Art Gecko

Do it mate!! With your scope you'll get far better shots than me judging by what you've put on here already... It's amazing what data you can pull out of a phone cam when you try!

Thanks Stu, was surprised to get so much detail out of my little 130mm mirror!

Had a little go at video imaging last night on the iPhone (I'm still waiting for the T-ring adapter for my new DSLR)... Again this one has been processed on the computer, so not elligable for a win, but thought I'd post it anyway! My best shot of Jupiter to date!

Well, as they say it's galaxy season...

Can you not add layers from your camera roll in Photoshop express and stack manually then Stu? I've not used the app as I generally use the mac... I usually use Adobe After Effects actually as I struggle with photoshop, but got a fair bit of practice with After Effects a few years ago while helping my ex-girlfriend's son make stop frame LEGO animations (long story!)... As you can see from the pic below, I can get a much more natural feel to the same shot processing in AE, but I do realise if I go down the DSLR route, I'm probably going to have to get to grips with PS..

No JOC, I didn't, I used an old mac-mini for the stacking etc... The first of the 2 images was my entry for the competition as it was a smart phone only picture, it's not as plain to see, but M82 is just about visible in the sub... the second pic was just to show off really lol Thanks Stu for the vote of confidence... I don't really want to break rules that others have been sticking to, that's why I put forward the 1st pic, but as you said in a revision of the rules, the judges verdict is final (even if unfair) so thanks... I do however enjoy trying to stack and edit photos on the computer, even if I don't have a "proper" camera, it's all a learning curve and good experience. So I hope you all won't mind me posting some more experimental smart phone shots on this thread while I save up for a more adequate camera? I don't expect to win every time, but it's nice to have somewhere to put the pictures where they can be appreciated... As well as helping others to learn from (hopefully) as I've learned so much from others here on SGL. Thanks Everyone, Art.

Thanks Stu for showing me this thread, I'll try not to clog up the "big boys" threads with my humble iPhone images any more! So, in the interest of the competition, I'm entering a galaxy shot... As Stu pointed out to me, there are rules and one is that the picture must be entirely produced by smart phone, which my original post was not... So in the interest of sticking to the rules, my first picture is an unedited 30sec exposure at ISO 3200 of galaxy M82 taken through a SkyWatcher 130 newtonian on an EQ3-2 mount. It was a test shot, but you can just about see the soft smudge of the galaxy! The second picture is where it gets interesting and is the image I posted in another thread (where Stu found me and lured me here) It is a stack of 31 x 30sec exposures at ISO 1600, with an attempt at darks and flats, Deep Sky Stacker to blend them all together, and Photoshop to tease the galaxy out of the noise. Same way people do it with DSLRs and CCDs, only on somewhat more of a tight budget! Enjoy and clear skies to all, Art.

My first attempt at M42 using a SW130. 67 subs at 1 second each, untracked and afocally imaged with an iPhone 6. Stacked in Lynkeos and processed in Adobe After Effects. LP and lack of filters meant I could only capture the core. Also this is my first post! Hello everyone!