Messier Marathon

minutes)] or 2.66 points per minute average.

  • Each observation earns points as indicated, for each factor in the list below.  You need not compute you score.  You only  need to submit your data.  The scores will be tallied by the club members helping with the Messier Marathon:

    - APERTURE (Smaller telescopes are rewarded.)
The square of the difference of ten (10) minus the telescope aperture in inches, all divided by ten (10).  Telescopes with ten (10) inches of aperture or more do not get any points. For example, a 60mm (or 2.36- inch) refractor earns 5.84 points, while an 8-inch dobsonian gets 0.40 points.

   - AGE (Young people and old people are rewarded.)
The cube root of the sum of one (1) plus the absolute value of  the difference between your age and 35 years of age, to the nearest  year.  For example, a 10-year- old and a 60-year-old receive 2.96 points each; whereas, a 30-year-old and a 40-year-old earn 1.82 points each.

    - MAGNITUDE (Fainter Messier Objects are rewarded.) The published magnitude of the Messier Object as taken from Norton's Star Atlas 18th Edition, pages 156 - 157, minus the published magnitude of M31. For example, M42, a very bright diffuse nebula in Orion, accrues  4.00 minus the magnitude of M31 points; whereas, M88 a fainter spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices, merits 9.5 points minus the magnitude of M31. Therefore, M88 is worth 5.5 points more than M42.

    - EXPERIENCE (Less experienced observers are rewarded.) Five (5) divided by the sum of your total full years of observing experience plus one (1).  For example, if you began astronomical observing  with your 1999 Christmas present, you have zero (0) years of experience, for which you earn 5.0 points.  If you have been observing for the last 30 years, you receive 0.16 points.

    - TELESCOPE MOUNT (Non-aligned telescopes are rewarded.) For an altitude-azimuth mount, add two (2) points.  For a polar-aligned mount, add one (1) point.  For example, a Meade LX200 that is polar aligned using a wedge garners only 1.00 point; whereas, the same scope, without the wedge, operating in alt-az mode would yeild 2.00 points.
(See Messier Marathon, Page 9)

(Continued from Page 6)
cannot contact you after trying for a reasonable length of time (determined by the Board of Directors), your
award and certificate will be considered forfeited.


9.  RESULTS POSTING

    The list of observers' names and scores will be published in the Prime Focus edition following the awards ceremony.

10. OBSERVATION DATA REQUIREMENT

    For each observation of the entire observing run, the following information is required: 

  • Messier Object number (1 - 110)
  • Wrist watch time (For a visual observer, this is the moment after he or she has found the Messier Object and the witness verifying the observation has looked into the eyepiece and said, "Yeah, I see it, okay it counts."  Therefore, it is the time the observation concluded.

   You may include an optional note for each observation.  For example, a photographic observation might have a note such as "frame 12, 10-minute exposure."  Be sure to put your name and date on your observing sheet, so it doesn't get lost or  confused with someone else's sheet.

11. SCORING

    Winners will be determined using a scoring system.  The final score for each observer is earned according to the following formula.

  • A final score equals the sum of all points awarded for each and every observation, divided by the total of the time duration of the observing run plus a constant of 0.25 hours. (The 0.25 can be considered a 15-minute penalty for all observers.  The longer you observe, the less significantly this penalizes your average.  This rewards longer observing runs, because sustaining a high average over a long time is difficult.)  For example, if your points for all observations totaled 200, and you observed for 1 hour (60 minutes), your final score would be [200 points / (60 minutes + 15

Page 7         Prime Focus   April 1999

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