Canadian
Yearly Marathon Results
Please email
your results to pmarkov(at)rogers(dot)com for inclusion in this list
2012
From Rancho Hidalgo near Animas, New
Mexico on March 22/23, RASC Toronto Centre member:
Guy Nason
found all 110 Messiers with his 12.5-inch
reflector and 15 x 70 binoculars. Congratulations to Guy for being the
first on this list to visually see all 110 objects!
Read Guy's report here.
From his observatory in Albert Bridge,
Nova Scotia on March 24/25:
Stan Williams
found 104 Messiers with his 10-inch Meade
LX200 Classic, missing M33 and M55 (hidden behind trees) and M73, M74, M77, and M30.
2011
From a site in Oscella, just south of
Cobden (west of Ottawa) on Apr 2/3:
Pierre
Martin found 107 Messiers with his 12.5-inch
Portaball, missing just M74, M77, and M30.
Read Pierre's report here.
2010
No results reported
2009
From the Ottawa Valley Astronomy and
Observers Group on March 20/21 from Moose Creek (east of Ottawa) :
Stephan Lalonde
imaged 109 Messiers with his 8 inch SCT on EQ mount with a
MallinCam Hyper Plus Color and an f3.3 focal reducer, missing just M30.
See Stephan's images here.
Michael Vasseur
imaged 109 Messiers with his 8 inch SCT with a MallinCam Hyper
Ultra and an f3.3 focal reducer, missing just M30.
2008
From Cobden (west of Ottawa) on April 5/6:
Pierre
Martin found
105 Messiers with his 12.5-inch Dobsonian, missing just M74, M77, M79,
M73 and M30. Read Pierre's report here.
2007
From the Ottawa Valley
Astronomy and Observers Group on March 28/29 from suburban
Ottawa:
Denis
Legault imaged
109 Messiers with his Meade 10-inch LX200 and Mallincam Hyper,
missing only M30. Read Denis' report here.
2006
From the
Moncton Centre (William Brydone
Jack Unit) on March 27/28 from Dorn Ridge, about 25 miles northwest of
Fredericton:
Donald Kelly
attempted his first
marathon only 3 weeks after getting his first telescope! With his new
10-inch dob he observed 103 objects missing M79, 83, 6, 73, 75, 55 and 30.
Outstanding for a first try & first telescope!!
Ted Dunphy
attempted his second marathon and observed 108 with his 10-inch dob. Ted
only missed M75 and M30. Wow!!
Paul Gray
attempting his 5th marathon observed 109 with his 12.5-inch dob
missing only M30. Excellent!!
From the Ottawa Valley
Astronomy and Observers Group on March 26/27 from suburban
Ottawa:
Denis
Legault imaged
109 Messiers with his Meade 10-inch LX200 and Mallincam Pro, missing only M30.
Another outstanding
effort! Read Denis' report here.
2005
From the Kingston RASC Centre on March
25/26 from East Hawkesbury (Ontario):
Jan Wisniewski
manually found and imaged 106 Messiers with his 8-inch SCT
and a Cookbook 245 CCD camera! He missed M72, M73, M55 and M30. Read
his full report on Jan's web site at:
http://astrosurf.com/jwisn/mm2005.htm. Well done Jan!!
From the Moncton RASC Centre on March
5/6 from Dorn Ridge, about 25 miles north of Fredericton:
Ted Dunphy
found 105 Messiers with his 10-inc Dobsonian. He missed
M30, M73, M72, M2 and M77.
Excellent result, especially for early March!
2004
From the Winnipeg RASC
Centre on March 20/21 from Riding Mountain National Park
(Manitoba):
Sean Ceaser found 101 Messiers with his 8-inch
Dobsonian, missing M54, 55,
2, 69, 70, 72, 73, 75, and 30 Read
Sean's report here.
From the Okanagan RASC
Centre on March 19/20 from Anarchist Mountain (British
Columbia):
Alan
Whitman found 102
Messiers with an 8-inch Dobsonian, missing M69, 70, 54,
75, 72, 73, 55, and M30. Alan did get M74 (usually a
rather difficult one!) and notes that M69, 70, 54, and 75
were missed due to distant clouds. Read Alan's report here.
