[AZ-Observing] Re: M74 in Zodiacal light?!

Jack's advice is very good, especially for novices.  I had troubles with
these at my first one, but never made it to the end and sacked out around
1am.

BTW, I'd like to corner myself into having a short meeting on Saturday around
sunset for a few last minute items.  It seems things go smoother when this is
done than when I dodge.  So let's say the short meeting should start around
6:30ish.  This should give me a few minutes to cover the last items, even if
it goes a little past sunset, which is scheduled for 6:49pm.

Anxiously looking forward to the marathon,
AJ Crayon
Messier Marathon Coordinator
Deep Sky Chairman
SAC member

Jack Jones wrote:

> Nothing wrong with checking out the course before the run. It's a good
> idea to have your stratagem down to get to that particular starfield
> pattern. The sky can look very unfamiliar under the starting pressure of
> the race. One year I had great difficulty finding M74 in the 14.5" and
> Gerry Rattley was right there and he couldn't find it either! That
> really 'rattled' me (#!) and it took a while for me to calm down after I
> missed that one and a couple others because of it. Make sure you have
> everything ready well in advance of start and take a few deep breaths,
> becoming placid as you can, and you should roll right along. The other
> bugaboo will be in the morning finding M72 and 73, if only because you
> underestimate their difficulty, taking them for granted. A stratagem is
> necessary there too.
>
> Jack Jones
> Saguaro Astronomy Club
> Public Events
> Lunar List Awards and
> Messier Marathon Co-coordinator
> Phoenix AZ
> spicastar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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