In honour of this month’s speaker’s topic (March Madness) and being related to the Messier Marathon which is attempted by many amateur astronomers, here’s an interesting link. March/April is considered to be the most favourable time to attempt to view all 110 Messier objects in a single evening. Considering the cool weather for our latitude and the poor viewing conditions we’ve had over these past many months, the odds appear to be against us to having a good night to attempt this.

However, you can “do” the marathon from the comfort of your own home on Sun April 1, 2012. The Virtual Telescope in conjunction with GAM(Global Astronomy Month) and Astronomers Without Borders, is holding a Messier Marathon Night. They will use various remote, robotic telescopes to attempt to view all 110 Messier objects in a single night.
Messier Marathon Online