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C. E. S. Dewar
Morganton, Georgia USA

Messier Marathon 2007 Results: 109! (clouded out in 2008/2009 )

Messier Marathon 2007 Results: 109 out of 110

This was the second Marathon year at the Morganton, GA observing site. Final tally was 109 out of 110. This is a near-perfect score as M30 is not really visible from this latitude (common wisdom is that you have to be South of 35° to even have a vague chance of catching it, and locaton is 34°56'N). All observing was with the Saturn III (39x100) binoculars.

This year, it was very cloudy though - in fact for around 4 1/2 hours (11p-3:30a), it was completely overcast and so no observations were recorded. Fortunately, the clouds just cleared up enough by 3:30am to allow finishing up a near-perfect tally! The score and those of other astronomers is listed on the official SEDS.ORG web page!

The Messier tracking report for all the objects is here (observing notes are general notes when the objects are in ideal observing positions, not when observed for the Marathon!).

Messier Marathon 2006 Results: 104

This was a first attempt at the Messier Marathon** at the Morganton, GA observing site where the Dewar Wildlife Facility is located. Final tally was 104 observed out of all 110 Messier objects on the night of March 26. I had missed M74 (Phantom), M77 and M33 in the evening hours, and missed M72/M73 and M30 in the morning hours. These were recorded with a pair of Miyauchi Saturn III binoculars (39x100mm). Next year I hope to push this up to at least 108 (M74 and M30 are really tough, so still dubious about catching those!). By 5:30am at the end of the run, it was dropping below 20°F, and it was COLD!

**In the Messier Marathon, you have to observe as many of the 110 Messier Deep Sky Objects in a single night without any mechanical assistance (no go-to scopes or setting circles!). We include NGC 5866 as M102, and also include M110 which at this point are pretty universally accepted as part of the list of 110 objects that make up the Marathon.

Morganton, GA Observing site - ClearSky Clock (from about 9mi away):

Astrophotographs

These photographs were taken with either a 5" TeleVue NP-127 APO, Celestron 9.25" SCT, Celestron 8" SCT, TMB 105/650 APO, or an 80mm WO Super APO on a Vixen Sphinx Mount with a Toucam II webcam or SkyNyx 2.1c Camera. Images were acquired with K3ccdtools and then stacked and processed in Registax. Images were sharpened and tweaked with Adobe Photoshop. All images (c) 2005-2007, C. E. S. Dewar. Newest pictures are at the top here...

