General observing plans by constellation

[Jraymond]

I have been making organized plans for general observing. Sorted by constellation because I am influenced by Burnham?s Celestial Handbook and Night Sky Observers Guide.

For any constellation:
1. Bayer and Flamsteed stars (From Wikipedia Lists of stars by constellation)
2. Stars formerly belonging to an adjacent constellation from the same lists
3. Unusual stars : close systems like Barnards Star, Wolf-Rayet, and white dwarf >15th mag
4. Classic Variables R-Z, plus a selection of brighter type M variables
5. Reddest stars down to mag 10/11, and B-V >2.5 from Sky Tools 3. The search criteria varies to keep the list at a manageable number, say 20-30 targets at most.
6. Open and Globular clusters
7. Bright Emission Nebulae - list checked against Interstellarum atlas for visibility prediction
8. Planetary Nebulae - visibility prediction checked in Aladin Lite.
9. Galaxies & Gx clusters to 13th magnitude and Quasars to 15th mag in SkyTools 3

The idea is not to observe the same things repeatedly. Items 1-5 can be done when the moon is up.

For doubles, asterisms, galaxies fainter than cutoff and other things not listed , these are logged as found.

Mainly observing in suburbia with modest aperture.

[Dragan]

Can you share an example? What format do you make these in?

[Jraymond]

Here is the list of Variables and reds in Orion. Its from a spreadsheet . I cant attach speadsheet file so just pasted it here. I have no idea how to keep the rows and columns aligned.

Stars with a U2K (the last number on a row) are from Skytools 3. I usually sort the lists by chart number from Uranometria.

Stars with a distance are from "Lists of stars by constellation" on Wikipedia

In either case, I go thru each one and remove the seconds from the RA and DEC to conserve page space. Is there a way to print an observing list in Skytools without the seconds?

At the scope I use Uranometria and SkySafari. Dont care to take the laptop outside so no Skytools.

For faint things where even Skysafari isnt working, I pull up Aladin Lite on the ipad.

There isnt a perfect "at the scope" resource. Heres a good/ bad
Pocket Sky Atlas : Nice wide view and easy to use / will see a lot more stars and DSO's than plotted
Sky Atlas 2000 : the most beautiful atlas / will see a lot more stars and DSO's than plotted
Interstellarum atlas : best plotting of galaxies with difficulty estimate on chart / scale too small for small and faint
Uranometria : 2nd favorite in appearance / too many faint galaxies and PN's impossible with my aperture and location
Sky Safari : excellent for identifying and locating / requires viewing device screen
SkyTools 3 : easy for charting and makng lists / not portable like SkySafari on my iphone
Aladin Lite : instant realistic close up view of anything / have to view on device, and you better know the exact name or wont show target

Primary ID Alternate ID RA (Ap) Dec (Ap) Mag (B-V) Dist Ur. 2
Gliese 179 HIP 22627 04h 52m +06? 28′ 11.96 1.6 40
V1005 Ori V1005 04h 59m +01? 47′ 10.1 1.4 84
HD 33946 05h 13m +00? 33′ 6.3 1.4 832
Gliese 205 HD 36395 05h 31m −03? 40′ 7.0 1.5 19
V371 Ori V371 05h 33m +01? 56′ 11.5 1.6 51
Ross 87 V1352 05h 42m +12? 29′ 11.51 1.7 19
HD 40282 05h 57m +01? 13′ 6.2 1.5 519
R Ori HD 31798 05h00m +08?09 11.2 3 97
GP Ori TYC 01281-1409 1 05h04m +15?20' 9 3.04 570 ly 97
W Ori HR 1648 05h06m +01?12' 5.8 3.42 700 ly 117
V Ori BD +03 00766 05h07m +04?07' 11.8 1.53 117
TYC 00706-1525 1 05h10m +12?00' 10.5 3.06 97
TYC 00706-1424 1 05h14m +12?58' 10.4 2.68 97
V1368 Ori HIP 25004 05h22m +07?22' 9.8 2.73 2100 ly 97
TYC 00708-1480 1 05h24m +11?30' 10.4 3.04 97
TYC 00704-1473 1 05h26m +09?24' 10.2 2.7 96
S Ori HD 36090 05h30m -04?40' 10.6 1.69 116
TYC 00114-0654 1 05h34m +00?56' 10.5 2.69 116
T Ori HLB 1A 05h36m -05?27' 12.6 0.46 116
X Ori GSC 04767-1242 05h38m -01?45' 10 2.44 116
Y Ori GSC 04775-0488 05h42m -04?07' 10.4 3.06 116
NSV 2612 TYC 00123-0805 1 05h45m +04?44' 10.2 3.17 12 ly 116
TYC 00120-1165 1 05h48m +03?29' 10.3 2.75 116
Z Ori HD 249313 05h57m +13?41' 9.9 0.01 96
U Ori HR 2063 05h57m +20?10' 8.9 1.5 2100 ly 77
GJ 3379 G 99-49 06h 00m +02? 42′ 11.31 1.6 17
V1389 Ori HD 42787 06h 12m +06? 00′ 6.5 1.6 709
HD 44131 06h 19m −02? 56′ 4.9 1.6 506
TYC 00721-0702 1 06h06m +09?53' 10.5 2.71 96
TYC 00734-0845 1 06h12m +09?30' 10.2 2.73 96
TYC 00131-0060 1 06h13m +00?41' 10.3 2.65 116
TYC 00136-0782 1 06h18m +01?58' 10.3 2.8 116
TYC 04784-0800 1 06h18m -00?15' 9.6 3.15 116
TYC 01315-1128 1 06h19m +16?14' 10.5 2.53 96
V1394 Ori HIP 29961 06h19m -01?08' 9.8 2.81 116
BD +13 01212 NSV 16837 06h22m +13?53' 10.2 3.04 96
TYC 01328-0180 1 06h26m +16?36' 10.4 2.94 96

[Clear Skies]

You may be able to save yourself a lot of work by downloading this (https://clearskies.eu/csog/downloads/other/#burnhams). If you insist on spreadsheet-style data, the AstroPlanner planfiles should suffice.

The objects in NSOG will become a new CSOG 2.4 edition.

Enjoy.