How to become a Professional Astronomer!

[@noreaction1]

Good one, very convincing April fools, years of dedication

[@DylanODonnell]

Took a lot of planning to pull this off! 👍🏼

[@bigrobmartin1998]

I'm in my 50s now and have done several on line and in person certificate programs in Astronomy, Astrobiology and Astrophysics from U. Of Edinburgh, Arizona and Indian River State College. All for fun as well. It's rewarding for me to learn about my passion and just to keep learning in general! Good on you Dylan!

[@DylanODonnell]

Good on ya mate!

[@lukomatico]

HUGE Congratulations Dylan!! So happy for you mate :-)

[@martinsastrophotography]

Nice one Dylan! Go on….do an Astrophysics degree next, just for fun!

[@Westlake]

So awesome Dylan! Congratulations! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@antipodesastro667]

This is fantastic Dylan! I’m a huge believer in life long learning (got something happening next month to celebrate myself). Congratulations again 🍾😃

[@linuxastro]

Never say never about additional education. My sincere congratulations on your achievement!

[@jmannUSMC]

"Everything is meaningless and we're all going to die" was actually my graduation quote last May! Congrats dude!

[@DylanODonnell]

Haha no way! Awesome :)

[@nagjrcjasonbower]

Congratulations!!!

[@joostvisser6508]

Congrats Dylan! Now Dylan O'Donnell, BSc. Super happy for you and I'm looking forward to what you have to teach us from your degree! I'm in my first year of a physics and astronomy bachelor, and I'm enjoying it a great deal. You've been a huge inspiration to me since I found your channel, and you've deepened my obsession with space which I hope I can direct into good science later on. Anyways, congrats on your bachelor's and I hope you'll enjoy showing the ladies your big email signature!

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks bud!

[@jasonkucerik9225]

Congratulations, Dylan! I've been kicking around the idea of going back to school for physics/astronomy, so I found this is pretty inspirational. It's probably just for the big drinkfest at the end, tbh, but hey, motivation is motivation.

[@koomber777]

You can use the number of days (X) it takes you to recover from drinking (y) beers to work out your age (z). It's called paraletic-ax. It's the most difficult math since it requires you to remember the number of beers drunk, and the number of confessed beers tends towards 1 as proximity to wife increases.

[@DylanODonnell]

Impossible !

[@jamesbarton4859]

Congratulations Dylan. This has given me some encouragement. Thank you

[@jonathanclark6337]

Well done, Dylan! (unless it really is an April Fool joke... ha ha). Just so that you know you are one of two people who are directly responsible for convincing me to spend thousands and thousands of pounds on astronomy equipment! The other guy was someone I met at a sci-fi con who showed me examples of images that were possible to take from your backyard (and that was in the UK!). All it took was that and one of your videos that ended with 'everything is meaningless and we're all going to die'. So I thought 'I absolutely want to do this!', and I haven't looked back since (despite the cost!). Many thanks for your encouragement, Dylan!

[@masterzerak7300]

Congratulations, Dylan. Your channel always brings a little extra cheer to my KZbin viewing sessions...

[@jefflucas_life]

Congratulations Dylan!!! You inspired me into this hobby!!!

[@billvinson7859]

Congratulations on your earning this degree Dylan. A member of my astronomy club did this also and now she is teaching at local schools as well as Girl Scouts and with our local outreach along with the rest of our club members.

[@DylanODonnell]

Nice! Cheers Bill!

[@Steve_The_Ignorant_Astronomer]

Congrats , you will make your boy Trevor proud

[@StantonSpaceGamir]

Congrats Dylan and welcome to the club.

[@Astrolavista]

2 years to complete your astro degree is amazing Dylan! I'll admit mine took 4 years, although this was mainly because I suck at maths and needed to repeat further mathematically techniques twice! Congrats dude!

[@DylanODonnell]

I got credit for half the degree because I already have another 2 degrees so I just had to do the core subjects for astro.. like a double degree almost .. the other half is IT :)

[@Astrolavista]

@@DylanODonnell Ah I see, that's cool then. I've got two degrees but Radiography is too different to astro so I needed to do the whole thing....I don't fancy doing a third! lol

[@larryhibbitts2099]

Congratulations Dylan! Well done!

