Some General Notes (on setting up to observe) August 11, 2023

 The area I set up in last night wouldn't really be a good one for an observatory. Distance to power is over 100ft, and a building would obstruct seeing the driveway from the house. I need to take those sight lines into account, as well as obstructions to observation.

I found a 24" x 36" board to use as a portable table top. I set it on top of two plastic sawhorses. It makes is a great surface for holding the eyepiece case, atlases, journal, and other odds and ends that I use. It sure beats using the Black and Decker Workmate to set things on. 

Two layers of a white handkerchief over the Celestron red flashlight dim it just right when my eyes are dark adapted. Without that even on its lowest setting if it hits a white page the reflection is pretty bright, and can actually almost dazzle my eyes.

A note on sketching. The 0.5 or 0.7mm mechanical pencil isn't the best tool. I need to take a regular wood #2 pencil so I can shade images better. It is also almost impossible for me to keep the scale in the circle accurate to the scale in the eyepiece. There are sketching discussions on both Cloudy Nights and Stargazers Lounge forums.

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