Logbooks

Cream colored lined notebook page with numbers, dates, and notes about various objects observed in the sky.

The University of Chicago Library conserves, catalogs, and digitizes logbooks from Yerkes Observatory related to the Glass Plate Collection.

Just over 90 logbooks record information about the data on the glass plate negatives taken at Yerkes as well as information about the people who recorded and used this data.

The Preservation Department’s Conservation and Digitization Units conducted condition reviews on logbooks, performed treatments to stabilize items when necessary, and digitized the logbooks according to national guidelines and project standards.

The logbooks were digitized using high-resolution cultural heritage cameras and imaging equipment. The process involved reviewing images to ensure completeness and accuracy and generating master files for archiving and access copies for online viewing.

For this project, image files were created that will be used to produce print facsimiles for the collection. While use of the digital materials is wide-ranging, it is useful to have physical copies on hand as well.

Browse the logbooks

Digitized logbooks are available to download as individual PDFs. The logbooks are not yet transcribed or optimized for in-text searching. Associated plate series are available to search. The best way to open these .csv files and maintain formatting is to download them to your computer, then use the File> Open method in your spreadsheet program of choice (Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, etc.) Double-clicking to open will work, but formatting of special characters may display incorrectly. If you have additional questions about the logbooks, or the plates referenced, please contact the Yerkes Project Team.

Currently available logbooks are listed below. The series that are more extensive and from telescopes producing wider fields of view are listed first. Telescopes are Yerkes Observatory instruments, including those used at McDonald Observatory, unless otherwise indicated. In a few cases, specialized series from different telescopes are listed together, for example "Moon" and "Halley's Comet."

General series

Series name Telescope Plate numbers Date range Series README Series full csv
Barnard 10-in Bruce
6-in Bruce
3-in Ross
Other
I-XXXVII-d
10B 48.5–1925
6B 1-1831
3B 4-1842
Bd 48a-416
F 1-328
FP 1-108
1897-1899
1902-1934
1897-1925
1897-1926
1903-1920
1900-1930
1905-1926
README Full csv
Barnard Comets 10-inch Bruce
6-inch Bruce
Other
C 1-608 1893-1924 README Full csv
Ross 10-in Bruce (10R)
6-in Bruce (6R)
5-in Ross (5R)
3-in Ross (3vR)
3-in Ross (3gR)
Other
10R 1-1506
6R 3-400
5R 562-1405
3vR 234-675
3gR 92-957
CR 287a-1136
357-1506
1921-1949 In process In process
40-in F 1
40-in F 2
40-in refractor F 1-780
F 329-780
1900-1925
1937
In process In process
40-in FRy 40-in refractor FRy 1-49 1900-1901 README Full csv
40-in O
Assc notebook
40-in refractor O 1-192 1905-1925 In process In process
40-in Sch 1
40-in Sch 2
40-in Sch 3
40-in refractor Sch 1-561
Sch 1-516
Sch 571-944
1903
1903-1904
1904-1906
In process In process
Pi 40-in refractor π 1-28811 1906-2002 In process In process
Rcam 40-in refractor 1-534 1960-1962 In process In process
Kapteyn K 1-65 1906-1909 In process In process
41-in 1
41-in 2
41-in White
41-in Monet
41-in reflector Yk41 1-1110
Yk41 1111-1528
Yk41-White 1-12 & Yk41 254-259f
Yk41-Monet 1-26
1969-1980
1980-1996
1973
1974
README Full csv
UVITS 41-in reflector 740, 856-891 1975 In process In process
24-in R 1
24-in R 2
24-in R 3
24-in R 4
24-in R 5
24-in reflector Ry 1-69, R 1-1951
R 1952-3519
R 3520-4631
R 4632-4923
R 4924-5667
1901-1907
1907-1916
1916-1923
1923-1926
1926-1940
README Full csv
24-in Rsnbg 1
24-in Rsnbg 2
24-in Rsnbg 3
24-in Rsnbg 4
24-in reflector YO 1-30
YO 31-48
YO 49-73
YO 74-75; OP 879-926
1934 In process In process
Cook Ast 1 1
Cook Ast 1 2
Cook Ast 2
10-in Cook
5-in Cook
4-in Cook
CA 1-840
CA 841-1624
CA 1625-2404
1950-1951
1951
1951-1952
In process In process
8-in Sch 1
8-in Sch 2
8-in Sch 3
8-in Schmidt 1-595
596-787
593-813
1953-1954
1954-1955
1954-1957
In process In process
7-in Sch 7-in Schmidt 1-186 1977-1997 README Full csv
Sullivan S 6-in attached to 40-in refractor S 1-55 1904-1907 README Full csv


Moon

Series name Telescope(s) Plate numbers Date range Series README Series full csv
Moon 40-in refractor M 1-59
M 60-132
M 201-202
1910-1919
1946
1963
In process In process
Moon 6-in reflector MP 1-16 1892 In process In process
Lunar 1
Lunar 2
40-in refractor L 1-1598
L 1601-1809
1958-1961
1961-1962
README Full csv


Halley's Comet

Series name Telescope(s) Plate numbers Date range Series README Series full csv
HD
HE, HE Tessar
Several
6-in Brashear, 2.25-in Tessar
HD 7-36
HE 1-60
HE-T 1-10
1910 README
README
Full csv
Full csv


Mount Wilson

Series name Telescope(s) Plate numbers Date range Series README Series full csv
60 PN Mt. Wilson 60-in reflector 60PN 1-62 1911-1932 In process In process


Lick

Series name Telescope(s) Plate numbers Date range Series README Series full csv
Barnard L and LC Lick Willard 6-in
Lick Dalmeyer 5.5-in
Lick Lantern lens
Lick Voightlander 1-in
L 1-161
LC 1-40
1889-1899
1889-1894
README Full csv


Spectra

Series name Telescope(s) Plate numbers Date range Series README Series full csv
In process In process In process In process In process In process


Miscellaneous

Series name Telescope(s) Plate numbers Date range Series README Series full csv
IT 40-in refractor 1-71 1976-1980 In process In process
TV 1
TV 2
1-65
H 1-12
1939-1940
1939
In process In process
Uranus/Saturn 1;1-147;60 1949-1950 In process In process
McDonald CC McDonald 82-in CC a-1140 1939-1972 In process In process
Microschmidt MicroSchmidt 1-19 1958 In process In process
3-in Ross 3-in Ross 92-230 1937-1938 In process In process


Support for this project comes from the National Science Foundation (Grant AST-2101781), University of Chicago College Innovation Fund, John Crerar Foundation, Kathleen and Howard Zar Science Library Fund, Institute on the Formation of Knowledge, and Yerkes Future Foundation.