[@astronome66]

Bravo!!! Congrats on this huge achievement and kudos for encouraging us all to never stop learning. Cheers!

[@darkskyfriends685]

Congratulations Dylan!!! Great vid!

[@AstroForumSpace]

Congrats Dylan. I'm waiting for that first scientific publication 😉

[@sjbastro]

Congratulations and loved the meteorite in the pocket - nice touch 👍😃

[@obrienmatt6041]

Big Congrats Dylann 👍🏽👍🏽

[@gregbromley152]

Congratulations Dylan. It's not easy working and going to school at the same time but you managed to do that, so well done. I have been considering going back again myself.

[@ryanmichaelhaley]

Congrats, Dillan, now I'm inspired to do more with Astronomy. :)

[@DylanODonnell]

That’s fantastic :)

[@BhojinderpalSingh]

Congratulations Dylan!!!

[@jezrougan]

Congratulations Mr D, well deserved, you are one of only a few who make the whole Astronomy & astrophotography fun for us minions who are still figuring out where the eye peaces fit on our kaleidoscopes.... Top bananas...

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe

[@Harithmd1]

Congratulations Dylan ✨🎉🎊

[@antoniohaluzan3396]

Congrats man. You are proof that years means nothing. Greets from Croatia!!!

[@gabrieldavidson4442]

Congratulations Dylan. You saying that you can’t remember anything from the previous night is exactly what we in the food service industry call normality.

[@jeffbrennan5394]

Thanks for sharing your graduation, found it entertaining and inspiring. 😎👍

[@jeffmarston8586]

Impressive, Dylan! You are hardly a drunken buffoon. Well, not a buffoon anyway, and you were right about older folks getting better grades.

[@AnthonyScandurra]

Congratulations, Dylan!

[@BrianH1313]

Congratulations Dylan. I have an AAS and BLS, If I do want to continue, the next would be an MIS.

[@zo_robbo_videos]

That's funny - I believe you firstly went to uni with my dad, and now you and I have both graduated from the same uni, same location within a few months of one another. Congrats!

[@DylanODonnell]

Omg Zoe I remember you as a kid and can see you’ve been doing some amazing stuff lately! Congrats to you and well done on everything you are achieving. Keep fighting the good fight. You’re absolutely right … I did my IT degrees at CSU but I hung out with the arts and enviro students because they were better at parties than the computer dorks :)

[@alneid2707]

Congratulations Dylan!

[@aw7425]

You will always be….Doctor Dylan to me, The Doctor of the cosmos…..💕🥂

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe

[@flanerpete2040]

Congrats. m8! Well done! 🍻

[@zaphus]

Congratulations Dylan

[@davidunwin7868]

Congrats! An awesome introduction course to astronomy I'd recommend is Astronomy and Black Holes RMI-SCI200 by RMIT which is accessible through Open Universities. I did it as an elective in my science degree and rate it highly.

[@steveamurray59]

Congratulations Mate !

[@GarnettLeary]

Something you’re actually serious about. Nice. Just joshing you. Congratulations on finishing. You’re officially next level nerd now. I hope to see you on “How the Universe Works”. They seriously need some humor on the show.

[@GaryMCurran]

Congrats Dylan, glad to see you were having fun in getting another degree. I'm a couple of years from being able to retire, I probably won't pursue a degree of any kind, but I do agree with your statement if you want to, just do it.

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks Gary :)

[@jasonpressler7111]

Congratulation's again, still waiting for the new and improved louder intro!

[@davidfottrell8668]

Congratulations Dylan! That is a huge achievement studying part time, working and family life, very well done. I did my degree this way too...after graduation, I loved the guilt free time to just relax and do NOTHING! Enjoy your freedom :)

[@DylanODonnell]

You understand completely :)

[@sinsolosin]

Congratulations Dylan. I hope you didn't get flooded away.

[@DylanODonnell]

Personally .. we’re ok .. thanks !

[@possisvideos]

congrats, dylan!!

[@jimgarasich7328]

Way to go Dylan! Congratulations! Swinburne University? Cool 😎

[@darkage101]

Congrats on the achievement! One small step for man, one giant leap for visual astronomy! :)

[@DylanODonnell]

Hah

[@mikebenengtouncry3613]

congrats dylan !

