This article was contributed by David Baumgartner as part of a local series on astronomy. Lea este articulo en español aquí.
It seems that the name Messier pops up around this time of the year. So what seems to be so special about this guy? And what makes his name linger on in time where my name will be dissolved in the writings of history within a month of my passing? O.K., one week. So let’s dive into this guy Messier and find out what is his story and what made him so special.
Astronomer Charles Messier (1730-1817) devoted much of his life searching the heavens for comets. In doing so he would come across many objects that at first he thought were comets. What they turned out to be were stationary objects such as nebulas, galaxies, clusters and double stars. His love was finding comets, and had less interest in these other confusing objects that would just get in his way. So he published he’s findings so other astronomers wouldn’t have to go through what he did when looking for comets.
He started out with some 45 objects and they came to be called “The Messier Objects.” It was odd that he would later become more famous for his Messier Objects than for his comet findings. As time went on others were added to the list by astronomers. Today we have a total of 109. Most of these deep-sky-objects can be seen with binoculars or small telescopes.
Two centuries later, backyard observers still consider many of these splendid “M” objects the jewels of the night sky. Each month, as the skies slowly change, new objects show up and by the end of the year you have seen them all. But there is one way you can see them all in one long evening.
Each spring amateur astronomers around the world run a Messier Marathon, a visual race through the night sky to get a glimpse of all the 109 Messier objects in a single night, from dusk to dawn. If you are lucky enough to catch 50 to 70 consider that a good night. The key here, of course, is getting away from the city lights as you will need all the darkness you can muster. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful from your own back yard. Plus that makes it nice to know that your own warm bed is only a few steps away, should you decide to give it up early.
We are lucky to have south San Benito County. What a wonderful place to see these great wonders. But you just can’t stop wherever you want down there and set up your gear, you need to know someone who lives in the south county and would be nice enough to let you use a small patch of their dirt one night for about 12 hours. And the best nights this year would be around the 22nd through the 26th of March, Easer Sunday weekend. No moon to get in the way. (New Moon)
It just so happens that I have a friend who lives down there and is nice enough to let us use a small portion of her place every now and then to star gaze. She really appreciates the fact that we do clean up after ourselves when we are through. A while back a couple of us went down to south county to do some stargazing, and what a beautiful night it was. I saw at least three times the amount of stars than I would have seen here in the city. Made it a lot easier to pick up more of the harder to see Messier objects. Hope you have the time to have your own Messier hunt, maybe in your own back yard.
If you do give it a try, be sure to be well equipped, with such items as warm clothing, binoculars, telescope (if you have one), star charts, red flashlight, chair, table, maybe a sleeping bag and for heaven sake don’t forget some good munchies, and some hot coffee or chocolate, especially if you come with us.
The Messier Marathon is an athletic event of sorts: Participants race around the sky like maniacs for a whole night only to end up where they started. I think Charles would be happy to see that his list is still so popular. I’m not sure what he would think about this 12 hours of running around event, making a game out of his work. I believe he would be proud knowing his game got so many people involved in astronomy. The Messier Marathon does prove something very important: Astronomy can be fun.
Clear skies,
What’s up this month:
Feb. 2: Last Quarter Moon
Feb. 4: Moon passes 0.6° north of Antares
Feb. 7: Moon passes 5° south of Venus
Feb. 8: Moon passes 4° south of Mars
Feb. 9: New Moon
Feb. 10: Moon is at perigee (222,506 miles from Earth)
Feb. 10: Moon passes 1.8° south of Saturn
Feb. 12: Moon asses 0.7° south of Neptune
Feb. 15: Moon passes 3° north of Jupiter
Feb. 15: Moon passes 3° north Uranus
Feb. 16: First Quarter Moon
Feb. 22: Venus passes 0.6° north of Mars
Feb. 24: Full Moon
Feb. 25: Moon is at apogee (252,470 miles from Earth)
Feb. 28: Mercury is in superior conjunction
Feb. 28: Saturn is in conjunction with the Sun