🚀 Quick start for amateur astronomers

This page is a practical companion to the «Experimental observations» section.

Minimal theory — maximum practice.
If you have a telescope and a camera, you can already participate.

1️⃣ Choose a target

Select one object:

• RR Lyrae star
• Classical Cepheid

Requirements:

• magnitude range V ≈ 7–12
• well observable from your latitude
• 2–3 stable comparison stars in the same field

👉 Recommended targets: Target list

2️⃣ Prepare the equipment

Minimum setup:

• telescope with aperture ≥ 15 cm
• CCD or CMOS camera
• photometric filter Johnson V
  (Sloan r′ is acceptable if V is unavailable)
• equatorial mount with tracking

❌ No spectroscopy required
❌ No absolute photometry required

3️⃣ Observing cadence

• Frequency: 2–3 sessions per week
• Total duration: at least 6–8 weeks
• Each session:
  • observe the same target
  • use the same filter
  • keep exposure settings as consistent as possible

4️⃣ What to measure

Perform differential photometry:

• target variable star,
• average of 2–3 comparison stars,
• (optional) one check star to monitor zero-point stability.

Any standard tools are acceptable:

• AstroImageJ
• Maxim DL
• Siril / CCDciel
• Python + photutils

5️⃣ Required precision

Do not aim for extreme precision.

✔ 0.01–0.03 mag is sufficient
✔ Repeatability matters more than absolute accuracy
✔ Stability matters more than perfect numbers

6️⃣ Data format

Please use the provided data template:

👉 Download observations_template.csv →

Required CSV columns:

time_utc, mag_diff, mag_err, filter, instrument

Column description:

• time_utc — observation time in UTC (ISO 8601)
• mag_diff — differential magnitude (target − comparison stars)
• mag_err — estimated uncertainty (if available)
• filter — photometric filter (V or r′)
• instrument — brief setup description (telescope + camera)

Example:

2026-02-14T22:18:00, -0.134, 0.012, V, 200mm+ASI533

Optional:

• airmass,
• stacking details,
• brief description of data reduction.

7️⃣ Data submission

Choose a convenient option:

• 📂 GitHub — pull request or issue
• 📧 Email to the project coordinator

Strict formatting is not critical — assistance will be provided if needed.

8️⃣ Why this matters

Your observations help to:

• identify real systematic effects,
• test stability and reproducibility of observational data,
• support open and reproducible cosmological methodology.

This is a real scientific contribution, accessible to non-professional observers.

📬 Contact

Project coordinator: Dmitry Vasilevich Klimov Independent researcher

📧 d.klimov.psi@gmail.com
🌐 https://psi-continuum.org