Stargazing logs?

[cyborg421]

Here's one I did earlier. Forgot to say you can also email it to yourself.

Burnham overy staithe Norfolk 10/4/12

C/2009 P1 (Garradd)

(Comet in Sextans)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 20:50:48

Distinct bright core using averted vision. General fuzziness mostly circular but no sign of tail.

Messier 101

(Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 21:25:05

32mm shows it as a bit fuzzy blob with a hint of a core. The 13mm shows the core a bit clearer and a hint a of spiral structure. Much asier to see under dark skies.

Mars

(Planet in Sagittarius)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 21:13:09

Mars high in the sky and very brght. 25% filter helps to reduce glare and see detail. Not too many srface marking but Northern pole clear to see and i am sure i can see some ice on the Southern pole.

Melotte 111

(Open Cluster in Coma Berenices)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 21:21:19

Star cluster easily visible to the naked eye just to the back of Leo constellation. Too big to fit in 32mm eyepiiece,

Messier 3

(Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 21:53:21

An awesome object as usual. It is bight in the 32mm but with the 6mm Delos it fills the eyepiece and a number of individual stars can be resolved.

Messier 105

(Elliptical Galaxy in Leo)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 22:05:48

Messier 95

(Spiral Galaxy in Leo)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 22:05:57

Messier 96

(Spiral Galaxy in Leo)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 22:06:04

Starfish Cluster - Messier 38

(Open Cluster in Auriga)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 22:24:59

Double Cluster - NGC 869

(Open Cluster in Perseus)

Observed: 10 Apr 2012 22:25:07

It appeared very bright in the telescope even though i was looking through some layers of cloud!

Heart Nebula - IC 1805

(Bright Nebula in Cassiopeia)

Saturn

(Planet in Libra)

Simon

[peterbolson]

Another way, which I've started to use with success, is a small cheap digital voice recorder. I also use Skysafari to make out observing lists. I find notebooks & paper get damp & I can never see well to write or I drop my pen & can't find it ! But having said that I do still need to make sketches of multiple star systems when I'm recording separation & positional angles so I have to keep a notepad handy for this.

[swamp thing]

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I keep a log when I have the dob out. I also have a silver Sharpie that I use to write the object and date I first saw it on the OTA and with whom I saw it. I know that kills any resale value, but I don't plan on selling it!

What a cool idea. When there's no more space in which to write you'll just have to upgrade

If you start writing nice and big this'll be in no time at all

[cotterless45]

Sorry if this sounds nerdish, but every time I observe a jot and drawings are done. This has amounted to 75 pages in an A5 spiral bound notebook, over 3 years. It's a useful record of observing and almost feels like something to show for all the time .

Nick.

[Josh Wilson]

I'll occasionally do a drawing of Jupiter. I've tried DSO's but I think I'll need black paper for that. I record the seeing, phase of the moon, times, filter and EP's used, etc; you can actually flip back through the notes and determine if any given night will be good for observing. Very useful. I also keep track of how many Messier and Lunar objects I've seen.

[BinocularSky]

I've tried DSO's but I think I'll need black paper for that.

Not necessarily. See, for example, Faith Jordan's work.

[Mark S W]

Stellarium is great. It has helped both plan in advance and to learn star positions when it is COLD and Cloudy.

[Josh Wilson]

Not necessarily. See, for example, Faith Jordan's work.

I think it's very much possible with other people but I'm not good at sketching if it's black on white (black pencil on white paper) because it doesn't look like it really does. I guess it's just me...

[SteveNickolls]

Hi,

Keeping an observing log is well worth the effort. Mine is kept on the computer and copied to an external hard drive (just in case). I've found you can supplement your own scribblings with star maps etc off the Internet and cross reference photos/video's taken. It's useful to look back and refresh the memory. I also have an observing programme record containing all the things I want to do each season (it's a living document and gets updated often with new ideas and as new gear is purchased).

Good observing.

Cheers,

Steve