Sunday, February 11, 2007

Astrophotography Log Sheet

As I delve deeper into the astrophotgraphy side of things, I'm realizing I need to log my photo attempts out in the field. When I get home from a session and process images I realize I didn't take note of how I took the images I end up with (yes, I'm somewhat trigger happy). I searched for an astrophotography log sheet template online this afternoon and didn't turn up much at all. Plenty of observing logbooks, but nothing for astrophotography.

So, I made my own template. It's not brilliant, but it will store the information I need when I take the images home for processing. It's really geared towards the Meade DSI (thus the "Minimum Quality" section in the form). But, for me it should do nicely for now until I can think of other improvements.

Other folks might be interested in this, so you can download a copy here. I'm going to print off a whole bunch and make a booklet.

2 comments:

Observer said...

It's also a good idea to keep a diary of the weather conditions and other factors that may come up. When I was a grad student, the old observatory we used in Central Washington state had about 40-50 years worth of such log books, and they made for interesting reading on bad weather nights.

The entry for the day of the Mt. St. Helens eruption was a classic. It went something like this: "It's noon, and it is pitch black outside. I turned on the radio to find out what was going on, and all I could pick up was some Hispanic station out of Spokane. They're playing cha-cha music. It's the end of the world, and they're playing cha-cha music!"

Phil said...

Funny you say that. I was reading an old logbook I kept as a kid when I had my grandfather's 3" refractor. I was rambling on and on about how I could only just see Saturn's rings and how one day I'd have a Meade SCT... That logbook you mentioned would have been quite a read back then!

Good idea on the weather conditions notes. I'll adjust the log.