Observing Sessions

shelly · #1 07-05-2006, 06:21 PM

Hi,

I hope this is in the right place, I thought I might share my very amateur observing session from last night.

We decided to go camping for the night out at a friends farm. It is usually very dark and has nothing obscuring most of the nights sky with the exception of a few trees. Although, last night there was alot of smoke haze from burning off and clouds, lots of clouds.

About 7pm the clouds started lifting and the smoke haze seemed to have gone so I set up and started with the moon.

I love looking at the moon and this was the first time I was looking for actual features. Having a simple map of major features of the moon was very helpful and made looking at it all the more interesting.

I switched to Jupiter. Jupiter appeared whitish with two darker brown bands (no detail just two darker lines). I hadn't seen those bands so clearly before. Only three moons visible at the time.

The clouds started coming back over.

I turned to Saturn, I thought I might sit and watch it for a while and see if I could make out any detail but the clouds defeated that idea.

I really wanted to look for objects i hadn't seen before but in the end I think there was about 45mins of clear skies....

The highlight was an exclamation by a young boy who hadn't seen Saturn before, he said "WOW" .

I have downloaded an Observing Log template from here - is there any point in filling this sort of thing in for an absolute beginner. I would like to keep a record of what I have seen, so are diary entries such as the above sufficient? Is there any other information that would make it more useful if I was to look back over it? What do you think?

Thanks.

[1ponders] (Paul) · #2 07-05-2006, 06:56 PM

When starting out it's a very good idea to keep some form of log, though most don't

By filling out what you see it helps to clarify the object in your mind. You will also start looking for more in each object to include so you will start to train your eye and to see more. Sketching is also a good way to train your eye.

In later years you may come back to that object and compare any changes. Or you may start reading you notes someday in the future and decide to have another look see just 'cos you remember after reading how special a particular object looked.

Rodstar (Rod) · #3 07-05-2006, 07:19 PM

G'day Shelly!

Sounds like one very frustrating session. You get those.....it can be very hard to predict, and so it is best to come to each session with an open mind as to what you may or may not get to see. I celebrate the good sessions, and remain philosophical of the frustrating ones. The most frustrating sort of session, for me, is where the seeing is fantastic but I have technical problems with equipment. Fortunately these are less common than when I started.

I started keeping a diary after about 6 months of observing, and it has made a huge difference. It inspires me to keep finding new things, and when I return to old favourites, I am often amazed with how much more I can see as my observing skills improve (yes, you see more with the same scope with practice), and depending on the conditions.

One thing I often do is a sketch of Jupiter at the start, middle, and end of the observing session. This would work well, if, for instance, your session lasted 4+ hours. You will notice significant changes in the appearance of the disk and in the positions of the moons. One thing you should particularly notice is that you will probably get better views of Jupiter as it gets higher in the sky, and as your scope adjusts to the ambient temperature.

Best wishes for future observing sessions!

astroron (Ron) · #4 08-05-2006, 11:12 AM

Michelle as the other posters have said keep a log book it can help to improve your observing skills, you will be amazed at how much more you can see in an object over time

ving (David) · #5 08-05-2006, 11:18 AM

sounds like a rather short but fun session

I have yet to keep an observing log, but i probably should soon

I think that so far not having a log has been positive for me cause every time i stumble accross something its like the first time

yeah, start a log cause it'll be god for ya

shelly · #6 08-05-2006, 01:35 PM

Thank you all for your replies - looks like I will be starting an observing log!

How much information should I put down - as much as possible I suppose, but what should that include as a minimum?

Thanks again.

ving (David) · #7 08-05-2006, 02:04 PM

the more kyou put down the less you have to remember...
also depends on what you are observing and why.

vespine · #8 08-05-2006, 02:24 PM

I've also only just started observing and have been thinking about similar questions to the ones you raise. Observational logs are mainly for your own benefit so just write them in a way that makes the most sense to you. I also think keeping a log aids you in getting the most out of your observing session by helping you to learn how to appreciate what you are looking at by honing your "seeing" skills. The way I believe this happens is by purposefully paying attention to as many aspects of what you are seeing at as possible, as opposed to just looking. I liken the analogy of seeing as opposed to looking is the same as listening as opposed to just hearing.
The 'formalities' I include are date, time, telescope used (even tho I only have one for now you never know when you'll get a different one), temp (on a scale of warm, cold, very cold

) I then mention if I have planned targets or just ad hoc observing. This can mostly be done in about a minute before even going out to the scope.
Then I think a great way to start after setting up the scope is by gauging the seeing on that particular night. This is something that I'm still not very good at, but I generally start by writing down how transparent the sky seems and how much stars seem to twinkle, near the horizon and right above. This is my 'simple' gauge of how good seeing is until I learn how to do it more formally, the more you do it and record it the better sense you will get of how good a particular night is, which I think is a good skill to have.
From there it's really just up to you, I'm still learning a lot of the constellations and only know the names of a few objects so most of my logs are not very accurate with that information, but the more I find and identify the better I'll get at it, which I guess is the point.
I'm at the stage where I'll find something and try to spend several minutes looking at it, at first it seemed like a bit of waste of time since initially it feels like "once you've seen it, what's left to see?" but you really do start seeing a lot more when you spend more then a couple of minutes on one object, particularly with nebula I find. When my eye starts getting a bit tired I'll take a rest and usually have a look through my binoculars for a minute or two and then I'll go back to the eye piece for another few minutes. Then I'll change eyepieces or use my barlow and try to describe to myself any differences I can find in how much I can see.
Last time, I even had a shot at drawing the jewel box just to have a go, I found it quite difficult, I might actually post in a new thread and ask for some tips because it seemed like something I'd like to keep trying. It really helps you to try to actually SEE every single star/detail instead of just looking at it like one object.
Anyway, this post has turned ridiculously long! So I'll leave it there

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #9 08-05-2006, 03:13 PM

Hi Michelle,

and welcome.

I am guilty of not keeping logs and I kick myself regularly for it.

Back around 1989 I was sketching Joop at 15 - 20 minute intervals and during this exercise I noticed a new storm very similiar to The GRS junior that is on Joop at the moment. I reported it and found I was the first to do so!

So, sketching and logging is a good idea (for those that keep it up).

I have only done about 10 sketches in recent times and I still don't keep a log, silly me.