This collection of over 2500 notebooks were originally produced during the mid-to-late 19th century and early 20th century by Women Astronomical Computers and astronomers at the Harvard College Observatory. These early research works represent the history of the Harvard College Observatory and are irreplaceable primary source documents, exemplifying the evolution of observation methods and astronomy as a science. Join in to transcribe the work of Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin, and others.
In 2017, this important collection was transferred by Lindsey Smith, Curator of Astronomical Photographs, from the Plate Stacks’ holdings at the Harvard Depository’s Records Management Department to Wolbach Library so that the material could be cataloged, digitized, and preserved by services available to Wolbach through Harvard Library. The notebooks remain stored on Wolbach’s shelves at the Harvard Depository, a temperature and humidity controlled environment designed specifically for books and print material. Notebooks transcribed through the Smithsonian Transcription Center will be searchable in both HOLLIS (Harvard Library’s catalog) and the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS). This digitization and indexing effort is called Project PHaEDRA, or Preserving Harvard's Early Data and Research in Astronomy.
Learn more about the Wolbach Library's goals for Project PHAEDRA or explore the finding aid for the Harvard College Observatory observations, logs, instrument readings, and calculations via Harvard Library Online Archival Search Information System.
Thank you for being a digital volunteer! It’s very important that this work is performed in a standardized manner, so please read and follow these instructions to the best of your ability.
Due to the subject matter, our Project PHaEDRA transcription projects have slightly different guidelines than the Transcription Center General Instructions. Please make sure you are familiar with the PHaEDRA-specific instructions below before contributing to these projects, and please follow these special instructions for transcribing and reviewing. This is a living document, and these instructions are subject to updates and additions as the project progresses, including suggestions from volunteers. We try to provide in context examples throughout these instructions. Examples that appear earlier in the document may include transcription features described later on in the instructions.
General Tips
Be ready for table formatting and handwriting that may be hard to read. Please read all of our advanced instructions before beginning to transcribe, as our collection has a wide variety of content and can be very challenging.
The primary goal of this transcription project is accuracy and clarity of textual content to improve searchability. Transcriptions will always be displayed alongside the corresponding image of the logbook.
The transcription formatting will likely not match the written text; that is okay. We want to avoid including white space that is only in the logbook for formatting reasons, like spaces between a table’s rows. Our goal is that the transcriptions will contain consistent and accurate representations of the information on the page.
If you realize you’ve made a mistake, don’t worry, all transcriptions will be reviewed by other volunteers and they are approved by researchers before being finalized. You can contact us at phaedra@cfa.harvard.edu or transcribe@si.edu to reopen pages that are pending approval so that changes can be made again. However, do not feel obligated to do so, or to change previously completed pages to match current guidelines.
Textual Description Tags
Textual Description Tags should be consistent throughout the collection and between transcribers. Tags that describe transcribed text need ‘open’ and ‘close’ tags. A closed tag appears at the end of the phrase with a forward slash. Make sure that you close any open tags with a backslash, like this: [[/end tag]]. These include the strikethrough, preprinted, underlined, and table tags.
Preprinted Text
For our projects, use [[preprinted]] text [[/preprinted]] for any text printed on the logbook pages instead of handwritten; usually this would be the page numbers. Most of the text in the logbooks is handwritten. We ask for this distinction to distinguish between the features of the notebook and the handwritten work of the astronomers.
Preprinted Text Example:
Transcribe as:
[[preprinted]] 2 [[/preprinted]] [[underlined]] Contents. [[/underlined]] [[table]] |Disc.|Object| |---|---| [[/table]]
Underlined Text
The underlined tag covers any kind of underlined format, whether this is a straight line, two lines, or a squiggle.
Underlined Text Example:
Transcribe as:
[[underlined]] 5.04 [[/underlined]] [[underlined]] 4.85 [[/underlined]] [[underlined]] 7.85 [[/underlined]]
Crossed-out Text (Strikethroughs)
For strikethroughs, we ask that you transcribe both the correction AND the text that was struck through. The struck through text can contain useful information, though not all of them will include a correction.
Strikethrough Example 1:
Transcribe as:
B12802 [[strikethrough]] f = 3 V not seen [[/strikethrough]]
Strikethrough Example 2:
Transcribe as:
b 5.9 [[strikethrough]] 6.1 [[/strikethrough]] 0.76
Strikethrough Example 3:
Transcribe as:
[[strikethrough]] f [[/strikethrough]] m 2 v
Text Replacement Tags
When a tag is used in place of an untranscribed feature on the page, you do not need a closing tag.
