True story-if you're not documenting your science experiments you're probably just f*cking around. Without documentation, reproducing experiments later is next to impossible because you may or may not remember what you did the first time around. If you can't exactly reproduce your experiment, your data set is going to be skewed.
Also, working in IT for over 20 years, my mantra has become "if it isn't documented, it didn't happen".
My next big project before I start documenting my stargazing is to document EVERYTHING-specs on all my equipment, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for getting the equipment set up and calibrated, and procedures on gathering and recording my data. Fortunately, I already have a baseline; I can use the AAVSO's Visual Observing Manual as a template and adjust it to my equipment and setup.
Once I have my documentation drafted, I'll test it by viewing some easy variable stars (R CrB and RY Sgr) and see how easy it is to follow. I'll keep revising and testing until I have an easy standard to follow.
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