Friends or acquaintances?

My dictionary defines a friend as a person you know very well and regard
with affection while the same dictionary defines an acquaintance as a
relationship less intimate than friendship. Messier objects can also be
catagorized as friend or acquaintance. You know where your friends reside
and you need no map or directions to drop by and visit them. If you wish to
call on an acquaintance then you'll probably need some guidance to locate
their home.

Which Messier objects are your friends? That is to say, which ones can you
locate from memory using only a finderscope or a telrad?


Martin

Hi Starstuffed,

You asked:

snip
Which Messier objects are your friends? That is to say, which ones can you
locate from memory using only a finderscope or a telrad?
unsnip

Sounds like fun. These Messiers are my friends:

1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 27, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 57, 58, 66,
95, 96, 101, 109, and 110.

Hmmm, looks like I'm no David Knisley, Brian Tung, or Bill Ferris!! Time to
make new Messier friends.


Martin R. Howell

Hi Martin,

You sadly wrote:

snip
Hmmm, looks like I'm no David Knisley, Brian Tung, or Bill Ferris!! Time to
make new Messier friends.
unsnip


Relax Martin. This isn't about competition. It is only meant to be an
exercise intended to reveal that you may know more than you think. Keep in
mind that all unhappiness comes from making comparisons.

HEY, WAIT A MINUTE. YOUR NAME SOUNDS VERY FAMILIAR!!!!!!!!!


.. . .Starstuffed

"Starstuffed" wrote in message
thlink.net...
My dictionary defines a friend as a person you know very well and regard
with affection while the same dictionary defines an acquaintance as a
relationship less intimate than friendship. Messier objects can also be
catagorized as friend or acquaintance. You know where your friends reside
and you need no map or directions to drop by and visit them. If you wish
to
call on an acquaintance then you'll probably need some guidance to locate
their home.

Which Messier objects are your friends? That is to say, which ones can
you
locate from memory using only a finderscope or a telrad?


Martin

Personally, I can find about 35% of the Messier objects _without_ referring
to a star chart, but I consider all of these objects (and many others) old
friends. A new amatuer astronomer quite possibly is not able to find _any_
messier objects but can still consider all of them old friends...he has
GOTO. All of us need to get accustomed to the idea that GOTO is here to
stay! Being able to find an object without the aid of some outside source
can no longer be considered a badge of honor. It's certainly nice to be
able to navigate the skies on your own, but it no longer is a prerequisite.

Al

"Starstuffed" wrote in message
rthlink.net...

Messier objects can also be catagorized as friend or acquaintance.

Nah, celestial objects are more like women: you stare at them for a long
time, all the while trying to unravel their mystery.

By some accounts, Messier was a bit of an obsessive over-serious muppet
and therefore Messier is an enemy, not a friend. Try to "make new friends"
with more exotic objects like dark nebulae and some nice quasars...

All 110 using just a telrad.

Interesting question.
One of the very early guides to the constellations, by Martha Evans Martin
(later re-issued and updated by Donald Menzel) was called, "The Friendly
Stars," The author treated about a dozen of the brightest stars as friends.
Now that sizable amateur telescopes are more readily available, our friends now
include deep sky objects.
I would put M 4,10, 12, 22, 28, 29, 34, 35, 39,80, 81, 82, and 92 on the
list plus most of those you have listed below.
I think one tends to be able to find easily those one visits most often. The
ones I have listed are among my favorites..
One of my observing companions, Scott N., is called "go-to" by the rest of
us since he seems able to find almost anything quite quickly. He helps us out
quite a lot and then we can find the object ourselves. A very good way to
contribute to amateur astronomy.
Bill Meyers

"Martin R. Howell" wrote:

Hi Starstuffed,

You asked:

snip
Which Messier objects are your friends? That is to say, which ones can you
locate from memory using only a finderscope or a telrad?
unsnip

Sounds like fun. These Messiers are my friends:

1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 27, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 57, 58, 66,
95, 96, 101, 109, and 110.

Hmmm, looks like I'm no David Knisley, Brian Tung, or Bill Ferris!! Time to
make new Messier friends.

Martin R. Howell

HI Martin. You posted:

Which Messier objects are your friends? That is to say, which ones can you
locate from memory using only a finderscope or a telrad?

Humm... there are a lot of Messier objects which I can locate from
memory, probably close to 70 Messiers (but maybe only half that many
non-Messiers though). Some nights at club star parties, I like to pull
things from memory to show people, and this will include some off my
"best-of" listing of 328 objects. However, for even some of these
personal favorites, I will often have to go back to the charts for a
quick refresher. I can "cheat" a little on the core of the Virgo galaxy
cluster, as if I put my Telrad halfway between Denebola (Beta Leonis)
and Epsilon Virginis, I usually land smack-dab on the starting group in
the Markarian Chain (M84, M86, ect.). Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 10th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 27-Aug. 1st, 2003, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

How Ironic...that's exactly how I do it too, David....almost
always plops me right on M-84/86 duo!
Tom W.
PS...that's not cheating....that's just 'good' astronomy procedures!



David Knisely wrote:
HI Martin. You posted:


Which Messier objects are your friends? That is to say, which ones can you
locate from memory using only a finderscope or a telrad?


Humm... there are a lot of Messier objects which I can locate from
memory, probably close to 70 Messiers (but maybe only half that many
non-Messiers though). Some nights at club star parties, I like to pull
things from memory to show people, and this will include some off my
"best-of" listing of 328 objects. However, for even some of these
personal favorites, I will often have to go back to the charts for a
quick refresher. I can "cheat" a little on the core of the Virgo galaxy
cluster, as if I put my Telrad halfway between Denebola (Beta Leonis)
and Epsilon Virginis, I usually land smack-dab on the starting group in
the Markarian Chain (M84, M86, ect.). Clear skies to you.