Thanks.
Steve Yates
I don't log time for every target. But I do log time several time during the session: beginning and end of session, time when Milky Way becomes visible after sunset; Moon rise and set. Times for each segment, i.e. 6 to 7 pm - planets, 7 to 9 pm - galaxies. Also times of astronomical events like bright meteors, Jupiter moons transit, eclipses.The Wave Catcher wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 6:02 pm What is the general consensus on what time to use in our observation logs? I’ve been logging time and date in UTC thinking it is more meaningful to a global community (no “daylight savings time” nonsense) and I already use it in other fields but recently I’ve had thoughts that it may be overkill and I should just use local time, which is either CST or CDT for me.
Thanks.
Steve Yates
Agree Steve, the amateur radio logging thing does train one to keep records. Of course if you want a QSL, then having the time is important. Regarding astronomy, certain award programs, the AL comes to mind, want times in your logs. Though in reality, the time of the observation is not particularly germane in my view. For certain events, occultations as you mentioned, eclipses (lunar and/or solar) or transits, then if you plan to keep detailed logs of those type of events, time is a key element. But for general astronomical observations, I have never seen time as a critical element as long as you have the correct date.The Wave Catcher wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:43 pm Hi Alan,
Thanks! I agree time is of little use normally but there have been a few occasions when it has come in handy. For instance, when I observe occultations accidentally and want to figure out later what I had observed or like last night when I was star hopping to M2 and I chased two different satellites that led me right to it and so I noted the times to have a little more information to identify them.
For the most part it is just a carry over habit from my amateur radio activities that may be just extra work. Usually I just roughly log start and start observing times.
Steve Yates
“Captains log...Stardate:_____....”Star Dad wrote: ↑Tue Dec 29, 2020 3:37 pm I use star date. i.e. 20201209 and then local time for the start of each AP target. Using local time gives me a reference for the first and last start times I can use on a particular night - as sunrise and sunset varies each day. With my scant 1-3 nights per month I need a record of when I can actually begin to image. I also add the number of images to be taken - always keeping in mind the meridian flip possibility.
I do both. Mostly, I record local time as CST or CDT. Sometimes, I do enterThe Wave Catcher wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 6:02 pm What is the general consensus on what time to use in our observation logs? I’ve been logging time and date in UTC thinking it is more meaningful ...
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