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Observing Lists Get Corrupted

Has anyone else had this problem? Last fall I created a couple of observing lists of asteroids that I wanted to image. Recently I noticed that those lists were missing objects I had included, and also had asteroids included that I had not selected. They were easy enough to repair, but discouraging. A similar problem occurred with observing lists of NGC objects I want to image. Some of the NGC numbers pointed to completely different objects and the names of those objects showed up on the sky chart when highlighted. For example NGC 7789 was linked to NGC 6167 and NGC 6940 was linked to Collinder 91. Again, easy enough to fix, but discouraging. What is going on?
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17 comments

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    Keiron Smith Official comment

    DevOps reference: https://starrynight.unfuddle.com/a#/projects/7965/tickets/by_number/3721

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    Garry Bluhm

    Dave,
    Caroline’s Rose is one of my favorites and checked a couple of my Observing Lists to find it linked to NGC 2423 and not as NGC6167 as you have. Definitely something buggy going on.

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    Dave Chapman

    Thanks for confirming! I also had asteroid observing lists messed up

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    Dirtbagpook

    Uh oh. I too have noticed this behaviour now that you mention it. When I search for 'NGC 7789' select 'Show Observations' from the 'More' menu (or bring up the Contextual Menu option from the Sky View and then tap the 'Show Observations' icon), observations of NGC 6811 are listed. The same is true for NGC 2281. Show Observations produces a list for NGC 6281.

    Fortunately, I'm pretty sure my total number of observations is correct. 

    I feel better, but not much, that I have an alternative authority for my observations. I'd feel much better if they allowed us to export all our observations (& related Observation Session Notes) from their LiveSky. The issue 'Only 3,000 records exported' I reported in 2023 still exists when I last checked in Oct 2024.

    Best,

    Mark Force

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    psap

    Here’s another recent post reporting the same issue: Bug Report: Minor Body Orbit Data Update Changes Observed Object Names. It seems that a database update—whether automatic or manual—triggers this mismatch.

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    Keiron Smith

    Hi Dave, Mark, 

    Is this still an issue on the latest version 7.6.1?  

    To the best of your ability, is it possible to summarize the exact issue with clarity?

    1. Is this an issue with a subset of specific objects in the database?
    2. Is this an issue only when objects are added to lists?
    3. Is this an issue only when there is a "database update—whether automatic or manual"?
    4. Please help to clarify to the best of your ability the extent of this issue, the objects affected, what exactly happens, why it happens, etc.

    Thanks!

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    Dave Chapman

    I cannot add anything to my original comment. It certainly happened to observing lists involving asteroids. I have had no issues since then, but one does not necessarily notice the substitution at the time it happens.

    I notice now that one of my lists has the asteroid (855) Newcombia listed twice, which makes me believe that another item was corrupted. It’s very hard to troubleshoot this issue.

    I don’t even know if it is strictly speaking an Observing List bug.

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    Garry Bluhm

    Hi Keiron,

    Have iPad Pro M4 iOS 18.6, SkySafari7 Pro 7.6.1 with numerous random Objects in my Observing Lists still corrupted.
    Have confirmed so far affecting Objects of Open Clusters, Globular Clusters, Bright Nebula, Spiral Galaxy, and there are possibly more as stopped checking at this point. The lists are not new lists, but have had for some years and on older versions of SkySafari.

    I have SkySafari6Pro on the same iPad Pro M4 and the identical lists are not corrupted. Emailed the list from SS6Pro to myself and opened in SS7Pro and it was now also corrupted as mentioned.

    As an example looking at the screenshot previously posted above you’ll see NGC7789 Caroline’s Rose listed
    as an Open Cluster in Puppis when it should be Cassiopeia. When tapping the listed item it goes to an Info page for NGC2424 an Open Cluster in Puppis, not Caroline’s Rose NGC7789.

    As a test I created a new Observing List with only NGC7789 and it is functioning correctly.

    Have a total of 169 Observing Lists.

    Offloaded SS7Pro and reinstalled and Observing Lists still corrupted.

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    Dave Chapman

    Hi Keiton, I did some experimenting. I took the 100 Brightest Asteroids observing list from SS6, emailed it to myself, and opened it in SS7. What I got was an observing list containing 6 asteroids and a lot of satellites, mostly StarLink. I followed the same process with a list of navigation stars, and they transferred OK.

