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Hi guys, The Messier search started great. I knew M74 and 77 would be difficult, so really made no attempt for them. Started in around 7:30 just looking around. First object was M42 and M43, at 7:40. During the next little bit, Chris found the Great Orion Nebula in the binoculars...his first find! I then went to Cass for M103, an open cluster. hit it easy at 7:50, then thought I better take advantage of the Marathon Log so started in order. Knocked of M31 and M32 then hit a dry spell looking for M52, an open cluster in Cas. At magnitude 6.9 this should have been a pretty easy find. However, it was not. After quite a while though, it popped into the fov! This was a new one for my total. Another 15 minutes to locate the dim planetary nebula in Perseus, but another new addition to the total. Then things started dropping like flies, or so it seemed. M34, M79, then to binoculars for M78 in Orion. The Pleiades naked eye and The Crab supernova remnant in the C-8. Then a series of binocular sweeps to locate M38, 36, 37, 35, and 41, all verified in the telescope. And all of this before 10:00! But, the ground is absorbing heat right through my boots and single pair of socks at an alarming rate. Much faster than my heart can pump that warm blood back down there. However, I press on. Next is M50 in the telescope then a host of open clusters, 93, 46, 47, 48, and 67. All located with binoculars. Thirty minutes have passed, and it is colder and I can't feel my toes. Break time. I walk around for a while knowing the galaxies in Leo and Ursa Major are up next. Get a little food. Forgot anything warm to drink. The water I brought is more like ice slush by now. Don't think I want any of that. Start searching Leo. Got the starfield just perfect in the finder. I know the galaxies are in the eyepiece, but, no, wait, nothing is in there. These have eluded me since I began my messier list. I see them in the other scopes, so I know I am in the right spot, but just can't see them. Perhaps my brain is getting cold too. Decide to skip the whole constellation and move to Ursa Major. Have you ever tried to look north using a fork mount? Don't. My head was against the tripod trying to look through the finder. The heat from my cheek was being pulled out into the wedge as I looked through the diagonal. This was definitely a lose-lose situation. Need a different mount for this. I've heard those gibraltar mounts are pretty good. And hey, that finder Dave has on his scope is a lot easier to use than my tiny field of view monstrosity. How much was that again? Alright, its starting to get late and I'm getting frustrated. Finally, a galaxy. M51The whirlpool galaxy. It looks pretty good. Can easily see the attached companion. So I try to move on. Jeff wants to see M51 again. I can't find it. Geez. Skip the next group out of UMa and try for M104 in Virgo. It only takes 20 minutes to find it, but there it is. Then I start thinking about home. It is after midnight and I hope my toes are still on my feet. I couldn't tell with any certainty. However, I try to gut it out and go in search of the long list of galaxies. I'll start with M63, the Sunflower galaxy. A nice "bright" (HA) galaxy at magnitude 8.6. I still hear Rodger calling out "hey, I've got about 5 different galaxies in here!" And I can't find one. Back to the star chart. Is that right? It has to be right there. But not in my eyepiece. Am I going blind? After 35 minutes looking for this one, I move on. Are there any galaxies I can see out there? (Don't answer that.) I decide it will be time to go home shortly. Think I'll hit a couple easy targets, the globulars in Hercules. (Did I say easy?) Well, okay, found each of them pretty quickly. And M92 is new to my list. Then on to another globular-I think I like these guys. M5 in Sep-Cap. What constellation is that? Where is it? Look at the star wheel and finally locate it. What are those three vertical stars there? I don't see them in my sky atlas. M5 has to be just off that middle one there, just to the NE. Rodger wanders over and I ask him and he says see those three stars? Well, look over there, to the NW. Now I know it is time to go home. There it is, M5. I half-heartedly look for a few more minutes, then think it is time to go home. I have come to the realize I don't know my constellations very well. I have a lot of work to do before I try this again next month. The packing up is uneventful. Clods of dirt and grass are stuck to everything, but it will clean. The drive out is much shorter than the drive in and I am very careful to observe the speed limits. But, about 1/4 mile before getting on the 31st street bridge a car blinks its lights at me. I forgot to dim mine, so I quickly dim them and turn on to the bridge. A cop with his lights on comes screaming up the ramp so I pull over and much to my surprise he pulls in behind me. He pulled me over for having my bright lights on! But to add insult to injury, my registration is two months over due so I end up with a warning about my bright lights and an $82 ticket for expired registration. I'm not so sure I want to ever go back to Proctorville. Final Count Messier objects located with telescope only 16. Naked eye only: 1. Binoculars only: 8. Binoculars and Telescope: 4 for a final total count of 29. (9 more than last year's two night total.) Larry |