Why is registration required?
CSOG, the Clear Skies Observing Guides, is a one-man-show. Created, self-hosted and self-funded by Victor van Wulfen.
Since CSOG was first published in the year 2012, the amount of content has grown substantially. CSOG 3.0, published in November 2024, encompasses 80 editions in 4 image orientation options and contains unique information. More about this in the CSOG 3.0 Release Notes.
CSOG was not created out of thin air. Updating CSOG, creating new editions, computers, the website, hosting 1.2 terabytes of content, etc. requires a lot of time and effort and does bring costs.
While paid registration will not lead to a profit, nor offset more than a fraction of the costs made to create CSOG, support is needed to keep it alive: to update existing content and to allow for future editions to be created.
Support donation
The support donation, through PayPal, is up to those who register, with a minimum of 30 euros (approximately 31 US dollars).
If you feel CSOG is worth more to you, please feel free to express your appreciation and support by means of a higher donation as a CSOG Enthusiast, a CSOG All-nighter or a custom additional donation. This is just your expression of your support: the content you get access to is identical for all support options.
Registration validity
Registration and a support donation allows access to all CSOG downloads and any new editions and updated content for the period of one year (365 days) after the day of the support donation. That ought to be plenty of time to download all CSOG editions and any new content published within that one year, in all image orientation options. Once the year has expired, a new support donation will be required to continue to have access to the downloads for another year.
What do you get in exchange for your support?
Registration will give access to all CSOG content in 80 separate editions. No other publication on amateur astronomy comes close to the amount of content and information contained in CSOG.
Registered vs. unregistered
Once downloaded and unzipped, CSOG is thousands of pdf files, AstroPlanner planfiles and tourfiles. There is not much I can do to prevent a registered user from sharing these files with others after downloading.
That being said, I trust you will download and use all CSOG content in good faith. If anyone else takes an interest in your CSOG downloads, please ensure they register. The support fee is modest, especially when considering the content it gains access to.
If you receive CSOG content but are not registered to the CSOG website, please do the honorable thing and register.