The Pleiades, Samsung S9/Genesis. 6th Nov 2018

[Stu]

I took this a little earlier this evening, when I was observing (or rather cloud dodging) with my Genesis. It sits very nicely on the Giro-WR, and this was taken using my Samsung S9 handheld up against an ES 30mm 82 degree eyepiece. This combination gives just under 5 degrees of sky which is ideal for objects like the Pleiades.

I processed it a little using PS Express, mainly to boost contrast and cut the sky glow a little, and also cropped it gently to frame it a little better. Hope you like , I was pleased with how sharply the Alcyone multiple came out.

[djpaul]

Wow that does look sharp just through a phone. ?

[Sunshine]

I don't think i was able to capture any stars through a phone, had great success with moon and planets, but never stars.

[adyj1]

Nice. How long was the exposure?

Ady

[Stu]

6 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

Nice. How long was the exposure?

Ady

Just 1/4 second, ISO800 and f1.5, according to the file data.

[Stu]

22 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

I don't think i was able to capture any stars through a phone, had great success with moon and planets, but never stars.

The S9 is a lot more sensitive than previous gen phones, noticeably better than my iPhone 6 plus.

[GavStar]

Very nice result Stu, particularly for handheld!!! One of my favourite objects - a nice naked eye target even from London.

[nicoscy]

Stu,

Lovely shot and perhaps you should consider one of those smartphone to eyepieces adapters and an app that permits taking longer exposures!

[Stu]

20 minutes ago, nicoscy said:

Stu,

Lovely shot and perhaps you should consider one of those smartphone to eyepieces adapters and an app that permits taking longer exposures!

Thanks Nicos. I have both of those things! The challenge was that the mount does not fit the ES 30mm, it is just too big. I will try it out on some of my smaller eyepieces soon. In terms of longer exposures, again I have got the apps, but really need to use them with a tracking mount; this was taken with a manual alt az. I find that beyond a few seconds you tend to get trailing. Anyway, I have my GP-DX set up now so will give it a go next time I get a chance.

Watch this space!