Trueframe DIGITAL
Darksite guide

How do I keep track of what I've observed with my telescope?

Last updated: 7 September 2026

Keep an observing log: one entry per object per night, with the date, where you were, which telescope and eyepiece you used, how the sky was, and what you actually saw. A paper notebook does the job. An app like Darksite makes the same log searchable and fills in your Messier list for you.

How to keep an observing log, with or without an app

  1. Pick one place for everything. A bound notebook, a binder of printed forms, or an app. Not three places, because the notes you split up are the notes you lose.
  2. Start each night with a header. Date, site, telescope, the eyepieces you brought, and the sky: seeing, transparency, moon phase and where the moon is.
  3. Make one entry per object. Object name, time, eyepiece and magnification, filter if you used one.
  4. Write what you saw, not what you expected. Shape, brightness, whether it was easy or only there with averted vision. A rough sketch of the eyepiece view beats a paragraph.
  5. Log the misses too. "Looked for M101, nothing" is real data about your sky and your scope.
  6. Keep an index. A running list of objects seen and the page they are on. This is what turns a diary into a record, and it is what observing programs ask for when you apply for a certificate.

How Darksite does it

Darksite is a telescope observing log and tonight planner for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Windows. The log is the free part. The free tier includes an unlimited observing log, the gear locker, the Messier life-list up to 70 objects, and backup, restore and export. Each entry has a round eyepiece-view sketch field, a seeing and transparency scale, NELM and SQM, and a voice clip captured at the scope.

The header step above becomes a one-time job. Add your telescopes, eyepieces and filters once, and Darksite does the field-of-view and exit-pupil math for every combination. Every catalogue entry shows the object's coordinates, magnitude and size, plus what you wrote the last time you found it. The index step happens on its own: Messier, Herschel 400 and Lunar life-lists fill in automatically from the log.

Darksite Pro is a one-time in-app purchase of $29.99. It unlocks the full observing-programs library, coordinator-ready exports and week-ahead planning. There is no subscription.

No account, no login, no cloud. Darksite is local-first: your gear, logs, sites and life-lists stay on your device, and there are no ads or tracking. Your dark-site coordinates never leave the device, and they are rounded or redacted in ordinary exports, so sharing a log does not give away your spot.

Darksite runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Windows. It is on the App Store, the Mac App Store, Google Play and the Microsoft Store now. On Mac and Windows it opens as a wide planning desk. On iPhone and Android it folds down to a one-handed red deck you can work at the eyepiece.

Get Darksite

Related questions

Can I back up or export my observing log?
Yes, and it is free on every tier. Darksite backs up and restores your whole observing database as a file you keep, and exports your log. Backups are your files, not a cloud service.
Do I need an account to use Darksite?
No. There is no account, no login and no cloud. Everything stays on your device.
Is Darksite a planetarium or star map?
No. Darksite is the planner and logbook that works alongside the sky-map app you already own. It never draws the sky.

Darksite is a Trueframe Digital app. Pay once, no account, your data stays on your device. See the Darksite page for screenshots, the full feature list and prices.