The idea is to observe the 110 astronomical Messier objects which are visible to some of the Northern Hemisphere in March\/April. The best result is to do it all in one night, which is difficult unless everything works out seamlessly (110 over 11 dark hours leaves only 6 minutes per image, so it isn’t so much about quality but speed).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I decided to try and set up my astro gear to automate the process of taking 110 Messier objects in one night.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In testing it the evening of March 2, it was going really well so I decided to pull an unplanned all-night’er and got 100 of the 110 (with the missing 10 not being visible to my scope before sunrise due to the obstruction of my house, as well as it being a bit early in the Messier season). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click here<\/a> for a video compilation of the shots I took (sorted by their\u00a0Messier\u00a0number each using a 2 minute monochrome exposure):<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The idea is to observe the 110 astronomical Messier objects which are visible to some of the Northern Hemisphere in March\/April. The best result is to do it all in one night, which is difficult unless everything works out seamlessly (110 over 11 dark hours leaves only 6 minutes per image, so it isn’t so … Continue reading Messier Marathon 2021<\/span>