Oofff! You should never do that, as a matter of best practice. Who knows - that one 'weird' observation could be important - as it was in your case, since now we have confirmation of a fade! But it also shows good observational practice - even though you thought something unexpected was happening, you stuck by your guns.
I was close to delete my observation from database recevieng the same value Feb 22nd. I'm glad it's rather correct.
[/quote]
Bias in visual observations is always a concern. Thats why I try my best NOT to check or remember what the recent/latest observations on a given star are, before I go out and observe it. Still, many times you have an idea of what it should be, and if it looks substantially different, I can see questioning your observation and lose some confidence.
Certainly, it helps to try another look a short time later, maybe use different comp stars, different magnification, orientation of your fov, defocus, and see if you come up with the same observation. If its still "unusual" after these variations in technique, I would be really confident the difference is real and should be reported!
Ugh! I missed this event. But I have to strongly second what Mike wrote ... I've seen UX Ori fade by over a magnitude in 24 hours. I'd recommend never throwing out an estimate of this star even if it seems too high or low compared to previous ones. It changes quickly!
UX Ori is getting fainter the last couple of days. While I could easily follow it with my 25x100 binoculars, I now have to drag out my 12 inch dobson. I hope the weather keeps fine next week to see how the lightcurve evolves!
I was close to delete
Hello,
I was close to delete my observation from database recevieng the same value Feb 22nd. I'm glad it's rather correct.
Oofff! You should never do that, as a matter of best practice. Who knows - that one 'weird' observation could be important - as it was in your case, since now we have confirmation of a fade! But it also shows good observational practice - even though you thought something unexpected was happening, you stuck by your guns.
[quote=BMAH]
I was close to delete my observation from database recevieng the same value Feb 22nd. I'm glad it's rather correct.
[/quote]
Bias in visual observations is always a concern. Thats why I try my best NOT to check or remember what the recent/latest observations on a given star are, before I go out and observe it. Still, many times you have an idea of what it should be, and if it looks substantially different, I can see questioning your observation and lose some confidence.
Certainly, it helps to try another look a short time later, maybe use different comp stars, different magnification, orientation of your fov, defocus, and see if you come up with the same observation. If its still "unusual" after these variations in technique, I would be really confident the difference is real and should be reported!
Mike LMK
UX Ori has sometimes big drops I guess. My lowest of the season:
UX ORI
2457027.30486
2015 Jan. 04.80486
11.4
It's unpredictable, and that's why I love it!
Ugh! I missed this event. But I have to strongly second what Mike wrote ... I've seen UX Ori fade by over a magnitude in 24 hours. I'd recommend never throwing out an estimate of this star even if it seems too high or low compared to previous ones. It changes quickly!
UX Ori is getting fainter the last couple of days. While I could easily follow it with my 25x100 binoculars, I now have to drag out my 12 inch dobson. I hope the weather keeps fine next week to see how the lightcurve evolves!