2026-01-01
Now that I’ve been observing for a few years I wanted to take some time looking back on this year and prior years. Using ripgrep to parse my notes I was able to get some numerical data showing trends in my observations.
This year was a serious challenge because of the more frequent clouds during my typical observation times. Only getting out once every 12 days really felt strange given last year I hit my peak at once every 4.5 days. This may help describe why I was feeling so antsy this year!
The high number of observations in 2022 makes sense as my drawings were quite crude and my observation time per target was rather low. The peak in 2024 could be explained by introducing Carbon Stars to my challenge list, as overall they are pretty easy to observe in lower quality conditions.
It’s interesting to see a near linear decline in average observations per night since I started. My excitement at the beginning to hit as many targets as possible was soon replaced with a desire to slow down to see them “well” and spend more time on each target. Then, later that desire continued to slow down even more and sketch each target well.
Large changes this year:
- Adding a wide-field 28mm 2” Eyepiece
- Installing a proper RA Motor on my CG-4 Mount
- Acquiring a Unihedron SQM-L Sky Meter to measure Mpsas
- Migration of my notes from Org-Mode to Markdown
Top 3 Observations for 2025:
- 2025-03-19: NGC 1746
- 2025-08-19: M 57, Ring Nebula
- 2025-11-21: NGC 884 & NGC 869 Double Cluster
Here’s to hoping the clouds are a little more forgiving in 2026.