When someone forks out the money for a telescope setup, it is with a goal in mind. It may be to photograph everything in the sky. It may be to show off their latest “toy” to one-up Mr. Jones next door. They may even have no specific goal at all, just a curiosity about what is “up there” in the night sky. However, a lot of us start with an observing goal.

An observing goal could be to see every planet and asteroid within range of the scope. It might be to do the same with every star cluster, nebula, or galaxy. A popular goal is to earn an observing certificate from one of the sponsored observing programs of the Astronomical League, such as the Messier list. Why do we do this? There is the sense of accomplishment, a way to become familiar with the sky and a way to hone your observing and navigating skills. It may simply be an obsessive-compulsive need to fill in and complete lists. Observing programs and their accompanying certificates are a great way to advance from a rank amateur to an experienced observer and have something to show for it.

The Astronomical League has been sponsoring observing programs with such goals in mind. An observing certificate is their way to allow its members to earn a sense of accomplishment, to hone their observing skills, and maybe help glean more knowledge about the objects observed. If ten thousand people all observe the Ring Nebula and record their observations, those combined observations, if compiled, may tell us something about that object that all the cameras and scientific instruments in the world cannot. You never know.

The most common of these observing programs is the Messiers. There are several levels available including the binocular certificate, the Messier Marathon certificate, and then there are just the plain old Messier certificates for regular telescopes. The idea is to take a telescope and using star charts of some kind, MANUALLY find at least 70 of the objects. Then record the date, time, altitude of the object, what instrument you used, and your own description of the object. There is no requirement to draw the object, or have witnesses confirm it with you. You are, after all doing this for your own sense of accomplishment, and it is not a test, or some kind of competition. Once your list is complete, you turn your observing log into your club Astronomical League representative and they verify the log, then send off for your pin and certificate.

Once you have completed the Messiers, what to do next? There are many other lists developed by the Astronomical League that call for more advanced observing skills. An example of this is the Herschel lists. Hershel and his son catalogued almost 2500 objects. The Astronomical League chose 400 of the brightest or the most interesting objects and created the Herschel 1 list. For those up for even more of a challenge, they created a second list of 400, the Herschel 2 list. Can you just imagine the accomplishment from observing all 800 of those objects?

Another list that I have added to my goals is the ARP Peculiar Galaxy list. This is a list of 300 peculiar galaxies. The original idea was to photograph at least 100 of the objects to obtain the certificate. However, the League has also adapted it to observers and you can obtain a certificate for observing at least 100 of the brightest. Of the list of 300, many are well beyond visual observing limits with a backyard telescope but are a challenging and rewarding goal for the CCD or film photographer. Since I am strictly an observer, I am going for the visual observing list of 100.

There are certificates for asteroids, comets, double stars, Caldwell objects, and others. These different observing programs can be found on the Astronomical League web site. Now there is a way to get more bang for your buck. There are a few crossover objects that apply to several of the deep sky lists. Therefore, if you observe Messier “so and so,” it may also be a Herschel object, an ARP peculiar galaxy or, a Caldwell object. I have learned to keep several lists active for just such a thing. I earned my Messier certificate years ago for seeing all 110 (or so) of them and some of those objects were also Herschels, Caldwells and ARP's.

No matter which observing program you select, rest assured that it will challenge your skills as an observer. I believe some of the objects were deliberately made challenging to test your skills at differentiating between different fuzzy patches. The best example of this is to try to identify galaxies in the Virgo/Coma Berenices group. In a 12” or larger telescope, you may see four, five, or more galaxies in the field. The challenge is to identify which ones are the Herschels, the Messiers, the whatever. Another example is the open clusters in Monoceros. Distinguishing the Herschel clusters from the already rich background of stars can give you a real run for your money!

To me you cannot lose, no matter which program you decide to pursue. You will spend hours and maybe even years finding and cataloguing each object. As you do, your ability to find objects will increase exponentially, and your ability to observe minute detail will sharpen to the point where you will look at a common object and see something new. I never fail to be surprised, even on a windy night with high haze and a quarter moon! So choose you program, go out there, and enjoy!

NOTE: Our club has a Messier observing program. With it are certificates for different levels of observing.