Despite the advent of photography and CCD imaging, many amateur
astronomers today prefer to chronicle their observations by
making eyepiece renderings. Sketching at the telescope, however,
does more than create a personal observing record. It hones the
observer’s perception skills. Say you look at a star cluster for
a few minutes. In that time you may note whether it is rich or
sparse, contains predominately bright stars or dim or a mixture
of both. Afterward, you would come away feeling as if you "saw"
this cluster. But let’s say you sketch it. Now you may notice
that some of its brighter stars appear reddish; that the chains
form a kind of pattern; that what you thought was a sparse
cluster actually contains myriad faint members. Instead if five
minutes, you may spend half an hour scrutinizing this object,
after which you would come away feeling that you "observed" this
cluster. All you need to get started is a red astronomer’s
flashlight, an inexpensive sketchpad, and a sharp pencil or two.
Before making y