Keeping a journal of observations

[jimieee]

Hello,

I've found that the morning after I've been out observing I find it really useful to have made some notes about what I saw the night before.

I want to start a journal/diary of what I see and was wondering what information other people note down. So far I'm just thinking of the basics:

• Equipment used
  
• Location
  
• Date/time
  
• Objects seen + comments
  
• Objects I tried to find, but failed to do so.
  
• Reasons why I think I couldn't find the above
  

Is there anything else that I should be note down?

Are there any online resources I can use?

Any other ideas?

Thanks

[Ganymede12]

You could try to draw the view through the finder to make t easier to locate the object again.

If you have family who stay up late enough you could also write down what they saw.

The amount of time your eyes had to dark adapt, maybe?

[Marki]

I tend to include a quick note on weather conditions and an estimate of whether you think the "seeing" and "transparency" are any good - might be useful to see how your ability to find stuff changes with the conditions.

[jimieee]

Thanks guys! I don't think I'm that good at sketching, but I might have a go.

I'm not sure I could rate the "seeing". Might have to read up on it.

[Astralstroll]

I try and make notes on my iPhone and then write them up in my occasional blog ass and when Ive got the time.

Dave.

[jimieee]

The problem with making notes on my (Android) mobile phone is that it ruins your night vision - even if you turn the brightness right down.

[paul schofield]

I include all your listed points, in addition I put weather and sky, transparency conditions. Moon position & phase if present. And I include sketches of various items found, especially if it is the first time seen.

[jimieee]

Thanks guys, I guess now I just need to go out and buy a pad - is A5 ok, or will it be a bit small?

[r3i]

I jot down notes about my imaging efforts into a blog during the session, which as you've noted, is not really ideal if you're a visual observer as it would ruin your night vision.

I've tried to standardise my note taking and the result reminds me a little bit of how we used to write up experiments in school chemistry lessons, which is probably not surprising as in a lot of ways Astronomy is an experimental pursuit.

My headings tend to be:

Objectives - what I wanted to achieve

Seeing Conditions

Equipment - equipment used and any issues that occurred

Operations - what went on during the session

Result - a summary of how the image came out, which I do after the session when I've processed the image

Conclusions - occasionally lists what went right but usually lists what went wrong and what I need to sort out for the next session

A blog has the advantage of being searchable, which is quite useful on occasions, but it doesn't have the same tangible feel of a physical log book.

[Marki]

Thanks guys! I don't think I'm that good at sketching, but I might have a go.

I'm not sure I could rate the "seeing". Might have to read up on it.

My limited understanding is that "transparency" is simply how much you can see - better transparency means you should see more and possibly feinter things. On the otherhand, "seeing" is the stability of the image - if the atmosphere is very turbulent or has a higher haze/moisture/pollution content, then it may be harder to see steady images, or maintain focus, so lose the ability to see details on planets, split tight doubles that sort of thing. I don't know if there is any objective scale of measurement...if it looks murky or wobbly I simply write that the seeing is bad . Sure the more experienced SGLers will have better ideas.

I simply uses a small (less than A5) bound book to write my notes in. I write up as soon as I get back in, even if its late. I don't bother during a session, as I'd have to get a light out to see, plus the paper gets soggy and dewey and having a pen/pencil is just something else to lose (along with screws, eyepiece caps...lol). Like r3i above says, there is a nice tangible feel to having a physical log-book, and I quite enjoy looking back thorugh mine when planning what to see next, or simply to guage how much I;ve come on since I started in the hobby.

[LeeB]

I use a book at both ends front for log, back for finder help by drawing a page an object with hints for finding if a toughy

[JamesF]

This is a quick way to gauge the quality of the seeing:

http://darkskydiary.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/naked-eye-limiting-magnitude-redux/

James

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I just have an A5 notebook, i do a little sketch of what i can see and make some notes, what the weather is like, what i think seeing is, what i can make out in the EP, what kind of wildlife is scaring me. I only do it as i find it makes me look at the object more closely. You can look at it for half an hour but you might not of actually observed it.

[Stargazer33]

The problem with making notes on my (Android) mobile phone is that it ruins your night vision - even if you turn the brightness right down.

If you use the 'voice recorder' on your android/iphone to take notes, then you don't even have to take your eye away from the eyepiece and you can write them up afterwards.

Bryan

[stargazerlily]

I have two note books. An A4 notebook that I record the session details, like date, time ... seeing etc but also equipment settings, problems ... how to do things ... tips and tricks. Where possible I print out a photo captured using the web cam and stick it into the notebook.

I also have a small note book that goes in my tool chest that contains all my scope tools, eye pieces, spirit levels etc. This note book has extracts from manuals (e.g. how to align using 3 stars, Synscan menus etc) and also capture settings for various objects using SharpCap (Mars, Saturn etc). The reason why I have this smaller book is no matter how many times I set up my scope, I always forget how to do something ... for example, how to find a particular menu option on the handset. Works for me.

Pete