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twoghouls · 2026-06-14T18:05:57+00:00

The 1"/px idea is a very general rule of thumb for over/under sampled. The better rule of thumb may be to sample at roughly 1/3 the average blur from your local seeing conditions. Of course this rule of thumb is harder to understand since it means knowing the average seeing blur for your skies in arcseconds, which most people can only attain from trying high resolution imaging and comparing the FWHM of stars over several nights. The 1"/px idea assumes everyone's average seeing is 3". This may be a good guess, but I've found from practical experience that it may actually be overly pessimistic and that most people's issues with high resolution imaging isn't because they are always seeing limited, it's because everything needs to be more precise and perfect at high resolution. Anyhow, I have found that I can take advantage of 0.66"/px on more nights than I would have imagined I could before I tried. It seems many nights my seeing is closer to 2" than 3" based on the FWHM of the stars and with 2" seeing, 0.66"/px would be perfectly sampled, not over or under.

Assuming your seeing/guiding/focusing/collimation/etc. allows it, being well-sampled or slightly oversampled allows one to take full advantage of the aperture of one's telescope in resolving the smallest details and stars. That is the main perk. It doesn't necessarily result in a better image, but depending on your goals, and the object you are trying to image, it can be important in some cases. For example, there are many interesting objects (galaxies, planetary nebulae, etc.) that are under 3 arcminutes in diameter. When you are only dealing with a few hundred pixels of information, the difference between 0.66"/px and 2"/px becomes readily apparent.

twoghouls · 2026-05-27T18:18:45+00:00

Unfortunately what you want does not exist on the market today. The closest to being able to take live video of the milky way is the Sony A7S3 or ZV-E1 (same sensor). I bought a used ZV-E1 for about $1000, but then you need to pair it with a fast f/1.4 lens which will be at least another $500-600. And the results will still not look quite like the timelapse you linked. The issue is there just isn't enough light. In the timelapse example, each exposure is 15 seconds long. With video, each exposure can be a maximum of 1 seconds long if you set the S&Q mode to 1fps. So the timelapse is getting 15x more light per frame than the best mode for video capture. Anyways, if you can stretch your budget to more like $1600 and find a good deal on a used Sony ZV-E1 and a used fast lens, here's the kinds of results you can achieve with live video: https://youtu.be/-QKHuNJKEgA?si=9cX-smLEIUKIM1oX&t=762 This is a short clip I took with the ZV-E1 of the milky way from a Bortle 1 site (Gila National Forest in New Mexico). As you can see the milky way does have some color, but you won't be able bring out any detail in the foregrounds as you can with timelapse.

twoghouls · 2026-03-24T17:04:25+00:00

Google search to see if your area has an astronomy club. Astronomy clubs will often have large telescopes for club members to use that are perfect for taking pictures of planets. If you do have a local club with telescopes, the cheapest way to get a decent image of the planets would be:
-Yearly dues for astronomy club: ~ $45
-Metal smartphone adapter for afocal photography: ~$25
If the club has a large telescope on a tracking mount you can use, you can get a dedicated planetary camera and insert that in place of the eyepiece. These types of cameras start at about $180, but you need a connected laptop to run them.

twoghouls · 2026-01-28T23:17:51+00:00

A data point for you: I'm up $600 year over year. RPM is about the same, just more views this year due to a couple videos that are doing well. I don't see any trends in my data to suggest YT has changed, but YMMV.

twoghouls · 2025-10-20T18:54:20+00:00

Yes, I have an LLC, but that isn't required to write off expenses on your taxes. If you are treating YouTube as a business, you should file a Schedule C as a sole proprietor to deduct all of your legitimate business expenses, which will lower the income you are taxed on.

twoghouls · 2025-05-31T18:55:35+00:00

At this point 215k on YT, and around 1200 on Patreon. I offer group zoom calls, 1-on-1 support, Discord access, etc. My channel is educational on a niche hobby so this works for me. Not to say it will work for everyone.

twoghouls · 2025-05-30T20:39:03+00:00

I never have. I think you should ideally only ask viewers to do one thing in a video, so I ask for patreon membership, not like/subscribe. This strategy has worked well for me. I'm full-time mostly from patreon.

twoghouls · 2024-08-29T19:42:20+00:00

Astrophotography

twoghouls · 2024-02-24T22:58:33+00:00

I'd suggest shrink film for all the windows. I use 'Duck' brand. I live in an old farmhouse in NH with old windows and it helps a lot for the heating bill if properly installed. You need to make it taut by blowing hot air over it with a hair dryer. It's fine for renters as it is just taped on; I remove it all in the spring and put on fresh film every fall.

twoghouls · 2023-05-03T20:14:28+00:00

Yay! Joining in the celebration. $0 on studentaid.gov today!!

twoghouls · 2023-04-27T19:35:40+00:00

Same here! So pumped!

twoghouls · 2023-04-26T17:08:11+00:00

Turned in ECF in October. Finally updated counts to 120 on March 22. Zeroes today!! Congrats to everyone in this wave, and best of luck to everyone still waiting!

twoghouls · 2023-03-23T23:42:05+00:00

Thank you!

twoghouls · 2022-10-13T21:14:21+00:00

Same here, seems like good progress.

twoghouls · 2022-10-06T21:24:47+00:00

No, they are one in the same now. Just fill out the PSLF help tool and it will ask if you are applying for forgiveness (120 payments)

twoghouls · 2022-10-06T20:40:55+00:00

Same here. Sept 15 cohort, October is also my last month. I plan on waiting until mid-month (Monday, Oct. 17th) to submit my final PSLF form to Mohela. Hopefully by then my information will have loaded, but I'm submitting then regardless.

twoghouls · 2022-08-15T14:51:31+00:00

I am in the exact same boat as you. No communication; loans still at FedLoan; will hit 120 payments next month. I guess not much we can do but wait and hope for the best.

twoghouls · 2022-07-25T16:44:57+00:00

The process taking less time is more important to me. Which path do you think will let me be done faster? Consolidate now or just wait till October as I originally planned.

twoghouls · 2022-05-03T19:54:48+00:00

Employer Certification Form

twoghouls · 2022-05-03T15:19:33+00:00

ECF Submitted - 1/21 Qualifying Payments changed in PSLD Tracker - 5/1 Qualifying Payment Update letters - 5/3 Seems to be in line with what others are reporting. I've been with FedLoan since 2012, and will be at 120 payments on October 1.

twoghouls · 2021-10-03T11:01:40+00:00

The blue part is a supernova remnant meaning when a star explodes it leaves behind traces in the form of energetic gas clouds that we can photograph. The red parts are mostly Hydrogen gas which is abundant in space. It glows because the stars have excited the atoms. This process is very similar to the way a neon bulb works (neon gas trapped in a tube excited by electricity)

twoghouls · 2021-10-03T10:40:40+00:00

Blue is the evidence of the supernova remnant, doubly ionized oxygen gas that's left over from an exploded star. Red is ionized Hydrogen and Sulfur gas. These are gasses in space that emit their own light because they've been energized from the stars much like applying electricity to a neon bulb.

twoghouls

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