Stamp Replacement Tag
An example of a tag used in place of a feature on the page is the [[stamp]] tag. We do not need the text of the stamp to be transcribed, and we do not need a closing tag. We only need the tag [[stamp]] to indicate a stamp is present on the page.
Stamp Example:
Transcribe as:
[[preprinted]] 1 [[/preprinted]] KG11365.475 [[stamp]]
Equation Replacement Tag
If you come across an equation with complicated formatting, tag it with the [[equation]] tag. This tag does not need a closing tag as the material of the equation will not be transcribed.
Equation Example:
Transcribe as:
Mean dec = +18[[symbol - degree symbol]] 4’ 29.1” = [[equation]]
Image Replacement Tag
Use the placeholder tag [[image]] to indicate when you see an image on the page, including star plots, sketches, photos, and technical drawings. Graphs, however, are treated differently (more information below). Please do not provide any further image description.
Equation Example:
Transcribe as:
Plate I 6524 [[table]] | | | |---|---| |a|5| |b|5.3| |c|6| |d|6.3| |e|6.4| |f|7.1| |g|7.3| |h|7.7| |k|8.4| |l|8.8| |m|9.2| |n|9.7| |var.|9.1| [[/table]] [[image]] [[annotation]] 10.74 10.94 [[/annotation]] [[annotation]] 11.04, 11.04 = 11.04 00 00 11.14 [[/annotation]]
Graph Replacement Tag
Tag data visualizations and graphs with the [[graph]] tag. There is no need to transcribe the text that is written on the graph itself.
Graph Example:
Transcribe as:
[[table]] | | | | | | | | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |[[lambda]]|150|140|420|150|190|63| |[[mu]]|140|160|420|140|160| | [[/table]] [[graph]]
Insertions
If you see handwritten notes inserted above, below, or adjacent to a line of text and they are NOT corrections, you can indicate this using a caret and double brackets to indicate that text is inserted inline. Example: ^[[inserted text here]]. These are within a table or paragraph as opposed to annotations which are outside of a table or paragraph.
Insertion Example:
Transcribe as:
6884 5 47.0 ^[[47.4]] - 20 ^[[20.9]] 54 7588 6 132 ^[[73.1]] - 16 ^[[16.8]] 46
Annotations
Some tables have notes that are in-line with a row, but are not part of an established column. For those, tag them as [[annotation]] var. [[/annotation]] and put them after the closing table tag. These do not include a table title or a date, only things on the sides of the tables. We use the term annotation instead of margin to minimize confusion. A lot of our tables have columns that fall within the margins of a page, and we want those to be labeled as columns in the tables, NOT as margins.
Tables make up the majority of our logbooks, hence the emphasis on them here. However, we do sometimes see pages of text with margin notes. For consistency, tag those as annotations and put them at the end of the transcription.
Annotation Example 1:
Transcribe as:
Plate I 6524 [[table]] | | | |---|---| |a|5| |b|5.3| |c|6| |d|6.3| |e|6.4| |f|7.1| |g|7.3| |h|7.7| |k|8.4| |l|8.8| |m|9.2| |n|9.7| |var.|9.1| [[/table]] [[image]] [[annotation]] 10.74 10.94 [[/annotation]] [[annotation]] 11.04, 11.04 = 11.04 00 00 11.14 [[/annotation]]
Annotation Example 2:
Transcribe as:
F.C. [[table]] | | | | |---|---|---| |776|1|K5| |777|1|K0| |778|1|F8| |779|3|G5| |780|2|G0| |781|1|G| |782|1|G5| |783|1|K0| [[/table]] [[annotation]] pre. of two [[/annotation]]
Tables and Cells
Begin a table with the [[table]] tag, and make sure to close the table at the end with [[/table]]. There is no need to specify the number of columns in this tag, although you may do so for other projects. This is because the tables can be complicated in our projects and there can be some disagreement on what is considered a column. For consistency, it is easier to describe that it is a table without specifying expected columns.
To demarcate between cells in a table, use a pipe bar character ( | ). Include pipe bars at the beginning and end of each row. No special marks are necessary for line breaks or new rows. Include empty cells, but do not include empty rows. To transcribe empty cells, separate the pipe bars with three spaces. Every row in a table should have the same number of cells.
If the table has headers, separate them from the other rows by including a row of cells with 3 hyphens in each cell after the header row (|---|), one cell for each. Not all tables have headers.
