2024, March 8:  Late Winter Messier Marathon Season

March 8, 2024: With the moon near the New phase, the sky is open for late winter Messier marathon season.  Bright Jupiter is visible after sunset.

The Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula: A stellar nursery in the constellation Orion (NASA photo)

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:13 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:50 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

A Comet Hunter’s List

Diehard sky watchers are preparing for all-night telescope sessions to see all the objects on Charles Messier’s 18th century list of over 100 objects that were not to be confused with comets.

This telescopic image from December 19, 2022, shows the brighter greenish coma, short broad dust tail, and long faint ion tail of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). (Photo Credit: Dan Bartlett)
Photo Caption – This telescopic image from December 19, 2022, shows the brighter greenish coma, short broad dust tail, and long faint ion tail of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). (Photo Credit: Dan Bartlett)

Comets, historically named “hairy stars,” were the enigma of 18th century astronomy.  At the time about 50 comets were documented. With the return of Comet Halley in 1759, astronomers were fascinated by these bodies that moved quickly against the starfield from night to night.

Star clusters and nebulae seemed static and unimportant.  So, Messier created a list of fainter distant objects that should not be confused with a diffuse-appearing comet.

Winter Messier Marathon Season

AI-generated telescopes during evening twilight.
Photo Caption – Celebrate astronomy with local astronomy clubs. AI-generated telescopes during evening twilight. (Credit: Open AI)

On moonless weekends around the vernal equinox, all 110 objects are visible during a single night.  The quest by amateur sky watchers to see them in one night began in the 1970s and continues among some groups.  These watches are organized locally in backyards, farm fields, parks, and other dark areas.  Some astronomy clubs may publicize an event, but largely they are unknown, organic events of friends and acquaintances with interests to see the entire list.

Winter Messier Marathon Season
Chart Caption – A section of the Sky Atlas 2000.0 star map nebulae and star clusters near Scorpius’ tail. (Sky Publishing)

Sky watchers use either computer-guided telescopes that can locate celestial objects or traditional methods with a star map and finder scope attached to the telescope’s main body, to aim the larger instrument toward the body of interest.

Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a grand design spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy (Image Credit: NASA)
Photo Caption – Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a grand design spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy (Image Credit: NASA)

Besides the Messier Catalog, another list, known as the New General Catalog (NGC) and its supplements catalogs over 13,000 deep sky objects, those nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies that are far beyond our solar system.  The NGC was an expansion of the 19th century list known as the General Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters.  After tackling Messier’s list, dedicated sky watchers attempt to locate lists of unique bodies that are subsets of the New General Catalog.

See All the Messier Objects in a Single Night

For this season’s all-nighter, latitude 25° north is the optimum location to attempt the Messier marathon session, but sky watchers across the mid-northern latitudes take up the challenge as well.  Southern hemisphere observers cannot see several objects that are too far north.

The North Central Region of the Astronomical League organized the list into seasonal lists.  For example, the group’s winter list has 27 objects that can be seen during the season. With this division, the entire set can be observed during the year rather than in single attempt.

The Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31 since it is the 31st object on Messier's list of diffuse sky objects, is the nearest large galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. Our galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda.
Image Caption – The Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31 since it is the 31st object on Messier’s list of diffuse sky objects, is the nearest large galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. Our galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda. (NASA photo)

The Session Begins after Sundown

For a single night marathon, the session begins during evening twilight to capture the Andromeda galaxy and its companion (numbers 31 and 32 on the list) and the Triangulum galaxy (number 33).  It is interesting that the Pleiades star cluster (number 45) is on the list, but the Hyades cluster is not included.  Both are part of Taurus.

This view of the Crab Nebula in visible light comes from the Hubble Space Telescope and spans 12 light-years. The supernova remnant, located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus, is among the best-studied objects in the sky. Credits: NASA/ESA/ASU/J. Hester
This view of the Crab Nebula in visible light comes from the Hubble Space Telescope and spans 12 light-years. The supernova remnant, located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus, is among the best-studied objects in the sky. Credits: NASA/ESA/ASU/J. Hester

As darkness falls, sky watchers move eastward to capture the night’s treasures such as the Crab Nebula (number 1), Orion Nebula (number 42), and the Beehive star cluster (number 44), among many others.

