By Don Machholz
The Messier Catalogue is an inventory of 1 hundred and ten galaxies, superstar clusters and nebulae, and comprises a number of the brightest and best-known items within the sky. beginner astronomers who locate the entire items at the checklist in a single evening have effectively accomplished the Messier Marathon. The staring at consultant to the Messier Marathon includes over ninety easy-to-use superstar maps to lead the observer from one item to the following, and gives guidance for a profitable evening of looking at. Don Machholz additionally tells the tale of the eighteenth-century astronomer, Charles Messier, and the way he got here to assemble his huge catalogue. His whole consultant to the Messier Marathon might help the beginner astronomer to monitor the Messier items all year long, utilizing a small telescope or perhaps a pair of binoculars. Don Machholz is an engineer in Auburn, California. drawn to astronomy because adolescence, he's a well known comet hunter, having came upon 9 comets that endure his identify. He writes articles for neighborhood California newspapers and radio stations for targeted astronomical occasions. among 1988 and 2000, Don Machholz was once the Comets Recorder for the organization of Lunar and Planetary Recorders.
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Additional info for The Observing Guide to the Messier Marathon: A Handbook and Atlas
6m 08h thirteen. 8m 12h 29. 8m 07h 03. 0m Ϫ14° forty nineј Ϫ14° 29Ј Ϫ05° forty eightј ϩ08° 00Ј Ϫ08° 21Ј 6. 7 five. 6 6. 2 eight. 6 6. four 18Јϫ15Ј 17Јϫ12Ј 40Јϫ35Ј fourј 8Јϫ6Ј 2/19/1771 2/19/1771 2/19/1771 2/19/1771 4/5/1772 ‘cluster of small stars’ ‘no nebulosity’ ‘cluster of small stars’ ‘seen with di~culty’ ‘cluster of small stars’ fifty one fifty two fifty three fifty four fifty five 5194 7654 5024 6715 6809 EG OC GL GL GL 13h 29. 9m 23h 24. 2m 13h 12. 9m 18h fifty five. 1m 19h forty. 0m ϩ47° 12Ј ϩ61° 36Ј ϩ18° 10Ј Ϫ30° 28Ј Ϫ30° fifty sevenј 7. nine 7. 6 7. four 7. 7 6. 1 14Јϫ11Ј 9Јϫ7Ј threeј threeј 12Ј 1/11/1774 9/7/1774 2/26/1777 7/24/1778 7/24/1778 ‘very faint nebula’ ‘with nebulosity’ ‘nebula with out stars’ ‘very faint nebula’ ‘contains no stars’ fifty six fifty seven fifty eight fifty nine 60 6779 6720 4579 4621 4649 GL PL EG EG EG 19h sixteen. 6m 18h fifty three. 6m 12h 37. 7m 12h forty two. 0m 12h forty three. 7m ϩ30° elevenј ϩ33° 02Ј ϩ11° forty nineј ϩ11° 39Ј ϩ11° 33Ј eight. eight eight. eight nine. 2 nine. four nine. 2 fiveј 2Ј fourј 3Јϫ2Ј 4Јϫ3Ј 1/23/1779 1/31/1779 4/15/1779 4/15/1779 4/15/1779 ‘having little mild’ ‘mass of sunshine’ ‘very faint nebula’ ‘as faint (as M58)’ ‘disc. whereas obs. comet’ sixty one sixty two sixty three sixty four sixty five 4303 6266 5055 4826 3623 EG GL EG EG EG 12h 21. 9m 17h 01. 2m 13h 15. 8m 12h fifty six. 7m 11h 18. 9m ϩ04° 28Ј Ϫ30° 07Ј ϩ42° 02Ј ϩ21° forty-oneј ϩ13° 06Ј nine. zero 7. five eight. 7 eight. 7 eight. nine fiveј fiveј 8Јϫ4Ј 8Јϫ4Ј 11Јϫ4Ј 5/11/1779 6/4/1779 6/14/1779 3/1/1780 3/1/1780 ‘very faint’ ‘very faint nebula’ ‘it is faint’ Blackeye Galaxy ‘very faint’ sixty six sixty seven sixty eight sixty nine 70 3627 2682 4590 6637 6681 EG OC GL GL GL 11h 20. 2m 08h fifty one. 4m 12h 39. 5m 18h 31. 4m 18h forty three. 2m ϩ12° fifty nineј ϩ11° forty eightј Ϫ26° forty fiveј Ϫ32° 21Ј Ϫ32° 17Ј eight. 6 7. 6 eight. 1 7. nine eight. four 9Јϫ5Ј 12Јϫ10Ј fiveј threeј 2Ј 3/1/1780 4/6/1780 4/9/1780 8/31/1780 8/31/1780 ‘its mild very faint’ ‘cluster of small stars’ ‘it is especially faint’ ‘very faint’ ‘nebula with no stars’ seventy one seventy two 6838 6981 GL GL 19h fifty three. 7m 20h fifty three. 5m ϩ18° forty sevenј Ϫ12° 32Ј eight. 1 nine. zero 7Ј fourј 10/4/1780 10/4/1780 ‘very faint’ ‘as faint’ as M71 24 2 The Messier Catalogue desk 2. 1 (cont. ) M# NGC # sort RA 2000 Decl. Equinox magazine. dimension Messier obs. date Notes the second one Catalogue seventy three seventy four seventy five 6994 628 6864 GL EG GL 20h fifty nine. 0m 01h 36. 7m 20h 06. 1m Ϫ12° 38Ј ϩ15° forty sevenј ϩ21° fifty fiveј nine. 2 nine. 1 eight. 7 2Ј nineј 2Ј 10/4/1780 10/18/1780 10/18/1780 ‘3 or four small stars’ ‘nebula with no stars’ ‘very small stars’ seventy six seventy seven seventy eight seventy nine eighty 650 1068 2068 1904 6093 PL EG DN GL GL 01h forty two. 2m 02h forty two. 7m 05h forty six. 7m 05h 24. 2m 16h 17. 0m ϩ51° forty fourј Ϫ00° 01Ј ϩ00° 04Ј Ϫ24° 31Ј Ϫ22° fifty nineј nine. 6 eight. nine eight. four eight. 1 eight. 1 3Јϫ2Ј 2Ј eightј threeј threeј 10/21/1780 12/17/1780 12/17/1780 12/17/1780 1/4/1781 ‘small and faint’ ‘cluster of small stars’ ‘much nebulosity’ ‘nebula is fine’ ‘round, vibrant centre’ eighty one eighty two eighty three eighty four eighty five 3031 3034 5236 4374 4382 EG EG EG EG EG 09h fifty five. 6m 09h fifty five. 8m 13h 37. 0m 12h 25. 1m 12h 25. 4m ϩ69° 04Ј ϩ69° forty twoј Ϫ29° fifty twoј ϩ12° fifty threeј ϩ18° elevenј 7. three eight. three 7. nine eight. eight eight. nine 12Јϫ5Ј 9Јϫ2Ј 10Јϫ7Ј fiveј fourј 2/9/1781 2/9/1781 2/17/1781 3/18/1781 3/18/1781 ‘is a bit oval’ ‘faint and elongated’ ‘faint, even mild’ ‘resemble’ M59, M60 ‘very faint’ 86 87 88 89 ninety 4406 4486 4501 4552 4569 EG EG EG EG EG 12h 26. 2m 12h 30. 8m 12h 32. 0m 12h 35. 7m 12h 36. 8m ϩ12° fifty sevenј ϩ12° 23Ј ϩ14° 25Ј ϩ12° 33Ј ϩ13° 10Ј eight.