Some have suggested sharing obs reports here, so here goes. For those more experienced than me (ie, everyone!) you will likely find this boring, but here it is anyway (just copied from a word document)
I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on this, if I should consider adding more information etc. I'm sure once I've got more observing hours under my belt and a better knowledge of the sky in general (ie magnitudes, star classifications, and just knowing where stuff is) I'll have more to say.
Thanks for reading.
Observation Report 13th June 2011
Shell and I started observing at around 8pm or so after a couple of days cloud and poor weather. Moon was at 86.5% and we were observing in her Forest Lake backyard, so seeing wasn't optimal, but in a sense might have been advantagous as we found some of the brighter more obvious objects without too much distraction. Tonight we used my 11 x 70 binos and Shell's 10 x 50's.
First observation report ever, hoping I haven't left anything important out.
Omega Cen
Being new I always spot this one out first out of habit. It was fairly faint tonight even for suburbia, though this would largely be because of moonlight.
Southern Pleiades
My first time seeing these gems. The blue hues really stood out to me, a really gorgeous set of stars that seemed very "alive".
NGC3766
When we first saw these I thought it might have been part of the Carina Nebula but we were way off. Despite thinking it something it wasn't, I still picked it as an open cluster through my 11 x 70 binos which I was happy to have done.
M13 (great cluster in Hercules)
After having a break we found M13 just above the treeline after it rotated into view. We didn't expect to see this as we thought it'd be too faint, but we could just make it out through our binos.
Coathanger
I was very happy to found the Coathanger for myself, rather than Shell finding it first and directing me to it as she has been doing with most objects. It was very distinctive once we found it, but we weren't sure if it would be high enough in the sky for us to see yet. I found the shape of the coathanger easily visible as there weren't many other stars around it (in our current sky conditions) to distract me from it.
M8
Saw the lagoon nebula again tonight. It was faint, but the size of it made it easier to spot. By the end of the night I was confident I should be able to find it on my lonesome next time I observe, so we'll see how that goes.
M20
The trifid nebula was harder to see since it was smaller, and very faint. I could locate it only by finding M8 first, which I'm sure is how it's easily spotted anyway. Can't wait to see these 2 in more detail in darker skies.
M6 & M7
I had found these earlier in the night when trying to locate M8. It was only when Shell told me it must be M6 and M7 that I realised it wasn't the Lagoon nebula. These 2 were easily visible through the 11 x 70's, and I'm still glad to have found another 2 messier objects.
M22
Also found this when looking for M8 & M20, was fairly visible through binos.
NGC6231
Found this with some help from Shell, a very nice looking patch of stars tonight.
NGC6208
Shell directed me to this object, it was quite faint through binos but could still be seen.
47 TUC
After a break and a cuppa we came back out to find Tuc also, which we were hoping but not expecting. I was the first to spot it with Shells guidance. It was quite faint in the sky, but this just gives testament to how nice it will look in darker skies with no moonlight. Can't wait to see this through a scope.
Jewel Box Cluster
Shell showed me the easily found Cru cluster tonight. Even through binos the group of stars was easily discernable. Looked quite nice, another I can't wait to see through a scope.
Cen Nebula
I don't remember seeing this, but Shell tells me we found it when searching for the southern pleiades. I can't really list what it looked like.. because I don't know! (perhaps I shouldn't mention this as I can't remember it, but it's here now)