Uniquely, Stella 2000 offers a full-featured logbook in which to record your real-sky observations.
For the future.
A notebook is an essential accessory for even the most occasional of stargazers, but keeping a regular observing log is something you will never regret. Indeed, on many occasions you will certainly regret not having kept one. So why not get into good habits from the start? - Stella makes log-keeping easy. The more mundane chores such as noting the date and time, instrument used, and sky conditions, are either fully automated or reduced to merely selecting from a dropdown list.
Most Logbook actions are self-explanatory and accompanied by hints, but some essential guidelines follow:
[New entry] should be clicked whenever you wish to begin an observation. The date, start time, and place will be logged automatically, with alternative formats and preferences available in drop-down list form. Select/enter a default instrument at the beginning of your observing session, along with the overall seeing conditions.
The object to be observed will initially be set to that clicked in Stella's Sky window. This is called the current selection, and is usually the result of your last click in the Sky display. It may also, of course, be the outcome of your last search operation, and this is indeed a very effective way of selecting specific objects for the log and observing list. But if the current selection is not your required objective, simply erase it manually from the log-entry frame and type in the name of whatever phenomenon you intend to record.
Enter your observation and remarks in the upper of the two Edit boxes, the lower being the permanent log record, which is also editable.
[Add Entry] should be clicked when you are ready to append the current completed observation to the log record. The observation's end time will also be logged on pressing this button. With autosave enabled (from the form's right-click menu), the logbook will be saved every time you add an entry.
[View Log] is for perusing and editing existing records. A fresh Stella 2000 log is begun every calendar month. You may not add new entries to a record for a previous month, but you can refine, edit, or write up the logbook in the normal way in the lower portion of form.
A variety of editing, printing, and customizing options are accessible from the log window's right-click menu.
[Picture] Clicking the Picture button will take you to a file dialog where you can select an optional graphic to accompany your log entry: perhaps a scanned page from your sketchbook, a photo of the instrument used in the observation, or a NASA image. You may even choose from the Complete Messier Catalog in ImageIcons.
The HTML Log tab is where you can view your month's log records in full color and in any font or size of type you desire, along with simultaneous picture displays.