For this year's Messier Marathon, RAS members Ralph Megna and Frank Boecker used the Megnaritaville Observatory to capture digital photos of the entire Messier list in a single night. Their efforts on March 8th faced serious challenges from the wind and morning clouds, to say nothing of the usual assortment of technology glitches. There were also trees and observatory walls and roofs. Despite these obstacles, Ralph and Frank managed to get recognizable images of 105 of the 110 Messier objects.

Click here for: Messier Marathon: The Movie.

Click here for Ralph's Chronicle of the Marathon.

Click here for the presentation to the OCA AstroImaging SIG.

Equipment & software used:

1. -14-inch Meade LX200R
   

2. -66mm William Optics ED refractor with .8 reducer/flattener
   

3. -Canon EOS 400D (Digital Rebel XTi) - one on each scope
   

4. -Astroplanner - for scope command & DSS field confirmation
   

5. -ImagesPlus (running under Parallels on Mac) for capture
   

Most of the shots were between 60 and 150 seconds at ISO800; all were unguided.