Wanted to say Hi, and ask a question

[nick21]

This is my 1st post here, and would love to say hello.  Im not that new to Astronomy, but new to capturing images.  I own a Celestron 8" Telescope, and when looking thru it the images are clear.  I am trying to rig up a make shift setup for my Cell Phone to try to capture images of nearby objects.  Moon, Jupiter, Saturn.

This is the images I am getting from Jupiter when hooking it up to my Telescope.  It looks halfway decent, but could be better.  I am getting like a lens flare off of Jupiter, I don't know if its the cause of the glass lens from the eyepiece.  Also can I get more stars to show up, or is this the limitation to my cell phone (I own a Samsung Galaxy S3).

 

[oldpink]

Hi and welcome to SGL

the flare is more than likely down to your phone

as for stars, it looks like you have 2 of Jupiters moons in shot not stars

[swag72]

Hi and welcome to SGL - I hope you don't get the imaging bug, it's very expensive and most frustrating ............... but I love it Can't help you on the flare as I don't use a system like that, but I see someone's already made a suggestion - The folks of SGL are good like that

Look forward to seeing you around

[PeterCPC]

HI and welcome. The imaging bug is, at the moment, incurable!

Peter

[Charon]

Welcome aboard.

[nightfisher]

welcome nick,

is your 8" a newtonian or an SCT, if its a newt then i would guess the flaring is diffraction spikes 

[Schorhr]

Hi, you could try a neutrad density (ND) Filter, One of the variable polarisation filters perhaps, it could solve over exposure issues. Also for many devices you can Get Free apps to somewhat manually control the camera settings, but of course Not as much as a DSLR camera.

Or get another camera, depending on your mount, perhaps even video astronomy would be something for you. Lower resolution but will make faint stars and nebulae visible even with alt-az tracking.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Welcome to the forum.

The problem is that the image is over-exposed - I'm fairly sure the two spikes are an artifact caused by the camera sensor over-saturating. To prove this you could try rotating the camera to see if the spikes move. Or just look through the eyepiece, I assume they aren't visible to the eye?

It's possible to obtain good images of the Moon and Sun with a camera phone but anything else will be difficult. The problem is how the camera manages automatic exposures, it looks at the average brightness of the scene. This works fine when the Moon fills most of the eyepiece, but not when there is a small bright planet in frame. As Schorhr says, an app that allows you to control the camera exposure may do the trick. Jupiter is actually very bright (it is directly lit by the Sun), so you want to use similar settings to those you'd use for daytime photography in order to see any surface detail.

[nick21]

Thank you all for the reply.  Sorry for some reason the auto email notification is not letting me know someone replied to my post.

Here is more detailed specs:

Would have to say I have a SCT telescope

Eyepiece:  Celestron 25mm SMA 1-1/4" Wide Angle Model # 93007-A

I will try recording video see if that helps, I will also try turning the eyepiece see if the flare moves as well.

I do know the 2 objects are some of Jupiter moons, but when looking thru the eyepiece I don't see the flare, I do see Jupiter the moons and random stars as well.  I would hope to capture what I can see by the naked eye.  Its only a 8" scope so it won't be full detailed images, but would be nice to capture pictures.  Here is my telescope and setup.  Its crude but does the trick (somewhat) so far.  Now I don't know if the telescope is out of focus (notice the pic of the tree), I got it back in 2000.  It looks a little bit sharper with the naked eye, and I have 20/20 vision so I know my eyes are good

I am also looking for an Android App, where I can disable Auto Focus, and turn on manual focus, so I can adjust it to how I want.  Also adjust the contrast,brightness,hue,saturation would be great.  Also the telescope right now is not setup for tracking, so doing a exposure image would not work right, would just end of blurring the image?

Thank you everyone for all the help so far.

Also looking to get a Sun Filter for the telescope, just don't know which approach is the best.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Sun-Filter-Telescope-Sheet-Black-Polymer-10-x10-/280728518809?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415cb94099

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271184769457?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

The sheet is only $20 but is it really good quality that I don't know.  I can make my own sleeve that is not a problem.

[Schorhr]

Hi, as far as I read, the oaks filter sheets are nice as the sun appears in a natural color, but I read that they are not great for high magnification, so baader solar would be a way to go.

As for apps, try Camera fv-5 lite, but the free version limits resolution! Sadly I forgot what a similar, complety free program was called rt had similar functions.

[nick21]

Hi, as far as I read, the oaks filter sheets are nice as the sun appears in a natural color, but I read that they are not great for high magnification, so baader solar would be a way to go.

As for apps, try Camera fv-5 lite, but the free version limits resolution! Sadly I forgot what a similar, complety free program was called rt had similar functions.

Just downloaded that app will try it out, soon as the sky clears, maybe tomorrow.   How much of a detailed image should I be getting with the 8" SCT Celestron telescope?  Should that image of the small tree be that blurry (it is taken about 400-500 feet away, and the telescope is designed for long range).  Also how clear should Jupiter be on a clear night.   Also is there any way to tell if the telescope got out of focus?

[Schorhr]

I expect some light somewhere lowering contrast, is the adapter that's holding the phone to the eyepice open, closed, completely setting the phone against the eye cup of the eyepiece? Is the tube/adapter blackened?

A cellphone is the least suitable for astronomy imaging, sadly, even if you would use that app (the light version has too many limitations).

A modified webcam, such as the Xbox cam you can get for 7gbp/9eur at eBay would probably work better, as you can put it directly into the focuser and record video.

Focus with automatic focus of a cellphone can be an issue, but even the regular camera app can be set to infinity, perhaps try that.

Finding the focus can be a bit tricky on such a setup. Focus with Polaris for example.

Such telescopes have a large secondary, limiting contrast somewhat, too.

Best results -> stack multiple pictures with astronomy software.

This way planet snapshots with little to none details can get pretty stunning.

Cellphone video may have too much compression.

I am just dabbling in astro imaging, so you may find some better advice here :-)