Basic Table with Headers
[[table]] |header1|header2|header3|header4|header5| |---|---|---|---|---| |cell1|cell2|cell3| |cell5| |cell1|cell2| |cell4| | [[/table]]
Basic Table without Headers
[[table]] | | | | |---|---|---| |cell|cell|cell| |cell|cell|cell| |cell|cell|cell| |cell|cell|cell| [[/table]]
Tabular Data Example
Transcribe as:
[[preprinted]] 6 [[/preprinted]] [[underlined]] Objects of Interest on Northern Spectrum Plates [[/underlined]] [[table]] |No.|No. Plate|V|H|Object|DM No.|R.A.|Dec.|Magn.| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |404|1047|6.9|14.5|Ma|-7[[symbol - degree symbol]] 4292|16^[[h]] 19.9^[[m]]|-7[[symbol - degree symbol]] 15’|6.1| [[/table]]
RA and Dec in Tables
When you see columns with “RA” and “Dec” headers, there are two numbers separated by a space for RA and two separated by a space for Dec. In the case of RA the first number is the hour (h), while the second number is the minutes (m). In the case of Dec, the first number is degrees (॰) and the second number is arcminutes (‘).
Generally, we prefer that you put the RA into a single column with the hours and minutes separated by a space, and the Dec into a different column, with the degrees and arcminutes separated by a space. However, you can also put the RA hours into one column and the RA minutes into a different column, and the Dec degrees into one column and the Dec arcminutes into a separate column.
Both methods are acceptable, and you do not need to correct the transcriptions of other volunteers using either method. This is acceptable either way because the data transcribed in the RA and Dec row still captures the numbers in the correct order and a user of the final transcription can still determine the meaning from either presentation.
RA and Dec Examples
Transcribe as:
[[table]] |No.|Plate|V|H|Object|Design.|R.A.|Dec.|Magn.| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |11423|20553|13.3|22.6|Ma|2295|2 11.4|-41 32|7.0| [[/table]]
OR
[[table]] |No.|Plate|V|H|Object|Design.|R.A. h| R.A. m |Dec.[[symbol - degree symbol]]|Dec. ’|Magn.| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |11423|20553|13.3|22.6|Ma|2295|2|11.4|-41|32|7.0| [[/table]]
Text and Handwriting
You may come across ditto marks (“ “) which indicate that the text of the entry is the same as the text above it. We ask that you transcribe the text that is meant to be in the place of the marks.
Use the context of the page as best as you can to decipher difficult terms and handwriting; but if you cannot make out what something says you may write a question mark or what you think it says in brackets. For example: [[Dark bands]] or [[?]].
We are mostly focused on making sure the words are correct, as that is how the transcriptions will be searched. It’s okay if you can’t figure out a word and leave it as [[?]]. If possible, we’d like to avoid more than two [[?]] notations on one page, but we understand that the text in our project can be difficult to decipher.
Please preserve original spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word order, even if it is grammatically incorrect. You may include the correct spelling of a word in double brackets next to the incorrectly spelled word, or in the notes field of the respective transcription page, but this is optional.
All pages contain a watermark reading “John G. Wolbach Library, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics • Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System” at the bottom. As it is a digital addition to the documents, you do not need to transcribe it.
Ditto Marks Example
Transcribe as:
[[table]] | | | | |---|---|---| |Nov. 5, 1904|4712|32243| |Nov. 5, 1904|4713|32243| |Nov. 5, 1904|4714|32243| [[/table]]
Abbreviations
Transcribe abbreviations as you see them. This list may help you to spot them and transcribe the letters correctly.
- “Br Lines” – Bromine Lines
- “Too ft” – Too faint
- “Pec” – Peculiarity
- “Magn.” – Magnitude
- “Dec” – Declination
- “Neb” - Nebula
- “TP” - Too Poor
- “Meas” - Measure
- “Cu” - Curve
- “Elong” - Elongated
Please feel free to contact us with more additions to this list.
Abbreviation Example
Transcribe as:
[[table]] | | | | |---|---|---| |11.5|[[?]]|+41 4773| [[/table]]
OR
[[table]] | | | | |---|---|---| |11.5|Br. Lines|+41 4773| [[/table]]
Greek Letters
When you see a greek letter on the page, use your best judgment on which character it is, using a reference. Transcribe the Latin name that corresponds to the Greek letter in double brackets, such as: [[alpha]]. You would transcribe it in brackets as a placeholder for the greek letter symbol, like a replacement tag, only you are specifying which letter it is. You can refer to this Greek alphabet chart if you are uncertain which letter is being used (Greek Alphabet, CC-by-SA license from Ben Crowder).
