Messier Marathon Planner V 1.3 By: Larry McNish

Title:  For:  Longitude: Deg: Min: WestEast      UTC Offset (Hrs):  Latitude:   Deg: Min: NorthSouth    Remember title and location values. Enter your Standard Time offset in "UTC Offset (Hrs)" above. All times are displayed in Standard Time. If Daylight Saving time is in effect at the designated location, add one hour to all event times. Horizon Limits: Deg:    IgnoreCivil 6°Nautical 12°Astronomical 18° Order table by: Messier # RA Dec mv Viewing sequence Phil Harrington - Astronomy, March 2002 Don Machholz - Messier Marathon Observer's Guide Ed Ting - Sky & Telescope, March 2000 Tomm Lorenzin, 1997 Astronomy Magazine, March 2006 Larry McNish for 51°N, 2006 Tom Cameron for Calgary RASC WCO - Other Options - Include Images Show Max Altitude (+time +Azimuth) Include Remarks Include Times of Rising, Transiting, and Setting (takes much longer to do)

NOTE: - PRINT IN LANDSCAPE MODE WITH SMALL MARGINS

Set your parameters and click Submit to generate the table.

About the Messier Marathon Planner:

What is the best order for observing Messier objects during a Messier Marathon?

This web page will take your proposed date, your longitude, latitude, time zone offset from Universal (Greenwich) time, and display a complete list of Messier objects. You can also supply a title for the table, as well as set "extinguishing" values for horizon limitations due to air purity, elevation and different types of twilight. You then select whether you want a table in order by Messier number, Right Ascension, Declination, Visual magnitude (m_v), or a selected Viewing sequence. Finally you can turn on or off options to show a small image of the objects, include information when the object will be at maximum altitude and whether or not to include remarks about each object. Just enter your parameters and click Submit.

Reading the resulting table:

Image	If you select the "Include Images" option before clicking Submit, a small picture of the Messier object will be shown here.
Observed	Use this column to check off the objects as you observe them. If the object cannot be observed on the chosen night, the Planner will fill this in with: "not poss D" - the object's Declination is too low for your horizon limit "not poss S" - the object is just too near the sun to be seen after sunset or before sunrise due to the Astronomical Twilight effect "not poss A" - the highest altitude attained between sunset and sunrise is still below your horizon limit In some cases more than one will apply and each reason will be shown. If an object can not be viewed for any of these reasons, the columns Verified and Seq will be crossed out.
Verified	If your Messier Marathon requires independent verification of marathoner sightings, the "verifiers" can use this column to initial the marathoners sightings of each object.
M#	The Messier number of the object. There is some controversy around the identity of some Messier objects. The identities used here are those in the RASC Observer's Handbook.
NGC#	The NGC (New General Catalogue) number for the object. Since a few Messiers do not have NGC numbers, other common designations may appear here.
Polar	This designates which objects are circumpolar from the latitude selected and can theoretically be observed any time that night although the "best" time would be when they are highest in the sky to avoid northern horizon effects. It reports: Yes - the object is circumpolar and always North of the local Zenith. YesT - the object is circumpolar but at its declination and your latitude, it is capable of transiting south of your local Zenith. (This is possible only for locations above +45° N, or below -45° S.) ** - either of the above followed by ** means the object is also fairly close to the Sun's RA. In this case it would be best observed just after sunset or before sunrise, otherwise it may be too low on your northern horizon. blank - the object is not circumpolar from the latitude selected
Seq	The viewing sequence number. Six options are available in this version, all predetermined lists from the following Messier Marathon sources: Phil Harrington - Astronomy, March 2002 Don Machholz - Messier Marathon Observer's Guide Ed Ting - Sky & Telescope, March 2000 Tomm Lorenzin, 1997 Astronomy Magazine, March 2006 Larry McNish for 51°N, 2006 Tom Cameron for Calgary RASC WCO
Type	The type of object as given in the RASC Handbook.
Cons	The constellation associated with the Messier object.
RA hr and RA min	The Right Ascension of the object (2000.0).
Dec° and Dec min	The Declination of the object (2000.0).
Max Alt° @ time @ Azm°	If you select the "Show Max Altitude" option before clicking Submit, the following 3 columns will also be shown: Max Alt° - the maximum altitude above the horizon the object will achieve between sunset and sunrise @ time - the local time when the maximum altitude is reached @ Azm° - the azimuth angle when the maximum altitude is reached
Rise @ Trans @ Set @	If you select the "Include Times of Rising, Transiting, and Setting" option before clicking Submit, the following 3 columns will also be shown: (Note: at present this takes a lot longer to calculate!) Rise @ - the local time the object rises (if it rises between sunset and sunrise), otherwise xx:xx. Tran @ - the local time the object transits (if it transits between sunset and sunrise), otherwise xx:xx. (See the comments for the Polar column above.) Sets @ - the local time the object sets (if it sets between sunset and sunrise), otherwise xx:xx.
mv	The visual magnitude of the object.
Size	The dimensions of the object in arc minutes. (Planetary sizes are given in arc seconds.)
Dist Kly	The estimated distance of the object in Kilo light years. One Kilo light year = 9.460536x1018 m = 306.595 parsecs = 5.878504x1015 mi.
Remarks	Comments from the RASC Observer's Handbook and/or other sources. Entries marked "!!" are considered "showpiece" Messier objects.

Notes:

• All times are displayed in Standard Time. With the recent change in Daylight Saving Time to the 2nd Sunday in March to the 1st Sunday in November (in North America), your Messier Marathon will probably occur during DST and you will have to ADD ONE HOUR TO ALL EVENT TIMES.
• A small graphic is shown beside the times of Moonrise and Moonset to show the approximate phase of the moon for the chosen day and the next day.
• This program does not calculate the effect of the Moon's phase or brightness on the observations - Messier Marathons should always be scheduled near New Moon.
• If the Moon does not rise or set on a particular day that time is shown as xx:xx.
  
• To save your title, longitude, latitude, and UTC offset settings for the next time you use the Messier Marathon Planner, check the "Remember New Values" checkbox before clicking Submit. This will store the settings in a small "cookie" on your PC. Revisiting this site or clicking the Reset button will then reset any values to the "saved" values. To eliminate the set of saved values click the small button to the right of the Reset button to delete the cookie.
  
• To fit the results on a single page properly, set your Internet Explorer Page Setup margins to 0.25 inch.
  
• Use "Landscape" orientation in page setup if you include descriptions, thumbnails, or other columns of information.