A long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image shows a majestic face-on spiral galaxy located deep within the Coma Cluster of galaxies, which lies 320 million light-years away in the northern constellation Coma Berenices.
Photo Caption – A long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image shows a majestic face-on spiral galaxy located deep within the Coma Cluster of galaxies, which lies 320 million light-years away in the northern constellation Coma Berenices. (NASA Photo)

The challenge increases when the Virgo region rises into view before midnight.  The galaxies in the far reaches of the universe are visible, such as an elliptical galaxy entered as the 87th item.  From the Big Dipper toward the southern horizon, the intergalactic region is dotted with distant galaxies on the list, such as the Whirlpool galaxy (number 51) and two galaxies (numbers 81 and 82), off the Big Dipper’s Bowl.

The Dumbbell Nebula ­— also known as Messier 27 or NGC 6853 — is a typical planetary nebula and is located in the constellation Vulpecula (The Fox). The distance is rather uncertain, but is believed to be around 1,200 light-years
The Dumbbell Nebula ­— also known as Messier 27 or NGC 6853 — is a typical planetary nebula and is located in the constellation Vulpecula (The Fox). The distance is rather uncertain, but is believed to be around 1,200 light-years. (Credit: European Southern Observatory)

When the Milky Way rises into view after midnight, a globular cluster (number 4) is visible near Antares and gas clouds known as the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas (numbers 8 and 20) softly fluoresce against the galaxy’s plane. 

By this time, sky watchers have likely seen Lyra’s Ring nebula (number 57) and Vulpecula’s Dumbbell nebula (number 27).

Messier 13: The globular cluster in Hercules. (Photo credit: NASA/ESA/Space Telescope Institute)
Photo Caption – Messier 13: The globular cluster in Hercules. (Photo credit: NASA/ESA/Space Telescope Institute)

During morning twilight, the final items in the list are spotted, such as two globular clusters listed as number2 2 and 15.

Such nights are exciting events and worth the fatigue related to a late winter Messier Marathon.

Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24

2007, December 1: Late winter in the northern hemisphere shows clouds above the northern polar cap and some above the southern cap.
Photo Caption – 2007, December 1: Late winter in the northern hemisphere shows clouds above the northern polar cap and some above the southern cap. (NASA Photo)

Typically, Bright Planets

Three typically bright planets are in bright sunlight and not visible.  Dim Mars rises sixty-six minutes before daybreak, but with Venus too far away to fit into the same binocular field of view, the planet is a challenging sight.

Saturn (NASA)
Photo Caption: Saturn (NASA)

Saturn, is slowly entering the eastern morning sky, but it rises only a few minutes before the sun.

It’s small, it’s hot, and it’s shrinking. New NASA-funded research suggests that Mercury is contracting even today, joining Earth as a tectonically active planet.
Photo Caption – It’s small, it’s hot, and it’s shrinking. New NASA-funded research suggests that Mercury is contracting even today, joining Earth as a tectonically active planet. (NASA photo)

Mercury is moving into the evening sky, setting 42 minutes after the sun.  By 30 minutes after sundown, the bright planet is 3° above the western horizon.  The speedy world gains five to six minutes of setting time each evening.  It is easier to see in a week or so.

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Venus and Moon

2024, March 8: During very bright twilight, Venus and the razor-thin moon fit into the same binocular field of view.
Chart Caption – 2024, March 8: During very bright twilight, Venus and the razor-thin moon fit into the same binocular field of view.

Venus rises 48 minutes before the sun.  It is visible without optical help, but a binocular is helpful to find it.  This morning at 20 minutes before the sun, try to see Venus with a razor-thin moon.

Evening Sky

Jupiter

2024, March 8: Jupiter is in the west-southwest, with planet Uranus nearby.
Chart Caption – 2024, March 8: Jupiter is in the west-southwest, with planet Uranus nearby.

Bright Jupiter is less than halfway up in the west-southwest after sunset. The eastward-moving planet is east of a line from Aries’ Hamal to Menkar, part of Cetus.

Jupiter and Uranus fit tightly into a binocular field of view.  Use the directions in yesterday’s article to find the distant planet. Find it before a bright waxing moon washes out the starfield and the dim planet.

Jupiter, center, and its moon Europa, left, are seen through the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam instrument 2.12 micron filter. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)
Photo Caption – Jupiter, center, and its moon Europa, left, are seen through the James Webb Space Telescope’s infrared sensors. The Great Red Spot is the bright oval on the lower right of the planet’s globe. (Image Credit: NASA)

For sky watchers in the American West, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is visible through a telescope at the center of the planet in the southern hemisphere at 8:44 p.m. PDT.  This is after Jupiter sets from the Central time zone.

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