[@RaysAstrophotography]

Congratulations Dylan! I need to get some (more) letters after my name too!!

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks Ray :)

[@DSOImager]

Congratulations! That astrophotographer lifestyle just got legit :) I took two astronomy classes for my science electives... for my IT degree,, lol.

[@GalileoUAS]

Nothing but congrats Dylan, one of a kind man . I like how you recorded your drunken walk back to your stay the camera is even wobbling lol . Always quality content thank you good sir -clear skies

[@LearnToStargaze]

"The older students get better grades than the younger students," I had a laugh at this. I graduated (at age 36) with two other people. One of them (Harrison, age 22) went onto to a PhD program in Astrophysics at Yale, and the other (Sophia age 22) went onto to do her PhD in Astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute. They were both A+ students. I was barely holding it together all four years. Harrison works with JWST, Sophia on Chandra. I sit at home an write books for kids, (and watch your videos, of course).

[@DylanODonnell]

Well, clearly they are exceptional! You can't hold yourself to those standards unless they're average ;)

[@MrWacha]

Excellent! Congrats on achievement and thanks for this uplifting video!

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks mate! Bit of a different video !

[@ericwilkes1840]

congratulations, brilliant work

[@Mistr_A]

Already congratulated you on FB and Insta but great accomplishment mate, Would have been fun celebrating later I bet.

[@DylanODonnell]

Cheers Nik!

[@andrewpeck101]

Congrats Dylan! It's something I've considered doing in the UK, but it's so bloody expensive!

[@HockeyHomeBrewski]

Nice! I damn near started working out with the tunes. Great new intro, too. Young kids, but I’ll probably do more informal self-study without the expensive piece of paper in this one lol 😂 ✌️ 🍻

[@thenoisyelectron]

damn man, your editing is getting better by the video! One of those moments where I wish I had a mac OS! Although that's my piss-poor excuse over "I dont commit enough time to getting good at something"

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks for noticing .. I've come a little way since starting the channel with iMovie lol

[@Nottsboy24]

Congratulations mate 👓🎓 well done to you 🔭

[@potterywheel2503]

Thank you for making this. We've only spoken a couple of times but I think of you as a friend/kindred spirit and it brought me great joy and pride to follow along with you . Made me wish I could take a road trip with you. If your'e ever in the Southeast US you have a place to stay an hour from decent dark sky at elevation. _Congrats man, well done.

[@rodneyhendrickson5094]

Hell yes Congrats Dylan I would love to try and do that I'm still learning what I'm doing now

[@johnizzo8220]

Well done, Dylan congratulations 👍

[@drg7127]

Congrats Dylan! Never stop learning, right? I will never stop!

[@DylanODonnell]

Thx Doc!

[@pdc023]

Congratulations, Dylan. Well done!

[@noelrimmer4989]

Well done congratulations !

[@wesleydonnelly2141]

Awww wow!! Dylan i'm so happy for you my friend!! Also, you have made me so happy today because I never knew it was/is possible to do a full degree in Astronomy at home via computer!!?? I am DIVING at the chance to do a distance based learning degree over here in Liverpool, England now after seeing what you achieved!!? And in just 2 YEARS!!?? No less!! I'm honestly sincerely so grateful to you for inspiring me Dylan!! I absolutely love your channel, I am always so excited when your videos drop on here because you are so intelligent and also hilarious in how you approach the beautiful hobby of Astrophotograpohy and related topics! So once again Thank You for inpsiring me today Dylan! I will let you know where I enrol for a similar degree mate! Wes, Liverpool UK.

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks Wesley I’m glad it helped ! And wish you all the best on your journey too!

[@wesleydonnelly2141]

@@DylanODonnell Thank You Dylan!

[@jeffslade1892]

Bloody well done! 😀

[@dennisthemenace191]

You have the dopest music and content mate!!

[@DylanODonnell]

Cheers bruh!

[@volkertc]

Congratulations!

[@vencislav_krumov]

Good job. I did the same last September - graduated as a Master Astronomer, which as an amateur Astrophotographer I did mostly just for fun and personal embetterment.

[@DylanODonnell]

Well done !

[@RocketSailing]

Congratz!

[@goooser410]

Congratulation !!!!!