From the Ottawa Valley
Astronomy and Observers Group on March 13/14 from suburban
Ottawa:
Denis
Legault imaged
109 Messiers with his Meade 10-inch LX200 and Mallincam
1, missing only M30. I am not sure if anyone else has
ever done this, but it is certainly an outstanding
effort! Read Denis' report here.
probably was.
2003
From the Kingston RASC Centre on March
29/30 from Maberly (Ontario):
Jan Wisniewski
found 97 Messiers with his 20-inch Dobsonian before the sky fogged over.
Read his full report on Jan's web site at:
http://astrosurf.com/jwisn/mm2003.htm.
From the Winnipeg RASC
Centre on March 27/28 and 28/29 from Hwy 248 and Glenlea
Observatory
Sean Ceaser found 96 Messiers on the first night,
then another 4 the next night with his 8-inch Dobsonian, missing M77, 74, 55, 30, 69, 70, 72, 73,
75 and 54. Read
Sean's report here.
2002
From the Kingston RASC Centre on March
16/17 from Maberly (Ontario):
Jan Wisniewski
found 106 Messiers with his 6-inch Dobsonian. He missed M72, M73,
M55 and M30. Read his full report on Jan's web site at:
http://astrosurf.com/jwisn/mm2002.htm.
From the Ottawa Valley
Astronomy and Observers Group on March 16/17 from Beckwith
Park (southwest of Ottawa):
Denis
Legault found 108
Messiers with his 14-inch Discovery Dobsonian, missing
only M55 and M30. . Well done Denis!!! Read Denis' full report here.
Pierre
Martin found
106 Messiers with his 8-inch SCT, missing just M72, M75,
M55 and M30. Read Pierre's report here.
J.P.
Bernier found
90 Messiers with his 8-inch SCT. Click here for
J.P.'s report.
Michael
Vasseur found 75
Messiers with his Meade ETX-125. Click here for
Michael's report.
Luc
Coulombe found 104
Messiers with his 8-inch Newtonian, missing M2, M72, M75,
M73, M55, and M30. Read Luc's report here.
From the Prince George
RASC Centre on March 16/17 from Prince George:
Doug
Wayland found 96
Messiers on his first Marathon with his 8-inch SCT. An
excellent result, especially because Prince George is
located a latitude 54 degrees north!! Read Doug's detailed
report here.
From the Regina RASC
Centre on March 15/16 from Bratt Lake Solar Radiation Station
(30 Km south of Regina):
Vance
Petriew found 87
Messiers with his 20-inch Dob. Read Vance's
detailed report here.
From the Toronto Centre on March
16/17 from the Carr Astronomical Observatory near Collingwood, Ontario:
About a
dozen Toronto Centre members
collaborated to find 103 Messier objects, missing M77, M55, M75, M2,
M72, M73, and M30, using a variety of equipment: 16-inch LX200, 8-inch
LX200, 8-inch Dob, 11 x 80 binoculars.
2001
From the Halifax Centre
on March 23/24 from Tuckahoe State Park (eastern shore of
Maryland, USA, one hour's drive from Washington, DC)
Paul Gray
found 109 Messiers with his
12.5-inch F5 Discovery truss dobsonian, missing only M30.
Well done Paul!!! Read Paul's detailed report here.
From the Okanagan
Centre on March 23/24 from Sidley Mtn. Rd. site (same as
Anarchist Mountain site). Ron reported warm weather (no
gloves and open jacket!), a brief but intense aurora, and
bright zodiacal light.
Jim Failes
found 103 Messiers with his
8-inch dobsonian. He missed M74, M72, M75, M73, M55, M2
and M30.
Ron Scherer found 104 Messiers with his 10-inch
dobsonian. He missed M74, M72, M75, M73, M55 and M30
From the Regina RASC
Centre on March 24/25 from 30 Km north of Regina:
Vance
Petriew found 50
Messiers with his 8-inch scope. Read Vance's detailed report here.
