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They have a monthly observing challenge over at the Astromart site's forum as well and usually the number of reports and few and far between. My take on it is that it takes a little bit of effort to write up a report and a lot more effort to sketch an object. Its easier to just tick the object seen off a large list! But then again it depends on the individual observer. I for one need to at least sketch something or write a short report on the object I am looking at to mark it as seen. Also I find people with larger scopes tend to skim more than observe because everything is nice, bright and bold (no flames please...just my personal take). Since I started with a very small scope and have progress to a slightly larger one (still very small by modern standards), I tend to take a lot more time looking at a single object and trying to drink in all that it has to offer. And sketching is one good way to hone my observing skills. Plus I have been inspired by O'Meara's books.
Darren
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