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MODERN OBSERVERS,
TOO, CAN BENEFIT from such abbreviations. It makes note-taking
at the eyepiece a cinch, reducing the writing time and increasing accuracy.
In my case, my normal handwriting approximates graphological
schizophrenia, and trying to decipher notes from last week is agonising. Using a
combination of abbreviations and normal text makes for concise descriptions and
goes a long way in solving the legibility problem. Some folk maintain that
abbreviations restrict your thinking and that your descriptions then all turn
out more or less the same; this simply isn't true, in the same way that taking
dictation doesn't reduce the vocabulary of the speaker.
Some examples of my note-taking for open clusters:
(1) "Cl D = 1/6 K18. Cl is constrn by 3 * W & 2 E"
(2)
"Abt doz prom * & many F/vF"
(3) "S: 2 9m * (no col)
rough NS with neb. Co Cl L&S *, F*s to W of 2 B *; best seen avv"
(4)
"1 * 9m on edge eRi glow vF-eF *s. Of these, the Ber * are in S groups iR
scatt abt."
The translation of these is quite straight-forward:
(1) "Diameter
of cluster is one-sixth of the field of view of the 18mm eyepiece. The cluster
is constrained by three stars to the west and two to the east."
(2) "About
a dozen prominent stars and many faint and very faint ones."
(3) "The
first impression, in the sweeping eyepiece [lowest power]: the cluster shows as
two 9th magnitude stars (of no distinct colour), arranged roughly north-south,
within a nebulous haze. Closer examination shows a coarse cluster of large and
small [i.e. bright and faint] stars, with the fainter stars to the west of the
two brighter ones; cluster needs averted vision to show well."
(4) "A
9th mag star on the edge of an extremely rich glow of very faint to extremely
faint stars. Of these, the brighter ones are gathered in small groups
irregularly scattered about."
The abbreviated version is 73% shorter, and consequently much
quicker to write down. Use the time saved in this way to sketch the object.
WHICH BRINGS US BACK
to William again. He wrote: "By going into the light so
often as was necessary to write down my observations, the eye could never return
soon enough to that full dilation of the iris which is absolutely required for
delicate observations. The difficulty also of keeping a proper memorandum of the
parts of the heavens which had been examined ... intermixed with many short and
long stops while I was writing ...." lead him to modify the design of
his telescope and his observing methods.
The changes were successful: "Soon after I removed
also the only then remaining obstacle to seeing well, by having recourse to an
assistant, whose care it was to write down, and at the same time loudly to
repeat after me, every thing I required to be written down. In this manner all
the descriptions of nebulae and other observations were recorded; by which I
obtained the singular advantage that the descriptions were actually writing and
repeating to me while I had the object before my eye, and could at pleasure
correct them, whenever they disagreed with the picture before me without looking
from it."
Few of us have the luxury of a night assistant, willing to
takes notes for us. But technology can step in and offer a willing surrogate -
the dictaphone or portable tape recorder. For obvious reasons, mine is
christened Caroline.
Often, however, the fluidity of ideas is best expressed by a
free-form diagram, making a combination of note-taking and electronic recording
necessary.
A final note: Don't forget to add details about yourself, your
telescope, etc. to your descriptions. Herschel wrote: "It should be
observed that all estimations of brightness and size must be referred to the
instrument with which the nebulae and clusters of stars were seen; the clearness
and transparency of the atmosphere, the degree of attention, and many more
particular circumstances, should also be taken into consideration." | 
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