Hello all,
I've been enjoying this thread and would like to hear more about long term
computer logging of observations. I've been using Excel for the Herschel II
list, but that's a straightforward and fixed list. What do you do when a single
object is numbered differently in several different catalogs. Also, how do you
log several observations of the same object over a long time period (and
perhaps under different names)?
Also, in Excel, I've accidently destroyed an entire log file while re-sorting,
so I've learned to always save a golden reference copy.
Paul Lind
----- Original Message -----
From: Howard Anderson <handy13@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sun, 05 Apr 2015 11:24:46 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: What do you use to make up an observing list?
Hi Steve,
I use TheSkyX Pro and set up an "Observing List."
Not sure I can post images on this list so I put them on my
website so you can easily see them.
http://www.astroshow.com/TEMP/ObservingList.jpg
shows the observing list that I am currently using.
I clicked on the "RA (2000.0)" column so that the
objects would be sorted by Right Ascension.
I stopped the clock so that it would show the sky at
2000 hours (8PM) tonight. You can see on the right-hand
side below the star map that the local sidereal time would
then be 08:40:46.
You can see in the list on the left that the object
NGC4565 is directly overhead at 23:56PM local time,
its transit time.
I clicked on that entry so that the star map shows that object.
I zoomed out a bit then so you can, in the star map, see the outline of
my camera's imaging chip and its guide chip. These are extremely
precise and show me EXACTLY what will be in those fields. I can
move the star map to get a good guide star in the guide chip's
field then read the RA(2000) and Dec(2000) values to
provide EXACT pointing coordinates for my telescope.
I set up the observing list using the Advanced Query Types
panel: http://www.astroshow.com/TEMP/AdvQueryTypes.jpg
I selected object types and object catalogs in this panel.
Then I used the "Filters" panel:
http://www.astroshow.com/TEMP/AdvQueryFilter.jpg
to keep the Declination between -60 degrees and
+70 Degrees (greater than 70 causes my camera to
crunch into the fork arms base of the LX-200. :-) )
I set the Major Axis to be greater than 9 Arc-minutes
so that I don't select things that are too small to be
imaged...
Anyway, I use this system to set up all my shots.
Thanks,
Howard
stevecoe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Howdy all;
Well, I am working on the 2ed edition of Deep Sky Observing and I need
some input, please.
In the first version I spent some time talking about using Burnham's and
one or two other resources that are now out of print to create an
observing list.
So, my question is "what source to you use to create an observing list?"
I know some of you are working on a list from the Astronomical League
and some are using the SAC lists that AJ and I created all those years
ago. Do any of you use the handpaddle of your GOTO system to create a
listing to what to see? How about a planetarium program?
Anyone using a specific book as a source? Please provide name and
author.
Thanks for any input you can provide;
Steve Coe
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