ron Cook

    100       Jon Stewart-Taylor

     35       John Avellone

     35       Ron Mickle
```
Their original night was clouded out, but the following night was clear.
Tony George from Umatilla, Oregon and the Tri-City Astronomy Club,
SE Washington run a Messier Marathon from Holdman, OR on March 29, 1998,

and observed 101 Messier objects (logged on our

form !). He also run a second marathon on April 25, 1998 and bagged 91.
On March 29-30, 1998, amateurs Mark Dunnett, Paul Money,
Stephen and Timothy Tonkin, and Bev Ewen-Smith held a

Marathon at the COAA, Algarve,

Portugal, and bagged the complete set of 109 objects

they had looked for (their list did not include controverse

M102), plus a number of NGC and IC objects.
Out of competition, Penny Fischer run her
Mini Marathon on March 28 and bagged 18 objects.
The Messier Marathon 1998 was an event of many unhappy failures. Above all,
the enthusiastically prepared and well-planned

1998 All Arizona Messier Marathon, scheduled for March 28-29,

fell victim to an unexpected rain-out,

according to J.R. Freeman, some of the San Francisco Bay area astronomers

were even hailed (see his report above),

and one of the authors’ (HF’s) own first attempt to run a Messier Marathon

from Konstanz/Germany on March 31, 1998 was infamously hazed and fogged out

after having bagged only 21 and lost 4 objects in the evening sky.

1999 Messier Marathon Results

We continue to hold our Messier Marathon 1999 page

for the record.

The 1999 Arizona Messier Marathon, held
March 13-14, 1999, was again a great success, with an attendence of 49

vehicles and 53 scopes. Five observers, namely Bill Ferris,

Joe Goss, Michael Mathers, Tom Polakis, and

Douglas Smith, hunted down 109 Messier objects, the maximum

possible on this date (M30 being unavailable). Each two more observers

saw 108 (missing also M72) and 107 (missing M30, M72 and M73) objects,

respectively, five found 106 and each one observer logged 105, 104, 103,

and 100 objects, giving a total of 18 marathoners with a result of 100

or more.

Separate reports were contributed from participants

Bobby Martin (105), who also reports Kasia

Zabinski’s score of 31 objects, and

Douglas Smith (109) of the TAAA who run it

together with Michael Mathers.
Russell F. Pinizzotto of the University of North Texas did two
Messier Marathon sessions this year, the first time scoring 54 from

the University of North Texas Observatory, and in the second attempt

from the Andromeda Galaxy Observatory in Fort Davis, TX, on

19-20 March 99, scoring all 110 Messier objects ! Congratulations !

Read his report, and

see his featured online

article.
On March 20th, 1999, Marc Daniels bagged 62 Messier objects in
less than 5 hours. The weather wasn’t the best. Around 11:30 or so, the

sky was overcast. Marc did his observation at the 1999 East Coast Star

Party in Coinjock, NC.
Dave Mitsky of the Pennsylvania State University participated
in a Messier Marathon at the East Coast Star Party on Friday, 3/19/99.

Unfortunately, he arrived at the observing site too late to bag many of

the early M objects. Even though he spent some time observing non-Messier

objects through other people’s scopes he managed to log 80 Messiers.

Here is a revised copy of his report first

published in sci.astro.amateur.
The Kalamazoo Astronomical Society (Michigan, USA) held its most
successful Messier Marathon to date March 19/20, 1999. Eight club members

and 12 students started with this endeavor in the evening, but only three

stayed to bag 103 Messier objects:

Mike Dupuis, Dave Garten, and Mark E. Miller.

Read Mark Miller’s great report!
Brian Pelletier and Scott Patterson did a mini-marathon
on 3/13/99 in Colton, South Dakota. It was a bit brisk to do an

all-nighter, but they bagged 44 Messiers in 3 1/2 hours. They are hoping

to improve on this next time!

!
Mark Deprest, President of the University Lowbrow Astronomers,
run a Messier Marathon on 03/12/1999 from the Lake Hudson State Rec. Area

(Lat: N41 50.274′, Long: W84 14.638′), using a Meade 8″ f/6 Newtonian on

Dobsonian Mount. From this cold (28 deg F dropping to about 15 deg) and

very dark site with overall seeing conditions he rated at 8.5 out of 10,

he was able to see 87 Messier objects before the cold ended his MM at

04:30, 3.13.1999. See his report!
Jane Houston of the SF Sidewalk Astronomers and the
Hawaiian Astronomical Society reports of the March 13, 1999 Messier

Marathon held in Molokai, Hawaii.

Read her report

and view

pictures

from this event.
The Albuquerque Astronomical Society held its Messier Marathon
Saturday night March 20, 1999 at the society’s General Nathan Twining

Observatory approximately 60 miles SSW of Albuquerque, NM. They had about

40 observers and of those 40, 7 managed to last the night.

Kevin McKeown and Gordon Pegue did the best results by

locating 108 objects each, both missing only M74 in the evening and M30

in the morning sky, 3 more folks scored 107, 106 and 101, respectively.

For more detail read Gordon Pegue’s report.
Shawn & Jennifer Clark run their Messier Marathon
in the night of 3/19-20/99 from Star Mountain, Texas (between Fort Davis

and Balmorhea, Lat ~30deg 50′, Long ~103deg 50′) with a 8″ SCT (Celestar 8

with 8×50 finder). They logged 107 Messier objects, missing only

M72, M73, or M30 in the morning twilight. This was Jenny’s first and Shawn’s

second Messier Marathon.

Read their report for more detail.