Orion Nebula 04/01/22

[PeterStudz]

Had a go last night taking a picture of the Orion Nebula with the little Skywatcher 1145p. Came out OK I think for a single shot on a phone plus small telescope in my rather light polluted Bortle 7-8 sky.  I’m sure it would be better at a site that was actually dark. The wind was playing games with my wobbly EQ1 too. 

Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145p, EQ1, StarGuider 12mm, iPhone 12, single 21 second exposure. Cropped plus a little basic editing. 
 

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by PeterStudz
Added text

[Kon]

That's fantastic for a mobile!

[Dark Vader]

^^^ What he said. I'd love to get something like that, but my phone camera won't do 1 sec let alone 21 😄

[Stu]

Fantastic shot Peter!

[MalcolmM]

That's brilliant! Great pic! I am very impressed at the stunning images posted on this site but I also really love to see pictures like this that are taken in a low tech way and are actually more realistic as to what you see visually.

Malcolm

[PeterStudz]

Thanks for the nice comments! I do enjoy trying to get the best of what I have. And also using bits and bobs form down my shed left over from previous projects in order to do a bit of DIY modifications/improvements.

And as @MalcolmM says - I’m also impressed with the stunning images posted on this site. Some of which I hardly thought possible. But also those using more modest gear. I know that in the past I’ve taken smartphone pictures and thought that they weren’t good enough to post. This is a mistake.

You could argue that a modern smartphone is an expensive bit of high tech. Which of course it is. Although I had the iPhone before I got into astronomy, so it is a case of using what I already have. And these days it’s something that virtually everyone owns. 

[PeterStudz]

23 hours ago, Dark Vader said:

^^^ What he said. I'd love to get something like that, but my phone camera won't do 1 sec let alone 21 😄

Sounds like it’s time for an upgrade 😀. From my understanding the stock iPhone 12 camera app when in NightMode takes 3 second  (possibly 3.3) exposures and then stacks to make anything up to 30 sec maximum. The iPhone 13 is supposed to improve on that. And Android smartphones can do similar and more. Modern smartphone cameras have some interesting and clever low light tricks. 

Mind, some of the pictures I’ve seen you take of the moon are very good!

[Dark Vader]

Thanks, mine is pretty basic and an upgrade is long overdue. Best start researching...

My current limit is 1/10 sec @ ISO 1600 - shouldn't be hard to beat 😁 it will do starfield shots but need to process the life out of them.

 Taken by the scientific method of setting the longest possible exposure above, set the shutter timer, and drop the phone on a patio table before it goes off 😄. Then slide the curves top slider in Snapseed to the left until the stars appear. 

[igorigs]

Great shot mate!

If I got it right, this was without tracking?

[tripleped]

On 05/01/2022 at 12:09, PeterStudz said:

Had a go last night taking a picture of the Orion Nebula with the little Skywatcher 1145p. Came out OK I think for a single shot on a phone plus small telescope in my rather light polluted Bortle 7-8 sky.  I’m sure it would be better at a site that was actually dark. The wind was playing games with my wobbly EQ1 too. 

Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145p, EQ1, StarGuider 12mm, iPhone 12, single 21 second exposure. Cropped plus a little basic editing. 
 

 

 

[tripleped]

Really, really nice! Lots of structure and u caught the dark lane and M43 comma shape very nicely! Great job!