     

    There’s definitely something going wrong with observing lists involving asteroids in SS7.

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    Keiron Smith

    Thanks, Garry, Dave, that should be enough info for developers to understand the issue.

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    Dirtbagpook

    Hello Kieron,
    My apologies for my tardy reply. I am on the road visiting family.
    I just retested using the latest version of SkySafari Pro (7.6.1 1156). Your question, ‘Is this an issue with a subset of specific objects in the database?’, could be the case.
    Searching from the Menu Bar > Observations > enter NGC 7789 produces no hits. The same for 7789. Searching for Rose, does locate 21 hits of the correct object.
    Long tap on NGC 7789 > Show Observations from the main screen, produces one incorrect hit (NGC 6811). The observation record (date, time, comments, etc) is correct. Tapping the Info button at the bottom of this screen opens the NGC 7789 information screen (Basic Information, Visibility, etc).
    Searching for NGC 6811 from the Main Screen menu bar > Search > More > Show Observations lists 2 hits of IC 4651. Tapping one of the observations does show the correct info sheet for that object. Again, tapping Info at the bottom of the Observation detail screen takes me back to info sheet for NGC 6811.
    I hope this helps. Please reach out if you have further questions.
    Best,
    Mark

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    Dirtbagpook

    Hi Keiron,

    I’ve had more time to investigate your questions from Aug 12, 2025. (I am testing in SkySafari Pro v7.6.6 on iPad Pro Gen 3 w/iPad OS 18.7.1 & iPhone 14 Plus w/iOS 18.7.1. I am using Starry Night Pro v8.1.1.2079 to view the Observation Log, but not edit the entries. )

    Q1: Is this an issue with a subset of specific objects in the database?

    A2: If you are asking if the issue affects all objects, then no. However, 90% or more of my observations belong to a List, but not all observations are affected. Earlier observations (2015 or so) show up in the correct searches (ie: Toolbar>Search).

     

    Q2: Is this an issue only when objects are added to lists?

    A2: It appears so. 90% or more of my observations belong to a List, but not all observations are affected. Earlier observations (2015 or so) show up in the correct searches (ie: Toolbar>Search).

     

    Q3: Is this an issue only when there is a "database update—whether automatic or manual"?

    A3: I rarely used the Manual request for a Database Update. I used that feature earlier this year when adding a comet to a list crashed SkySafari.

     

    Q4: Please help to clarify to the best of your ability the extent of this issue, the objects affected, what exactly happens, why it happens, etc.

    A4: In February, Dave Chapman mentioned NGC 7789 observations exhibited this behaviour. I looked and I had the same problem. The issue seemed to affect objects in Cassiopeia, Cepheus & to a lesser extent Puppis & Perseus. At least one observation entry (for IC 1434) was in orange type ‘[Unrecognized] NGC 6144’.

    Best,

    Mark

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    Dirtbagpook

    Ooo! How exciting! An update to SkySafari. Does SS Pro 8 rectify this issue? In other words, do the incorrect observation entries reconnect with the correct object in SS 8 Pro? SS 6 Pro doesn't have this issue, but I don’t use SS6 in the field. -- Mark

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    Garry Bluhm

    Not fixed in SS7Pro and not fixed in the brand new S8Pro I purchase yesterday!
    I have 170 Observing lists. This Observing List corruption needs to be fixed, PLEASE!

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    Garry Bluhm

    I have SS6Pro also installed on my iPad Pro 11 M4 and it’s Observing List, the same 170, are not corrupted.

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    Garry Bluhm

    In SS7Pro & SS8Pro when selecting NGC7789 from observing list they show it being incorrectly in Vela.

    HistoryVersion=3.0
    SkyObject=BeginObject
    ObjectID=4,0,221
    CatalogNumber=Cr 197
    Type=KOxx
    EndObject=SkyObject

     Doing a direct Search for NGC7789 yields correct object displayed and this History text:

    HistoryVersion=3.0
    SkyObject=BeginObject
        ObjectID=4,0,219
        CommonName=Caroline's Rose
        CatalogNumber=NGC 7789
        Type=KOxx

     

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    Garry Bluhm

    Also if I create a new Observing List and add NGC7789 to it , and open list and select NGC7789, NGC7789 is listed & displayed correctly. So somehow the importing of my Observing lists end up corrupted.

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