Observation Report Example, and Setting the Observatory

Amateur astronomy is often a pleasure as it may be too a way to act scientifically. An easy way to begin in the latter sense is first to set the observatory well, and then to take the habit of writing down observation reports, as this way to do may improve skygazing like a pleasure too. Your observation reports, on the other hand, time passing, will be useable as a recollection of your observations or, in the direction of a science attitude, they'll represent the beginning of a database

Setting the Observatory

A good idea is to gauge precisely your observatory location, might it be a sole balcony! It's useful in any case -and further if you use a computerized modern telescope. First, get the precise geographic coordinates for your site (this may be done through such softwares like Google Earth, for example). Then, precisely spot where the cardinal points are, relative to your field of view (the luckiest of the observers will have all four at their disposals). Spot, that is, where the West, North, South, and East are. This will allow you to grossly locate an object, or a sight during an observation. This will too allow you to better use any astronomical software, for example, knowing how to match what the software displays and the real world sights

The next good idea is to gauge the limiting magnitudes you're getting at your observing site. Do that for the naked-eye, and for the observational instruments you use most of the time and write it down somewhere, in your astronomical notes. The easiest way to do is to use some sky chart -or any astronomical software- with the magnitudes approximately well determined and to check what are the least objects you're able to spot. Do that, on the one hand, for the objects you easily spot, with no effort, and then for the objects reached with an effort, leading to some -personal- diagram in your notes like: 'limiting magnitude naked-eye (easy: 3.5; advanced: 4.1) / limiting magnitude with the 12x40 binoculars (easy: 7.0; advanced: 8.1), etc.'

As far as the instruments are concerned, just determine their field of view unto the sky. Do that with the help of charts or an astronomical software unto which you'll just report and measure a field you'll have observed with your binoculars or another instrument (for the instruments other than binoculars, it might that some dedicated calculators allow to calculate that value more easily; that won't exempt you however to check that against the sky). The knowledge of the field of view is useful with binoculars, as it's allowing you to determine distances between stars (which may be of use too with other instruments, especially the finders of larger telescopes). That allows for what is called 'star-hoping', that pre-computer technique allowing to spot a field from a series of moves, starting at some points of a sky chart

One may evoke too the fact of using some celestial softwares, like 'Cartes du Ciel', or'Stellarium', for example, or any commercial, advanced one. A good way to procede is to have the laptop computer, or desktop at easy reach (on a table beneath where you observe) -which may prove relatively difficult for a desktop :) Most of those softwares have a 'red light' function, dimming the light and allowing to keep your eyes accustomed to the night. Such softwares unluckily don't provide for the red dimming being available for the desktop of the computer, generally. So think about that when you'll foresee to write down some quick observational notes while you're observing on some text editor, using your computer. The less worst solution I personally found, and which is not the panacea, is to write the notes into some drawing software, using the write function, and having the whole background of where you write painted into red. Think too to have a real accute 'time machine' at reach. Either a well set wrist watch (which you'll have checked to some local time device), either the well tuned clock of your computer. Any good observation report needs some accuracy (with the time given either in local time, or in UT time)

A bonus, in terms of comfort, more generally, may be provided -if you get set into the hobby, and/or have the room for that at disposal- by the setup of an 'amateur astronomy corner'. A part of a room, for example, where you'll have all your theoretical and/or practical tools at hand (like your notes, atlases, cleaning tools, little instruments, like binoculars, a place for a laptop, etc.) and that you can further afford with some decoration (some fine pics of the sky, a large sky chart, for example). That's providing the observer with a sense of comfort, and personal environment, prone to encourage the hobby

Observation Reports

Writing down an observation report once an observation session over is a good practice. The best way to do is to take notes (drawings, notes, etc.) during the observation and then to put them in order on a definitive support

The following example is an observation report of the notable planets' gathering which had occurred in May 2002 (the diagram however has been lost at a point, leading to that we reconstructed it, with no conformity to the real event):

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OBSERVATION REPORT. 5/6/2002
. Monday, 5/6/2002. beginning of the observation: about 9h 24 p.m. local time / end of the observation:?
. Observed object: planets' gathering
. Level: advanced amateur
. Location: Armentières (47° 56'N 3° 2'E) (home)
. Instruments: naked-eye, binoculars 8x21
. Weather, sky: sky rapidly clearing of sunset western clouds; however some remaining clouds, in veil, but high; some individual clouds but gathering into a disturbing strip above Venus, then disappearing / Moon: none
. Observation: Venus is visible naked-eye before 9:24 p.m. Saturn and Mars are visible only in binoculars 8x21 and only after researching them a lot. Mercury is found (only in binoculars, too) only later. Saturn beginning to be visible naked-eye about 9:29 p.m. Mercury (same) about 9:34 p.m (a cloud forbids to know when Mars is seen naked-eye). Alnath of the Bull is in the field of the gathering
. Remarks: none
note: a sketch is joined to the report (see below)

click on the picture to a view of an example of an observation diagram

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The diagram aspect, and/or size, may be done to match any personal choice and taste (black and white only, in colors, large, small, adding snapshots, etc.), or function of any perspective of publishing in such or such site online, for example, or stockage into any personal solution. And the same as far as the formatting of the observation report is concerned

Observation records may vary according to each observer or according to each type of observation (when observing a precise object, you will maybe add magnitude, coordinates of the object, more characteristics about the sky (turbulence, etc.), etc.), and when decidedly turning to a more scientific way of observing, you may upgrade to still more scientific ways of keeping tracks of observations as e.g. provided by advanced observers' sites (see at "Basics for Planetary Observation")