What astrophotography taught me about Google
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Educating yourself with Google can be a slippery slope. I'll share my experiences teaching myself the deceptively technical hobby of Astrophotography
Researched and produced by: Michael Wilson
Music by: John Cola
Well done! The EQ6R reveal at the end 😂
Nebula Photos!!!!
And this is why i watched all of you're videos two weeks before even buying a camera! you're info is on point and helped me get started with minimal investment. I'm two clear nights into the hobbie and have a decent pic of the milkyway and a faint image of M31 in two more weeks im getting a tracker.
The internet gives you information but an education gives you knowledge.
Exactly! I couldn't agree more 👍
I must somewhat disagree. If I had found the well informed teacher in the beginning, I never would have ended up with my EQ6R-Pro, my dedicated astro camera, my filter wheel and ultra narrowband filters, my automatic focuser and my amazing telescope. Instead I would still be using my Canon DSLR camera and my little star tracker, and would be $1,000s of dollars richer.
But by charging ahead on my own, I now have equipment that I am struggling to learn how to use, and which allowed me to discover Mr. Wilson and his fabulous stacking video. Although it may be a winding , twisting, arduous and expensive path, all who wander may not be lost. And the places we end up are most unexpected. Thank you Mr. W, for being a welcome beacon along that path. And thank you Nico!
Thanks teacher.
I am a retired teacher who has loved all things astronomy. Built two Newtonian’s and a tracking mount. I dove head first into astrophotography and almost drowned. I had no one but google. Took me several months to learn how to ask the right questions and several more to learn and master the technical steps needed.
I hope more folks run across this great channel. It will save them time and money……and tons of frustration!
I’ll leave a digital apple on your desk……🍎
Thank you for the feed back and wonderful compliment. Clear skies 😊
Excellent video! And that reveal at the end! 😆
I love video quality change, the great intro , funny cut away clips, the pause skips.
If it wasn't for taking a formal education in your programing class, I might not have ever become a successful game developer.
Thanks Mr. Wilson keep up the great work
Great job on this video! I want to get into AP with my DSLR and you led me to the gear in a very creative way!
Good video and interesting channel. Getting involved with a local group of astrophotographers helped out immensely when I started this journey a few years ago. Difficult with the pandemic but we did have a couple of zoom sessions and also have a chat room we hang out in. CS!
You should have YT it !!
Thousands of vidz about all your Q's
Wonderful video. I am down many $k this past year on new equipment but fortunately 30 years of amateur viewing and lots of 1-1 discussions with knowledgeable individuals complimented my google research to keep me on a pretty straight path. Looking forward to your future videos.
Thanks! The covid lock downs hampered my ability to network with other astronomers at start parties and whatnot. Since I was starting at absolute zero, I had a steep hill to climb. Now that I'm finally getting some results, I'm all in! :)
Equatorial mounts can be as low as 150-200 bucks. The skywatcher eq3-2 will do loads up to 5kg or for a bit more you can go for the heq5 which will let you do 10kg. Depending on the weight of your telescope you might not be able to use either of these with it but you can use it with just your camera or get a smaller telescope.
There's also things called wedges. They go under alt az mounts and let them track in the equatorial plane
This is awesome! See, this is actually the point of the video. When you think you know what you want and search for that thing, it narrows the information that gets returned. A human, however, can steer you back in the direction you actually want to go. I started with a home made wedge I built for about $35 that actually worked surprisingly well. But it was quite difficult to get setup and polar aligned, so the equatorial mount ended up being a huge upgrade in terms of being a time saver. But it did allow me to realize the potential of astrophotography at an affordable price and ultimately helped me justify that initial big investment in the eq6-r. Thanks for the info!
Dude! yes. the secret is at 9:21
Great video. After 2 years of study with the distance learning CZcams Academy I find I am able to list my tutors in order from 'suitable for beginners' to 'advanced' but my learning didn't follow that linear path. Anyway it was and still is a lot of fun. Hope you are enjoying your EQR6 Pro and Cuiv the lazy geek has a video for tuning it if you find the need later on. Clear skies.
Great video! I look forward to following your journey.
These video should be required viewing. Let me make it easy.
Tom Brady has a solid case for being the greatest quarterback in NFL history. He has > 20 years of professional experience in his field. He has a coach (teacher) who helps him get better.
Nothing replaces interactive lessons with real people, even if they aren’t as skilled as you in some areas (Brady’s coach isn’t as good a QB as he is).
