Join in an Online Messier Marathon

By Nancy Atkinson - April 9, 2013 at 4:34 PM UTC | Observing
online_messier_marathon_2013.jpg

Have you ever done a Messier Marathon? Want to try it online from the comfort of your own home? Astrophysicist Gianluca Masi will host a webcast

today (April 9, 2013) at 18:00 UTC (2 pm EDT)

(

update:

this webcast has been postponed due to clouds. We'll post the new date and time when it becomes available). You can join in

at this link

, and explore the many treasures of the famous Messier Catalog. Masi said they will try to see as many of 110 objects in the Messier Catalog as possible in a single viewing session. This is what is called a Messier Marathon!

This is the fifth time the Virutal Telescope Project has attempted this, and they've had great success previously. Masi is doing the Marathon their robotic telescopes, and will provide real time images and live comments, along with answering your questions and "sharing your passion and excitement with friends from all around the world."

For more information on how to join in see the

Virtual Telescope Project's website.

For more info on a Messier Marathon and how to do one, see our

excellent recent post by David Dickinson.

Here's some examples of what you will be seeing today during the webcast:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com