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All entries can be rounded to the nearest whole degree. Use decimal format (not hh.mm.ss) for more accuracy if desired.

If uploading sunspot or moon detailed images without sky position data, enter zeros for both fields.
If reporting the sun or moon has set, enter a negative elevation value.

If you have larger files please email them to:

Sun/Moon Sky Position Observation:

Capture the sun and moon's position whenever you think of it. It is great if you can do three observations a day (morning, noon and evening). Use a sun and/or moon tracker app on your smartphone to easily capture the sun's position in the sky. A screenshot of the app can be uploaded with your observation report. There are many apps available to choose from, here are a few:

iPhone:
• Solar Watch (two words) app free version provides AG (augmented reality) feature for your location. Point your phone at and align the crosshairs with the sun, use the compass offset slider if the sun's path is not already aligned to the sun, and grab a screenshot. The elevation and azimuth values are displayed.
Showing $10 of appreciation to the developers will unlock full features such as to set any location and time of the app.
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• SolarWatch (one word) app will display the elevation and azimuth values in map view. $10 for a year for AG & full features, $25 for life, $5 more shares it with your family circle.
Get 1 month SolarWatch Gold trial (cancel within 30 days to avoid being billed):
https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=1191365122&code=SHARESOLAR

Android:
• Try Sun Tracker or Sun Seeker. However to get AG, you will need to show $10 of appreciation to the developers, again, worth it for a serious sun student.
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By Eye:
• Using manual apps like "level" and "compass", you can estimate sky positions.
• Maps apps provide alignment to roads and landmarks to calibrate local compass headings.
• A fixed pole or pointed structure with a shadow can provide the direction and angle via the tangent function:
tan(elevation) = (pole_height/shadow_length), convert radians to degrees times 180/pi )
elevation_in_degrees = tan-1(pole_height/shadow_length)*180/pi
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Other Apps:
Can't find the object? Sometimes Stellarium or Sky View (both with free versions) can be useful for find a planet or a crescent moon during the day when the sky is hazy. Stellarium will also provide sky coordinates via the grid display.

Websites:
• https://suncalc.org allows you to get the Altitude and Azimuth of the sun for any location at any time. This is a fall-back if you are manually eye-balling the sky position to allow you to verify accurate values.
• https://mooncalc.org – does the same for the moon.

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Sunspot/Moon Photographs:

In general, longer focal lengths and larger apertures capture higher resolution images. But even a smartphone with 5x or greater optical camera can get some detail if the exposure is manually set. Please crop images to 2,048 x 2,048 pixels or smaller. You can add info to your image including: Date & Time, Location observed, Sky Position

Sunspots:
• Never point a telescope or camera with a zoom lens at the sun without a proper solar filter.
• Use an ND100000 (~16 stops) glass screw-on filter to clearly capture the sun with sunspots. (~$20 online)
NOTE: Use Neutral Density filters only for digital imaging, not for eye viewing through eyepieces or optical viewfinders.
Only solar filters that specifically meet the ISO 12312-2 standard are safe for direct solar viewing.
• Telescopes equip with hydrogen-alpha etalon filters reveal structure on the suns's surface and also prominences. (Prices range from $900 to $10,000+)
• One image per day is sufficient.

Moon Detail Photos:
• Capture enough detail to show some surface features and the Moon phase. In most cases, manual camera settings will be required to not overexpose.
• One detailed moon image per day is sufficient, but if you have a long observing night moon-up to moon-down there can be interesting observations made of diurnal libration.
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