Log Books - show and tell

[tombulgin]

Hi,

I am settling back into observing having not touched a scope since I was about 12 years old. In this new flush of excitment, my recent observing has been a little haphazard, so I want to bring some order to the chaos.

I have decided a Log Book is the way to go.

If you keep a log-book, I'd be grateful if you would post a photo/scanned image of the completed notes from a night's observing, so I can see what kind of details you collect, what you record, times, weather, scope, eyepiece, sketches, etc, and how you lay it out.

Many thanks!

Tb

[Merlin66]

Usually a two stage process...

I use a Secretary spiral notebook at the scope to jot down the details etc and then (hopefully) the next day transcribe the rough notes into an A4 ledger notebook ( unlined pages one side, lined the other) any diagrams sketchs go on the unlined page and notes on the other.

I've been using basically the same system since 1960.

[JonnyP]

Nothing scientific for me.

Date, time, location if away from home.

Occasionally a note about the weather if hazy, cloudy, etc.

Objects seen - just listed if seen before, but always listed. Maybe a quick description of anything new. Maybe a (poor) sketch of anything I'm not sure of just so that I can cross reference when I'm back in the warm. (This was how I id'd Comet Garradd. I didn't recognise it as the comet while at the EP, but it was sitting nicely next to a GC so a sketch and some googling confirmed it later.)

I tend to make enough notes that I can look back at the book a few weeks later and know what I was trying to describe.

That's it really. Maybe a note of EP used against the sketch or how my observation compares to whatever book I'm using for reference.

I'll make a note of shooting stars or large satellites including their directions and constellations they cross.