±õ³Ù¡¯²õalmost spring, so ¾±³Ù¡¯²õ Messier Marathon planning time.?
At Saturday¡¯s TAAS, SAS and LLT happy hour we decided to do a joint marathon at the Salem Propbusters site. ?This year¡¯s spring new moons are Saturday March 29th (with a partial Solar eclipse at 6:40 AM AND a TAAS/SAS/ASNH event at Hammonasset) and Sunday April 27th. ??With the New England weather, this means we have to ¡°schedule¡± the events on our calendars for the Friday and Saturday nights on both of those weekends. ?Juggling the marathon, an eclipse, and a Hammonasset outreach event on one day will be a challenge.?
So put these dates in your minds/calendars/daytimers/phones/ASIAIRs or however you keep track of astro plans and be flexible as we get close. ?I will follow-up with Messier Marathon viewing order lists (in the TAAS groups.io files section), packing checklists, stay warm hints, and sleep deprivation techniques over the next few weeks.?
Hopefully between?us, we can view or image all 110 of Charlie¡¯s marathon objects. ?Or at least a sprint of a few of them.?
Mark Strollo