We're three-quarters of the way through 2024, can you believe it? I've gotten a lot accomplished with my astronomy goals and my social media goals, including stuff I hadn't thought up yet when the year started. Here's a quick recap:
I purchased my first smart telescope
My YouTube channel has gone from 25 subscribers to 147
My YouTube video count is up to 726-most of those are space fact shorts, but there are 48 long-form videos, some deep sky imaging time lapse shorts, and a dozen livestreams
I've started multi-streaming to Twitch, and in between videos there I'm running a live weather stream from the weather station in my front yard with audio from the NOAA weather station out of Austin/San Marcos
I've revived my Instagram page and started posting my deep sky images there
I'm doing community outreach with the Austin Astronomical Society
I've jumped back in to variable star observing with Exoplanet Watch
I've killed my Patreon page and Discord channel (for now), but have set up a donations page for people wanting to support my efforts in exploring and preserving the night skies
It's been almost a year of trial and error trying to figure out what works, what doesn't, and figuring out what to focus on. I still don't have it all figured out, but I have some ideas I'll be testing out the last three months of 2024:
Rebroadcasting NASA events to the TDS YouTube and Twitch channels (like shuttle launches)
Focusing long-form video content on beginning astronomy concepts
Adding more structure to livestreams and bringing in more guests
Start compiling a database of FITS files of my deep sky imaging and varable star observing for others to be able to access for their own research
And of course, my first YouTube goal is to hit 500 subscribers; once I do, I've promised myself an upgrade to a Vaonis Vespera Pro smart telescope. So stay tuned and watch as Texas Dark Skies keeps growing!
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