[@troliskimosko]

Congratulations! The dream

[@MrGaugeBoson]

Congrats Dylan. I’m currently doing a bachelors in physics and want to become a scientist when I’m an adult.

[@DylanODonnell]

Good on you!

[@stevepidgeon6549]

Well done mate, great channel. Going to get drunk and qualified. Thanks for the help.👍🤣

[@AlynWallace]

Who the hell gave you a diploma 🤪 congrats dude

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe I ask myself the same question every day 😆

[@christopherboyd6537]

Well done Dylan, I’ve been wanting to get into some more citizen science stuff for a while and I’m just about to head off to Space Australia!

[@TheWonkyAstronomer]

Congrats! Yes, I found that doing a degree (Computing Science) part time as a 'mature' student it seemed like the young ones were struggling while the oldies breezed through. Not sure why.

[@DylanODonnell]

It's because we paid for it ourselves and understand the value of money :)

[@robgatehouse1651]

You can do it!! Excellent Dylan. It really is that easy these days, no really! No hurt feelings. I bought for a moment, I mean it is you Aussies...

[@DylanODonnell]

Yes this is the most elaborate April’s fools video I’ve ever produced.

[@robgatehouse1651]

@@DylanODonnell And you did it well, your craft shows. There were some brilliant April Fools plays this year - maybe everyone that is free this spring of all springs is taking full advantage to have fun 'eh?

[@Mobius3c273]

Well done Dylan! :-)

[@carltanner9065]

Congrats, mate :) :) :) I have my Masters, like Rami. I finished my course 12 years ago, but didn't graduate until about 6 months after the original awards ceremony because I wasn't able to attend it. Did my course through a different uni, though (JCU...they shut their course down about 2 years after I graduated. The idiot vice chancellor was the problem, there). Over the years, I've tossed up whether to go further and do a PhD, but I don't know how my health would hold out (got some problems), plus committing to 4 years of hard grind (again!!!!!) and further poverty is a little worrisome :P

[@DylanODonnell]

Yeh PHD would be brutal I reckon!

[@markelroy7774]

Congratulations

[@keithhanssen7413]

Congrats smarty pants! For real, congratulations. A Higher degree is something everyone should aspire to achieve. Even though I really never landed a permanent job with my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration, I use the skills of seeing in just about everything I do, even when simply looking out the window. Education enriches your life in countless ways, of this be certain.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hard agree!

[@paulmckeown5672]

Great minds think alike, I've just enroled in an As. tronomy Degree at the Open University (UK Online University). Can't wait for it to start

[@DylanODonnell]

Congrats !

[@astrobua2343]

Hi Dylan, congratulations! This is definitely an inspiration for myself for doing astronomy studies in parallel to the job. Thanks for sharing your journey!

[@DylanODonnell]

You can do it !

[@skesinis]

Congrats Dylan! That’s a great achievement! Doing it for fun and for your own learning was even better! By the way, you were in my neighbourhood on your video and I even saw my home at some point! 😂

[@DylanODonnell]

Hah wow

[@gabrielrobles5288]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 congratulations

[@gabrielperano]

Congrats Dylan, really hope to get a degree some day too, might able to take a course next year

[@martenyar8775]

Well Done. I'm amazed the drunken self preservation mode didn't kick in and you started walking home instead of the hotel.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe

[@fazergazer]

Congrats Dylan for this achievement. Combined with what you already have and are it’s awesome! Awesome hair. Damn I was waiting for the drunk wisdom! ;)

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe thx Geoff !

[@brentonrasheed384]

Congratulations Dylan. Would love to do the course myself!…so much to learn so little time!…hope our town treated you well. ..I did offer to buy you a beer 🍺 when you announced you were about..but looks like you had ample supply!!..😂😂and what lucid wisdom did you edit out? 🧐..

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe yeh I did NOT need any more drinks.

[@christosdalamagas5017]

Congrats Dylan!!! One step further into astronomy yes? PS: Rami looks like he knows what you're talking about 3:30

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe

[@KopLamp]

So... you're saying I can get rid of this stamp on my forehead that says "Jack of all trades, master of none". Interesting thought! Congrats man!

[@manolipoli348]

Congratulations 👏

[@vertisce2845]

Congrats!