The sunspot reporting form below has been created with a variation of the SUNKEY.exe program
and embodies the information and column/character alignments required by the AAVSO Solar
Division data processing software. It can be used by any observer who has previously sent an
email report to the Division using SUNKEY.exe or the regular-mail paper report. OBSERVERS WHO
ARE REPORTING FOR THE FIRST TIME SHOULD USE EITHER THE SUNKEY.EXE PROGRAM AVAILABLE ON THIS WEBSITE OR THE REGULAR MAIL FORM SO THAT IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ADDRESS AND TELESCOPE SETUP CAN BE TRANSMITTED.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Download and save as text only file. Display the form and complete with a non-proportional
typeface (10 pt. Courier is ideal).
2) Note carefully the spacing of the characters in the example below. Backspace over the
characters (LASF), and substitute your ID at the same position. Do the same for the (First)name
and (Last)name, and for the month/year fields, substituting your name and month/year.
3) Again noting carefully the positions of the characters in the "Day", "see", UT, etc. fields,
backspace over the examples and substitute your information. Use the spacebar to align your
information under the column headers, not the tab key. BE VERY CAREFUL TO COMPUTE THE WOLF
NUMBER CORRECTLY.
4) DO NOT make an entry (e.g., "too cloudy today", "out of town today") for a day on which you
do not actually make an observation.
5) On the day on which you send your report to the AAVSO, backspace over the date in the example
(07-31-2000) and substitute the date of the last day of the month.
6) When you have completed your report, simply delete these instructions, save the file as a
simple text (ascii) file, and email a copy to the following address:
solar@aavso.org
SUBJECT: Sunspot Report for (Month)
7) Reuse the form the next month by simply deleting the prior month's information and repeating
the appropriate steps of the above sequence.
IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT ADD FORMAT CHARACTERS TO THIS FILE (TABS, BOLDFACE, ITALICS, ETC. USE ONLY SPACES AND (CARRIAGE/ENTER) RETURNS.
********* SUNKEY 07-31-2000
Solar data from: LASF
Firstname Lastname
For the month of: JULY 2000
| Day | see | UT | g | s | W | ng | sg | ns | ss | Obs. | Remarks
1 g 1900 7 20 90 - - - - | LASF | very windy
10 e 1915 10 50 150 - - - - | LASF |