Greek Letters Example
Transcribe as:
[[table]] | | | | | | |---|---|---|---|---| |[[beta]]|350|30|410|360| |[[gamma]]|380|405|420|380| |[[delta]]|370|410|420|370| |[[epsilon]]|345|410|420|345| |[[kappa]]|[[strikethrough]]390[[/strikethrough]]^[[392]]|405 ^[[406]]|420|392| |[[zeta]]|300|390|420|300| |[[eta]]|240|370|420|240| |[[phi]]|200|320|420|200| [[/table]]
Symbols in Text
If you encounter a symbol, mark it with the tag [[symbol]] and, if possible, include a word that describes what the symbol would replace. Use this notation for all symbols in text. These can be degree symbols, star symbols, and others. For example, for degree symbols, we would use [[symbol - degree symbol]].
Symbols we do NOT need transcribed are: checkmarks, arrows, and curly brackets, because they don’t add to the searchability or readability of the transcript. If you are uncertain, you can ask us!
If you aren’t sure what a symbol is, you can use [[symbol - “describe symbol”]] to describe it as best as possible. We ask that you do not paste in any symbols or attempt to recreate the depiction with keyboard symbols. For symbol tags, we are mostly concerned with coded symbols that aren't on a typical QWERTY keyboard. These symbols from the keyboard, for example, don't need tags: ! @ # $ % & ^ * ( ) - + = " ‘ : ; |
But for symbols that would require copy-pasting or special coding, we prefer the tag notation for consistency and don't expect our volunteers to go hunting for symbols or try to recreate them with coding. Tag notations should have a space between the hyphen and the words.
Astronomical Symbols Example
Transcribe as:
Comp. star Order [[symbol - star symbol]] [[symbol - star symbol]] [[symbol - comet symbol]] [[symbol - comet symbol]]
Degree Symbol Example
Transcribe as:
379 -58 [[symbol - degree symbol]] 5879 380 -58 5839 5840
Unknown Symbol Example
Transcribe as:
21 38.8 + 43 8 1900 [[symbol - wv symbol]]
Blank Pages
You do not need a tag for blank pages. If it is blank but for a preprinted number, you only need to transcribe the number. If it is completely blank you can leave the transcription clear and just mark it as complete.
Blank Page with Preprinted Number
Transcribe as:
[[preprinted]] 2 [[/preprinted]]
Two-Page Images
Some of the scans have two notebook pages in one image, a left page and a right page. It’s how the notebook would look if you opened it up. Please use [[page]] [[/page]] when you move between transcribing pages that are scanned together.
Two-Page Images Example
Transcribe as:
[[page]] [[preprinted]] 2 [[/preprinted]] KG 11365 [[strikethrough]] 933 [[/strikethrough]] 934 [[stamp]] [[/page]] [[page]] [[preprinted]] 3 [[/preprinted]] [[/page]]
Here are the most common tags and notations we have seen so far:
[[stamp]] [[preprinted]] [[/preprinted]] [[underlined]] [[/underlined]] [[strikethrough]] [[/strikethrough]] [[annotation]] [[/annotation]] [[symbol - degree symbol]] [[graph]] [[image]] [[equation]] [[table]] [[/table]] [[alpha]] - for greek letters [[symbol - moon symbol]] - star, comet, moon, sun, etc. [[symbol - "describe symbol"]] - for anything you aren't sure about.
Astronomy Explainers
If you're interested in learning more about the content of these notebooks, we've assembled some resources below. The PHaEDRA Glossary is also available for your reference. If you're curious about diving even deeper into these topics, please reach out to our team for recommendations!
RA and Dec
RA stands for Right Ascension, while Dec is short for Declination. In basic terms, you can sort of think of RA and Dec as longitude and latitude projected into the night sky. They are a coordinate system to describe the location of a star, using the Earth and our Solar System as a reference. Here are some example coordinates of common astronomical objects:
- The North Star RA 2h 31m 48.7s Dec +89° 15′ 51″
- Andromeda Galaxy RA 0h 42m 44s Dec +41° 16′ 9″
- Arcturus RA 14h 15m 40s Dec +19° 10′ 56″
- Small Magellanic Cloud RA 0h 52m 45s Dec -72° 49′ 43″
RA uses the units of hours (h), minutes (m), and seconds (s). Declination uses degrees (°), arcminutes (′), and arcseconds (″). RA hours range from 0 to 23, while minutes and seconds can range from 0 to 59. Declination degrees range from -90 to +90, while arcminutes and arcseconds can range from 0 to 59.