2000
From the Okanagan
Centre on April 1 from McCulloch Lake, British Columbia
(effort hindered by early morning clouds):
Ron Scherer - 93 Messiers, 10-inch Dobsonian
|
|
Paul Ellard - 91 Messiers, 10-inch Dobsonian
|
Jim Failes - 93 Messiers, 8-inch Dobsonian
|
|
Jim Fishers - result pending, 4.5-inch
Newtonian |
Guy Mackie - 94 Messiers, 12.5-inch
Dobsonian
|
From the Ottawa Centre
on March 31 from Casselman, Ontario:
Pierre
Martin, 103
Messiers, 8-inch Celestron SCT. Pierre missed M74, M77,
M79, M33, M55, M30. Some of the missed evening objects
were obscured by clouds. Read his full report here.
From the Victoria
Centre (soon to transfer to the Kingston Centre!) on March 31
from Gould Lake Conservation Area, just north Sydenham,
Ontario, which is 25 minutes north of Kingston:
Jan
Wisniewski, 106
Messiers, 6-inch Dobsonian. Jan missed just M74, M77,
M55, and M30. Jan says that he could have perhaps spotted
M77, and M55 if trees had not obstructed his view, but
feels M74 was completely out of reach. Read his full report here and
on his web site at
http://astrosurf.com/jwisn/marathon.htm
From the Okanagan
Centre on April 1/2 from the lower slopes of Mt. Kobau:
Alan
Whitman,
102 Messiers, 8-inch Newtonian. Alan missed M77, M74,
M79, M33, M69, M70, M55, M30. Unfortunately M79 and M33
were blocked by a high western horizon, while it was just
too late in the year for M74 and M77 from his latitude.
M69 and M70 were obscured by clouds in morning twilight.
Read his full
report here.
From the RASC
(unattached) on April 4/5 from Sunglow, Arizona (lat. 31.9
N.), two hours southeast of Tucson:
Michael
Watson, 108
Messiers, 5-inch Astrophysics refractor. Michael writes
"Although I could easily see the nearby guide stars
for both objects, the two that I couldn't get were M74
and M77, which were lost in the atmospheric dust that
often plagues the western horizon in the Arizona
desert." M30 which is impossible to observe from
Canada was actually "easy to spot" from
Arizona. Michael is actually from Toronto, but traveled
to Arizona for the marathon. Read his full report here.
From the Okanagan
Centre on April 8/9 from Anarchist Mountain, east of the
Okanagan Valley:
Alan
Whitman (again!),
105 Messiers, 8-inch Newtonian. Alan missed M77, M74,
M79, M33, M30. This was an extraordinary effort given
Alan's latitude of 49 degrees north, and the fact that
cirrus clouds hampered efforts through the night. Alan
had to use setting circles for 5 of the morning objects
due to their very low altitude and cloud interference.
Read his full
report here.
1999
From Bolton, Ontario on
March 14-15, observing from Grace Lake (Haliburton, Ontario):
Ron
Macnaughton
observed 85 Messiers, using an Astrophysics Traveller 105
mm f6 refractor. The next night Ron picked up an
additional 20, for a total of 105 in two nights. Overall
he missed M2, M73, M72, M75, and M30.
1998
From the Calgary Centre
on March 28-29 from the Wilson Coulee Observatory, south of
Calgary:
- Tom Cameron, 102 Messiers, 8-inch reflector
- Russ Chandler, 100 Messiers.
From the Okanagan Centre on March
28-29 from Isabel Lake Resort in the Okanagan Valley:
Ron Scherer, 104 Messiers, 10-inch Dobsonian. On his
first marathon Ron missed M74, M77, M2, M73, M55, M30.
Jim Failes, 103 Messiers, 6-inch Dobsonian.
Alan Whitman, 100 Messiers, 8-inch Newtonian (with
the help of setting circles). On his first marathon Alan
missed M74, M77, M55, M54, M69, M70, M72, M73, M75, M30
1997
No results reported
1996
