Messier Marathon 2026
I participated in the annual Messier marathon event, from March 21st to March 22nd. The Messier marathon is a stargazing challenge to hunt down all 110 celestial objects in the Messier catalogue in a night. In Korea, a dozen stargazers gather each year in the rural area of Hoengseong county, staying up through the night. I knew of the event some time ago, but it was my first time participating.
The Messier catalogue is a collection of the brightest deep-sky objects, ranging from bright open star clusters to distant galaxies. The 110 objects in the catalogue are seldom observable in a single night, as some of them lie extremely close to the sun throughout the year. However, nearing the spring equinox, observing conditions align to make this feat possible.
I arrived a few minutes after 5 p.m., and was surprised to find most marathoners already erecting their telescopes. As the sky did not get dark until 7 p.m., I chatted with gurus in the stargazing world. Being a novice with a small 4-inch refractor, I received a handful of practical advice on observation. I found this time to be extremely helpful!
The Messier Marathon
- 6:30 => The marathon begins, but it’s the golden hour. Not a star in sight.
- 7:30 => Evening afterglow fades, excellent Hoengseong night sky.
- 7:32 => Quickly located M42 & M43, the Great Orion Nebula, with the naked eye. That was easy.
- 7:36 => Found M45 on scope (the Pleiades Cluster).
- 7:41 => Found the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Not a chance of discerning M32 or M110, those two were lost.
- 7:50 => M33
- 8:00 => M103. Just barely visible.
- 8:12 => M34
- 8:28 => M35
- 8:34 => M41. I was very happy to sight this one!
- 8:39 => M78
- 8:47 => M1. Could this be true? I had a faint but unmistakeable sighting of the Crab Nebula, which I normally considered way too dim for my refractor.
- 8:53 => M37. Found this one just in time for the 9 p.m. seminar.
- 9:00-10:30 => We had a fantastic seminar on building Dobsonian telescopes and utilizing A.I. in stargazing.
- 10:40 => M44
- 10:51 => Found M46 and the nearby M47.
- 10:57 => M67
- 11:19 => M81. I located the nearby galaxy M82, but it was impossible to sight with my refractor.
- 11:40 => M13.
- 11:44 => M5. That was quick.
After 11:44, the clouds rushed in and no participant could locate Messier objects. Not even the 25-inch Dobsonian.
The event ended around 6 a.m., and we all took a group photo. As I departed at around 7 a.m., I took away so much from the nearly sleepless night. Probably the best all-nighter I can wish for.