Though modern instrumentation is precise enough to usually provide fractions of seconds and arcseconds in these coordinates, you will not see that level of precision within the pages of the PHaEDRA notebooks.
Declination can be pretty easily mapped to the concept of longitude. The Celestial Equator is a projection of the Earth’s Equator into space. Just like the Equator on Earth is at 0 degrees longitude, the Celestial Equator is at 0 degrees Declination. Positive Declination describes an arc from the Celestial Equator towards the North Celestial Pole, while negative declination describes an arc from the Celestial Equator to the South Celestial Pole.
Right Ascension is a little more complicated. Before I can explain how RA works, I have to explain the Ecliptic. The Ecliptic is the path that the sun appears to take on the sky, it is the plane in the Solar System that lines up with our orbit around the Sun. It is tilted at a 23.4 degree angle, relative to the equator. The points where the Ecliptic and the Celestial Equator cross are called Equinoxes, which are commonly known as the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, depending on seasons in the Northern Hemisphere.
On Earth 0 degrees latitude, also known as the Prime Meridian, is the line from the North Pole to the South Pole that intersects with Greenwich England. The Prime Meridian rotates with the Earth. By contrast, 0hr Right Ascension is described as the line from the North Celestial Pole that intersects the Vernal Equinox (the point where the Celestial Equator and Ecliptic cross). An increase in RA describes an arc moving to the right along the Celestial Equator. Instead of using degrees, RA uses hours, minutes, and seconds. The Celestial Sphere is divided into 24 slices, starting at 0hr RA and going towards the right around the Celestial Equator. Each hour slice is subdivided into 60 minute slices, which are further divided into 60 second slices.
For more information about RA & Dec, see this article from Sky & Telescope.
Stellar classification: O B A F G K M
Annie Jump Cannon used features found studying the stellar spectra to reorder and revise the alphabetical list of stellar classes that Edward Pickering had devised for use in the Henry Draper Catalog. Where the original system used letters A through Q, Cannon’s revised system used only the letters O B A F G K M. Cannon came up with this sequence based on various features in the spectra, and Cecilia Payne later demonstrated that Cannon’s order for stellar classification also reflected a change in temperature, from hottest to coolest star. Each class can also be further subdivided with a numeric digit from 0 to 9, with 0 being the hottest and 9 being the coolest in that range.
Astronomers today still use this classification scheme and when you see stellar classifications in the PHaEDRA notebooks you will likely need to only consider the seven letters from this scheme. The classification types and the order can be remembered using this old mnemonic device: “Oh, Be A Fine Guy/Girl: Kiss Me!"
For more information about Stellar Classification, see this article from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
Magnitudes
This is a reverse logarithmic system for describing how bright a star is. The brightest stars were classified as magnitude 1, with fainter stars being classified with larger numbers. An easy way to remember how this works is to think about ranking. The winner of a race (the brightest star) has achieved 1st place, or is ranked 1. A slower runner (or fainter star) would have a higher placement number, such as 2nd place or 10th place. The larger the number the slower the runner, the fainter the star.
In astronomy there are two main types of magnitude:
- Apparent magnitude - how bright the star appears on the night sky from our position on Earth
- Absolute magnitude - how bright the star actually is relative to other stars
Consider that an inherently bright star very far away from us might appear faint on the night sky, while an inherently dim star very close to us might appear as bright, if not brighter, in the night sky. Astronomers are able to calculate the absolute magnitude of a star using the star’s apparent magnitude and the distance between the Earth and a given star.
The PHaEDRA notebooks rarely, if ever, differentiate between apparent and absolute magnitude. Much of the work of Harvard’s Women Astronomical Computers was to identify variable stars, which only required calculating a change in magnitude for a particular star. Most likely all magnitudes included in the PHaEDRA notebooks are Apparent magnitudes.
For more information about Magnitudes, see this article from the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
Common Table Headers
The Women Astronomical Computers and other astronomers at the Harvard College Observatory were interested in some common features of stars. Though you will likely come across tables with other fields, you can expect to commonly find table headers such as these:
- Dec or Declination
- RA or Right Ascension
- Mag or Magnitude
- Class or Stellar Classification
