Andromeda/Triangulum Galaxy and Persei with Pixel 4a

[Kon]

Beginning of september the seeing was pretty amazing and I had forgotten that I had taken a shot of the night sky with my Pixel 4a. I used the astrophotography setting that does 4 min stacking. To my surprise Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxy were visible. Persei nice and bright as well. I have annotated in the pic since I am rather impressed what mobiles can do these days. This is the stack pic straight from the phone without any editing. Looking forward to more clear nights and when these objects are above me; my E horizon has a bit of light pollution thus the rather bright bottom.

[PeterStudz]

I think that smartphones with these features (and future phones) are potentially a way of creating an interest in astronomy that would otherwise pass by some budding astronomers.

I know that my daughter has shown our little phone snaps of the night sky to her friends and teachers. The teachers have been impressed and some of her friends (on the back of the pictures) have come over in order to look through our telescopes.

The other thing that I find interesting. She hasn’t got much of an idea of what “proper” astrophotography” is, although I’ve explained how the space pictures she’s  seen in books are done. To her all she/we are doing is taking pictures that happen to be taken of the sky. For some people that simplicity will be appealing. 

[Kon]

@PeterStudzI agree with you that it can get them (more) interested but the expectations can be crashed when they just see a grey fuzzy blob; my 6 year old loves looking at the easy nebulas and planets. I think the main problem with inner cities is the light pollution but that's a discussion for another topic.

I love the visual aspect of the hobby more than the photos but taking photos with my very basic setup satisfies me to have a visual record in a few occasions and as you said it can trigger interest.

[PeterStudz]

@Kon Like you I prefer the visual aspect over photography. I’m happy to spend a couple of hours outside in the freezing cold observing just one object - changing eyepieces, waiting for my eyes to adapt, using adverted vision, waiting for the object to move higher into the sky where it’s darker, hoping for the seeing to improve… I rarely look at more than 3 objects during a night. But it’s hard for kids to appreciate that. 

My daughter is a little older than your 6 yr old which helps. One way I got my her to take part in this is to make observing an event - eg camping in the garden (when it was warmer), making hot chocolate, toasting marshmallows, learning a load of info about the “fuzzy” object we are looking at and then telling a story.

Jupiter and Saturn have been a big help. We have been looking at both at every opportunity since the middle of June. For these there’s no need to get dark adapted, the weather is warmer and she hasn’t got at all bored at looking at them. Last night was a great example as we also looked at the moon, then Saturn and finally Jupiter. With Jupiter the GRS was due to appear and we played “who could spot the GRS first” as it appeared at the edge of the disc. Then watched as it moved towards the planets meridian. Interestingly, with Jupiter and Saturn, we haven’t bothered taking any pictures/videos. Just observing has been more than satisfying so we don’t really need to.

I consider the picture taking more of an aid or part of observing. A good example of this is when, back in January, we first looked at the Orion Nebula in our little 4.5inch Newtonian. Looking through the eyepiece it was just a slightly disappointing fuzzy blob (not helped by the light pollution in our bortle 8 sky). Then Alice asked if we could take a picture. Not expecting much I hovered my phone camera over the eyepiece. As soon as I did colours popped onto the screen. Even without taking a picture this view had her literally jumping up and down. Of course the disadvantage of doing this is that it ruins all night vision, so best left towards the end of a session. 

[adyj1]

It's great to hear how you've been able to keep your daughter interested - there's a lot of good advice there. 

2 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

Not expecting much I hovered my phone camera over the eyepiece. As soon as I did colours popped onto the screen. Even without taking a picture this view had her literally jumping up and down.

And this is exactly how I got into astrophotography 😁