CZcams doesn’t. Books won’t. And Zoom is a pale imitation or real interaction. Find yourself a good teacher!
Oh my Gosh I love this! Ask the right question, get the right answer. Very cute, and great information. Lol!
Nice one, I've bought a few of those adaptors too. There's a box here some where.....
Something tells me they won't be the last... Maybe I should get a box too 😉
Very informative! Great video 👍 👍
As a teacher, I’m surprised you didn’t read a book about astrophotography first. That’s what I did. That would have saved you a whole bunch of time and money.
I knew about photography. I thought astrophotography basically turned my telescope into a long lens and wasn't any more complicated than that. So I didn't realize I needed a book. When I encountered my first small issue, I thought a quick Google search would fix the small issue. And then there was another small issue and another google search. At the end of the day I didn't realize at the time what I was getting into or I would have got a book first 👍
Thumps up
Really nice video, congrats! In my case I always start with youtube. I get much better answers here! Actual humans answer them really! lol. But I get your point. It's good to learn from someone who already done it so you can build on top of it. Keep up the good works :)
Nice video. Intro was a bit long, but the rest was good and funny.
Can't wait to see you get into software, sequencing, processing and the rest.
Enjoy 👍
The 500-rule has been rewritten by the famous Australian astronomer/astrophotographer Dylan O'Donnell: in astrophotography, any thing below 500$ isn't worth buying
g.
I heard there was a new equation that takes into account sensor specifications which is supposed to work way better. I bet you that's the one you're talking about. I haven't tried it out yet, but Dylan O'Donnell is a genius. I love that guy.
I have so items that are completely useless to me. A few items were over a hundred dollars each and are sitting in a box. This can definitely be a very frustrating hobby. Even cloudy night answers are hard to grasp at times. Now I own some really great equipment for all of my scopes, so what did I do? Get into solar astrophotography, of course 😂
I totally relate to this! I was super into wood working as a hobby, got all the tools, then transitioned into astrophotography. It truly is a rabbit hole. It all started with me thinking I could simply attach a sinple camera to a telescope and be done with it... Nope. 😂
Too much effort and quality for 136 subs!!
Well now 137
What a fantastic compliment. Thank you. The channel is new, so spread the word :)
Welcome to the dark side! Literally!
Can you show me where.... That is the question you need to ask...
If you ask "can you show me why Mr Wilson is the best teacher", your answers will be biased in returning positive traits. Likewise, if you ask "can you show me why Mr Wilson is a bad teacher", your response will be biased toward negative results. Either way, your question results in a one-sided response. You're better off to ask both questions so you get both sides of the story. Once you have both sides, you'll be in a better position to formulate your own opinion.
Uh oh you’ve entered the rabbit hole lock your wallet
That's no joke! So many fun toys to try 😁
If Google or Alexa/Siri can't specifically answer my vague question, I just write it off as information I probably didn't need to know anyway. 🤪🤣 My problem seems to be that I don't know how to ask properly. I can usually tell that the responses aren't quite what I'm looking for, but I don't know how to reframe my question to change the answer. 🤔
You hit it exactly. The way you phrase your question shapes the answer you get, thus the answer is always related to your question. A teacher, on the other hand, can recognize that you aren't asking the right question and redirect you in the right direction.
You should have started with "astrophotography", nothing more, nothing less, and start reading... Then discover more with more direction...for example not using Google but also CZcams...
So this video is a bit silly overall.
And yes there always a learning cost. Sometimes time and energy, sometimes, money... You don't become "a teacher" after one lesson.
Thanks for the feeback. This video is only ancillarily related to astrophotography. It's more of a thinly veiled commentary on the abuse of Google. The point is, when asking questions to an automated system, those questions frame the response. If you Google "evidence for a spherical Earth" vs "evidence for a flat earth" you will find information on both and the question itself will frame your response. But obviously only one is right. This well-intentioned, albeit misguided, use of Google for "research" is causing many to develop a fundamentally flawed understanding of all-things science. My goal was encourage individual research while also cautioning us to continue listening to experts who have years of experience and formal education in these topics. Google simply isn't a viable substitute for that.
I'm developing a series on actual astrophotography concepts, initially geared toward beginners with absolutely no idea where to start. I'll increase in complexity after establishing that foundation. Perhaps you will enjoy some of those more. Cheers!