My 1st Saturn

[peanutcol]

Waited ages for Saturn to rise above the roof of the house behind my garden so I could get a glimpse. Wonderful clear viewing night and had it crisp through my 6.3mm eyepiece. Decided to get a pic but as it was pitch black I couldn't get my phone lined up correctly in my phone mount so just took a handheld pic at the eyepiece. Used a vid to pic app to snap a screenshot then edited the blur slightly on my phone. I know I can get better with practice but still happy with this.

[CraigT82]

Yup can definitely tell it’s Saturn though, nice one. Interestingly still quite a bit of atmospheric dispersion at its current altitude as you can see from the red fringe on the top and blue fringe on the bottom

[peanutcol]

32 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Yup can definitely tell it’s Saturn though, nice one. Interestingly still quite a bit of atmospheric dispersion at its current altitude as you can see from the red fringe on the top and blue fringe on the bottom

Thanks, I hadn't noticed the colours until you pointed it out.

[Bruce Leeroy]

Great starter image there, I'd try a lower exposure...make it barely visible on your phone screen.

[peanutcol]

41 minutes ago, Bruce Leeroy said:

Great starter image there, I'd try a lower exposure...make it barely visible on your phone screen.

When capturing the image?

[bosun21]

Nice first attempt. Yes he means dropping the exposure when capturing it so that it's not as bright. This allows for some detail to be seen. I was out imaging last night/this morning as well and you have reminded me to process the images.

[CraigT82]

6 hours ago, peanutcol said:

Thanks, I hadn't noticed the colours until you pointed it out.

Yeah sorry about that… once you see it the first time I’m afraid you’ll not help but notice it all the time now! 

[PeterStudz]

Good job… not easy handheld so you made it even more difficult! And thanks for posting. There should be more of this.

If you get atmospheric dispersion it can be reduced, sometimes removed altogether, by editing in a smartphone app. I find Lightroom quite good for this and it has a simple, intuitive interface. 

For handheld it’s going to be near impossible to adjust exposure. Mind, I’ll often take a few pictures/videos with different exposures and see what works best when I get back inside.

What phone holder/adapter and eyepiece(s) do you use? I have something that cost me £9.99, is very light, fits BST StarGuiders like a glove and doesn’t require adjusting or fiddling & faffing once attached to the eyepiece. If I’m thinking of taking an image I’ll often have my phone attached to an eyepiece before I start. Then, all I need to do, is pop the eyepiece/holder/phone combination into the focuser and starting taking snaps. 

[peanutcol]

1 hour ago, PeterStudz said:

Good job… not easy handheld so you made it even more difficult! And thanks for posting. There should be more of this.

If you get atmospheric dispersion it can be reduced, sometimes removed altogether, by editing in a smartphone app. I find Lightroom quite good for this and it has a simple, intuitive interface. 

For handheld it’s going to be near impossible to adjust exposure. Mind, I’ll often take a few pictures/videos with different exposures and see what works best when I get back inside.

What phone holder/adapter and eyepiece(s) do you use? I have something that cost me £9.99, is very light, fits BST StarGuiders like a glove and doesn’t require adjusting or fiddling & faffing once attached to the eyepiece. If I’m thinking of taking an image I’ll often have my phone attached to an eyepiece before I start. Then, all I need to do, is pop the eyepiece/holder/phone combination into the focuser and starting taking snaps. 

Same here it's just an Amazon phone mount. I was using a 6.3mm eyepiece. Think I'll do that next already have it fitted make it easier on myself 

[Bruce Leeroy]

18 hours ago, peanutcol said:

When capturing the image?

Yes, I used to get my best mobile phone images of the planets using a very low exposure.

Something else i tested was using the panorama setting on an old iphone, I think the exposure was a little high but I let the moon drift through the view, you have to have the phone orientated correctly so it drifts L/R.

 

[PeterStudz]

13 hours ago, peanutcol said:

Same here it's just an Amazon phone mount. I was using a 6.3mm eyepiece. Think I'll do that next already have it fitted make it easier on myself 

It all takes practice. Find something that works for you. Personally and if possible, I like to be able to use my gear without having using lights, even a red light. Although obviously a phone screen will ruin dark adaption. I also found that doing white light solar helped as in daylight it’s easier to sort out a method with minimal faff!

As suggested by @Bruce Leeroy, play around with different ways of taking an image. Eg… For planetary I’ve found that the camera zoom (just a little like x2) makes a big difference. iPhones have something called “Live Photo” which will take a short video. There’s then an option to “Duplicate” & “Duplicate as Still”. This will combine, possibly do a little “stack” (not exactly sure what it does), of your video. I’ve found this great for lunar and solar, cutting back on poor seeing, often producing better results than an image taken in RAW. If you have an Android phone I’m sure that there’s lots to experiment with too.