At the Friday, November 20, monthly meeting our guest speakers shall be two of our members, Aaron Hellems and Karl Schmidt, reporting on the “Messier Marathon” held at Curby last March.

The 2026 Messier Marathon from Curby

This presentation is a conversation describing the experience of attempting the Messier Marathon from the LAS dark sky site in Curby, Indiana in March of 2026. The following will be discussed:

• Charles Messier 

• Creators of the Messier Marathon 

• Description of the Messier Marathon 

• Deciding if you are ready for an attempt 

• When to do it

• How to do it

• Equipment used

• Pitfalls and tricky objects

Our presenters, Karl and Aaron are LAS Members, faint fuzzy hunters, and avid amateur astronomers. They enjoy visual astronomy for its challenges and rewards. Both have been observing the Messier Objects for years. Karl has been an amateur astronomer most of his life and has made thousands of detailed observations of deep sky objects. Aaron came into astronomy later in life, but has been observing the night sky carefully for about 10 years. 

This meeting will be live-steamed on youTube at this link:

https://youtube.com/live/Ywr6NANHkpg?feature=share

Non-members are welcome to attend as well as those with questions about using their telescope. Someone will be willing to help you out. Feel free to bring your scope along.

Our meeting is at a new venue, The Youth Center at Epiphany Catholic Church on 914 Old Harrods Creek Rd in Anchorage.  Here is the Google map link https://maps.app.goo.gl/aGKhcTDCt3YFjzgh6