Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Mon, 02/13/2012 - 20:55

I submitted my first estimate of Omnicron Cet and later found I had made a mistake of a whole magnitude. Is it best to edit this or leave it as is?

Thanks for any advice,

John Briol

Editing observations

John,

That depends on why you think you made a mistake. 

If you perceived the star as being a given magnitude based on the correct comparison stars, then the observation should stand as is.  You can try to understand why you perceived it as different, but you shouldn't modify the observation after the fact.

If you're certain that you made an obvious mistake (e.g. you made a typographical error, or you know you observed the wrong star) then yes, the observation can be edited to correct the typo or deleted if it is unsalvageable (wrong star).

Matthew

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Yep, it was the wrong star

Thanks Matthew, I was indeed looking at the wrong star. The star I thought was omi cet, is actually several degrees west. Now, if Fargo stops sending us all these clouds, I'll get an observation in.

John Briol