I was green as could be when I first started observing. We all have to start sometime and for an extended period of time I kept very few records. Those I did keep were not very detailed. There were many sessions where I kept no records at all. Some entire sessions were spent doing astrophotography so there are no observing notes for those nights. Keeping records of your sessions allows you to keep track of what you have already seen when planning a session and its nice on a cold winter night to drag out the logbook and reminisce.

You may notice I use the term "averted vision" in my reports. Many objects are so faint that they aren't readily visible. If you look just a tiny bit to one side of the target, it will "pop" into view. This works because, we are told, there are more rods slightly off the optical axis of our eyes. The Plieades, or Seven Sisters in the constellation Taurus is an example of this, for me anyway. If I look directly at it I can barely tell it is there. By shifting my sight a wee bit to the right, the cluster of stars brightens considerably.

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