Moon in the Pleiades on 08Apr2008. Canon EOS10D at ISO100, 4s at F6, TMB 105/650 at Prime Focus This image was featured in Sky & Telescope Magazine's February 2009 issue (page 72).
Sinus Iridium - TMB 105/650 at F31 with 5x Powermate, SkyNyx 2.1c Camera. The two craters near center are Helicon (25km) and LeVerrier (20km). Note the subtle striae in the Maria areas.
Total Lunar Eclipse on February 20, 2008. Saturn is at lower left. This photograph was taken shortly after the end of totality as it moved out of the umbra. Canon 10-D, Sigma 170-500m Zoom at 500mm.	Moon during totality. This was taken with a Canon SD-500 digital camera held up to the eyepiece of my Saturn III binoculars (39x100mm).
Sun on Jan 27, 2008 - Canon 500 digital camera held up to the eyepiece of a Coronado H-Alpha Solar Telescope (Double Stacked).	Sun on Jan 27, 2008 - Canon 500 digital camera held up to the eyepiece of a Coronado H-Alpha Solar Telescope (Double Stacked). Detail of prominences displayed in image on left.
Mars
Mars, showing rotation in just one hour.
Mars on morning of 19-Sep-2005 (3:30am EST). Image taken with TeleVue NP-127 (5" APO) at f52 (2x/5x TV Barlow/Powermate)	Mars on morning of 21-October-2005 (1:45am EST). Image taken with TeleVue NP-127 (5" APO) at f52 (2x/5x TV Barlow/Powermate). Note the several dust storms at the top - such as the prominent one over Solis Planum.
Mars on evening of 29-October-2005 (11:15pm EST). Image taken with TeleVue NP-127 (5" APO) at f52 (2x/5x TV Barlow/Powermate).	Mars on evening of 28-October-2005 (11:45pm EST). Image taken with a William Optics 80mm Fluorite APO at f60 (2x/5x TV Barlow/Powermate). This is a remarkable image from such a small scope (compare with image on left with the 127mm TeleVue Scope!).
Jupiter
Europa Just about to exit Jupiter (10 0'clock position) with Io off to the right and a bit more aggressive sharpening to highlight surface details	Europa transit across Jupiter on 1-May-2005 (black spot in second and third images is the shadow of Europa). Third image shows Europa just exiting (around the 10 o'clock position). Second and third images also show the Great Red Spot (which is actually a pale orange at this point) on the left side of the lower equatorial band).
Jupiter on May 17th, 2006 showing GRS and Oval BA (Red Spot Jr.) just below and to the left of the GRS (C9.25-Toucam Pro)	Slightly lower contrast version taken in 2nd week of May, 2005 also with Europa and Io
International Space Station flies by Jupiter on night of July 8, 2006 - single frame of AVI shot at 60fps-1/200th sec on SKYnyx camera A short movie of the ISS as it whizzes by at very high speed can be seen by clicking here.
Saturn
Image of Saturn clearly showing the Cassini division in the rings. The Crepe ring is also visible (esp. right in front of the planet) as is the South South Temperate zone and South equatorial belt, and perhaps a hint of what would be the equatorial band (on the right side). Taken April 22, 2005	Saturn, November 12, 2005, 3:30am EST, TeleVue NP 127 (5" APO) at f26. Note the prominent storm at the top edge of the South Polar region.
Saturn in June of 2009 as the rings are closing. Televue NP-127 at F26 with SkyNyx 2.1c Camera and Registax. Note the small white spot at top, just right of center - this appears to be the storm which has shown up in several other astrophotographs of Saturn taken at this time.	Saturn in June of 2009. Imaged at F16.5 on Rick LaRosa's 28" Webster scope with a SkyNyx 2.1c Camera. Tethys is just barely visible as a small spot above the Cassini Division on the right side.
The Moon
Clavius - taken with a TMB105/650 Refractor at f31 with a SkyNyx 2.1 Camera	Gassendi and Mare Humorum taken with a TMB105/650 Refractor at f31 with a SkyNyx 2.1 Camera Points of interest: waves of lava flow in Mare Humorum, many flooded craters, rilles in floor of Gassendi
Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel are the three craters at left on the terminator, with Hipparchus and Albategnius to the right with some nice rilles showing at the South end of Hipparchus. TMB92SS at F26 (F5.2 with 5x Powermate) SkyNyx 2.1 Camera with stack of 500 images in Registax.
Plato and Vallis Alpes. Taken with a TMB105/650 Refractor at f31 with a SkyNyx 2.1 Camera. Points of interest: craterlets on floor of Plato (largest is only 2.5km across) and the elusive rille in Vallis Alpes which is a fine catch for a 4" Scope.
Another photo of Vallis Alpes - this with an 8" SCT (Celestron C8), SkyNyx 2.1c Camera. Again showing the elusive rille on the floor of Vallis Alpes
Rupes Recta (the "Great Wall"). Taken with a Celestron C8 on a Sphinx Mount at F25 with a SkyNyx 2.1c Camera. The smallest craters in this image are barely a mile across. Note the rille on the floor of the right side of the crater Arzachel.
The three craters named after the Apollo 11 astronauts in the Sea of Tranquility. The smallest crater, Collins, is just 2.4km across. The Apollo 11 landing site is just slightly below the midpoint between Collins and Armstrong. Taken with a Celestron C8 on a Sphinx Mount at F25 with a SkyNyx 2.1c Camera.
Moon with Saturn III Binoculars - Canon SD-500 digital camera just held up to the eyepiece(!)	Moon taken with William Optics 80mm SuperAPO at F6 with SKYnyx Camera - mosaic of two images on an undriven(!) AltAz mount.
Moon past first quarter. TMB105/650 at F12.4 - mosaic of two frames from SkyNyx 2.0 camera
Venus, Moon and Jupiter on evening of September 6th, 2005 Canon 10d, 70-200mm zoom at 150mm, 1/90th at f4	Moon, Venus and Jupiter on evening of September 7th, 2005 Canon 10d, 70-200mm zoom at 70mm, 2s at f11, Iso200
Comet C/2006 M4 (Swan) on night of October 28th, 2006, 2 days after outburst when it suddenly brightened by two full magnitudes. To the right of comet Swan is M13 - the huge globular cluster in Hercules. 8x30s @ F2.8 with 200mm lens on Canon-10D.
And now for something completely different....
On April 1, 2005, CESD stunned the scientific community with the first ever images of the super-massive black hole at the center of the M31 Galaxy taken during a heavy thunderstorm with a PST solar telescope
The ever intrepid CESD braving severe thunderstorms on the night of April 1 in his epic, breakthrough endeavor.... Full Story at: CloudyNights

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