StarLog

The StarLog commercial iPad app is designed for professional and amateur astronomers who want to track and analyze their celestial observations. Each observation is tagged with equipment and weather information, allowing StarLog to provide statistical information on observations, with breakdowns by equipment, object type and weather metrics. This information can be used to analyze which equipment is best for a certain type of object, and which weather conditions produce the best data.

Home Screen

The Home screen allows you to define the user, location, and configuration that will be used when recording observations.
It also displays the weather in 4 time increments. Darker blue denotes more optimal conditions, so you can easily tell when the best time will be for viewing. NOTE: Weather metrics are different for American vs. non-American time zones.
The Viewing Suggestions list shows objects that were tagged for viewing at a later time due to previous poor observations, or items that have been manually added as a reminder to view at a later time.
This screen is the launching area for all StarLog functions.

Configurations Screen

There are multiple screens in StarLog where you will define your equipment, including Telescopes, Tripods, Mounts, DSCs, Filters, Eyepieces, and Diagonals. Then, you will create different Configurations of equipment that will be used when making observations.
This allows you to quickly record an observation using a configuration, rather than having to select each different piece of equipment being used each time.
Each equipment screen has an export feature that allows you to export the information on the screen to a comma-delimited text file.

Sessions Screen

A session allows a number of observations to be grouped together. Typically a session will consist of all the observations in a single night; however, if multiple locations are used in a night, there may be more than one session, as sessions are specific to a location. Likewise, sessions are also specific to a single observer.
You add observations to a session directly from a button on the Sessions screen. The screen lists all the observations already recorded for this session.
Each session is given a start and end date/time and a subjective rating, which allows for analysis of observations based on ratings and time periods.

Observations Screen

Any number of observations can be added to a session. Each observation uses the default configuration and the previously used eyepiece and filter, so entries can be made quickly.
A flexible object lookup window allows you to quickly find and select the object for the observation. Once selected, the Altitude and Azimuth for that object display on the screen. A drill-down into the object detail is also available right from this screen.
Each observation is assigned a Successful setting (was the object viewable or not), and a Quality rating (the subjective quality of the observation).
The current weather conditions are displayed and written into the observation record. As these are estimates, they can be modified if the conditions happen to be different. The Success, Quality and weather metrics are used in the observation Statistics module.

Observation History Screen

The Observation History screen shows all the observations that have been recorded. Each line displays basic information about the observation, including the success and quality, as well as some of the weather metrics. The observation detail can be displayed by double-tapping a line.
Various selection criteria, such as date range and observer can be selected to narrow down the results displayed in the grid. The columns with bright heading are sortable simply by tapping the column name.
This screen can be used to answer question such as have I ever looked at Deimos? Or, have I ever had a good view of Mars when the Transparency was bad? Or, out of all the times I have looked at M13, what time of the year has provided the best quality?

Statistics Screen

The Statistics module shows various statistics associated with sessions and observations. Then there are different grids that breakdown the number, success and quality of observations based on the equipment configuration, the object type, and various weather metrics.
Various selection critera, such as date range and observer can be selected to narrow down the results.
This screen is useful for answering questions such as which configuration is providing the highest quality observations, or are observations generally better within a specific temparature range, etc.