Jupiter, Uranus & Mars - iPhone - 15/09/24

[PeterStudz]

Skywatcher 200p Dob on DIY EQ platform. Southampton urban garden, Bortle 7, 3:40 am to 5:05am, 15th September 2024. BST StarGuider 3.2mm. iPhone 14 Pro held to the eyepiece using a no-brand smartphone adapter. Captured via short iPhone videos in my usual way. Stacked on the iPhone using the app VideoStack. All editing & processing on phone or iPad using the stock camera app, WaveletCam, LightRoom & SnapSeed.

A good night/early morning session on a few of the planets. I nearly didn’t go out at all as I was busy the next day, dithered and initially went to bed. But I knew conditions were good, couldn’t sleep and finally decided to get up and give it a go. By the time I was out, had everything setup and cooled, Saturn was too low for a good view. Still, I got some great views of Jupiter and the GRS in some of the best seeing I’ve had in over a year. Also took a look at Neptune and Mars. I could also not leave out the Orion Nebula when I saw it rising above my tree line. 

Jupiter - From a 60 sec video taken at 3:40am. Visually Jupiter looked superb and I spent some time observing. My first smartphone Jupiter this year and it’s far from being in an optimal position. I prefer the “Dob view”, maybe because I’m use to seeing it like that. But as everyone seems to display it the other way around and on the straight & level I’ve included that too. I’m sure that I can get a bit more out of this. Might try again later when less busy. 

Uranus - From a 30 sec video taken at 4:50am. Just like the eyepiece view even the realtime video capture using a 3.2mm eyepiece showed the pretty blue of this planet to be remarkably clear, sharp and steady. The result is really just a blue/green dot but the best I’ve got of Uranus with a smartphone.

Mars - From a 70 sec video taken at 5:05am. Mars is still tiny but I love looking at Mars. Taking a smartphone image is pushing things but why not try. Visually and in the good seeing, the phase was easy to make out. And the North Polar Hood obvious. I could make out some albedo features to the south running east-west and along the terminator. The resulting image shows what I observed in a slightly more contrasty way - it shows the North Polar Hood and A few fuzzy details of the Solis Lacus and Tharsis regions. Hopefully do better as Mars gets closer. 

Edited September 19 by PeterStudz

[TiffsAndAstro]

Omg lol and with an iPhone?

[PeterStudz]

1 hour ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

Omg lol and with an iPhone?

I quite enjoy seeing what just a phone can do. And no “cheating” with that PC stuff! Or maybe I like making things difficult for myself 😀. Apart from the obvious camera limitations the apps are rudimentary compared to what’s available on PC. So I suspect that even editing and processing using PC software would potentially give better result. Whatever, it’s all good fun!

[Kon]

These are excellent images with the setup. To be honest this Uranus puts images from planetary camera setups to shame.

[bosun21]

You have become really proficient using your phone for astro captures. It just shows what is possible with a modern phone. I agree with Kostas about your photo of Uranus.

Edited September 20 by bosun21

[Sunshine]

Fantastic captures using just a phone, inspiring!

[DAT]

stunning!

[CraigT82]

These are incredible I honestly never in a million years thought you could get these results with a phone…. And all processed on a phone too! Fantastic work Peter! 

[PeterStudz]

Many thanks for all the comments! I’ve got so much help from this site. Following, reading and looking at what others have been doing. And not just in the mobile section. It’s a great resource with some extremely knowledgeable, friendly and experienced astronomers. 

[DAT]

In what order did you use the various apps for processing?

I had a quick play around but cannot figure out whether it’s better to use waveletcam first.

it was cloudy this morning but I have never seen the Great Red Spot so clearly and managed to ramp up magnification to x 200. Resulting video is not very good but at the beginning and end of if the weather bands are visible without processing so there might be something worth using

[PeterStudz]

On 21/09/2024 at 07:13, DAT said:

In what order did you use the various apps for processing?

I had a quick play around but cannot figure out whether it’s better to use waveletcam first.

it was cloudy this morning but I have never seen the Great Red Spot so clearly and managed to ramp up magnification to x 200. Resulting video is not very good but at the beginning and end of if the weather bands are visible without processing so there might be something worth using

All of this is a bit of a dark art and I don’t know if what I’m doing is the best. Most I’ve discovered by trial and error. But it’s basically:- take video (adjusting settings) > edit video capture > VideoStack > WaveletCam > SnapSeed and/or Lightroom to adjust colours, colour balance & fine details. But yes, WaveletCam first, otherwise you risk losing details by passing through another app. l’ve tried to describe things in a bit more detail below…

For planetary I take video on my iPhone at 4K:60fps. Depending on which phone you have you might not be able to do this. But you want the maximum setting for video on your Phone. However, default is set lower, so ensure it’s set to the max. I also use the phones x2 “optical zoom”. Not sure if that makes any difference, but it makes it easier to focus. Having focus spot on is very important. I also put exposure right down low. On the stock iPhone camera app exposure settings are rather hidden, but they are there. Go for the maximum length of video you can get. The EQ platform that I use helps here. 

I then edit the video as best I can using the stock camera app. Try playing with contrast, shadows, colour balance, exposure, brightness and definition until your video looks the best you can get. 

After that put your video through the VideoStack app. 

Put the exported VideoStack image through the WaveletCam app. This app takes some getting us to. It’s  powerful for what it is, but It’s far too easy to over sharpen and stretch your image far too much. If that happens there’s no going back and you have to start again with WaveletCam. Generally the longer your video the more details you can potentially pull out. With practice you get a feel for what works and what doesn’t.

I then use Lightroom, sometimes SnapSeed. I find the interface in SnapSeed annoying and difficult to use but it has some good features. Lightroom (I only have the free version) is really good for adjusting colours, white balance and minimising any atmospheric dispersion. With these apps make sure you export at the highest quality. Using defaults often means that it exports at a lower quality and each time you export some details can be lost. Sometimes I go back into WaveletCam just to adjust sharpness in order to finish off. Once you have a workflow established, it’s relative straightforward and quick.

A couple of points - sounds obvious but good seeing is very important. On some more iffy nights it just doesn’t work well. And make sure your planet is as high in the sky as possible. You could also try something with Jupiter that’s a bit more widefield, ie an image that has all four moons. You’ll need a night where the moons are relatively close in, but with more feeling of space Jupiter itself doesn’t need to be quite so sharp. Even though I was still experimenting I tried to do this last year and it worked quite well. Something to try again. 

Edited Monday at 09:11 by PeterStudz

[DAT]

3 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

All of this is a bit of a dark art and I don’t know if what I’m doing is the best. Most I’ve discovered by trial and error. But it’s basically:- take video (adjusting settings) > edit video capture > VideoStack > WaveletCam > SnapSeed and/or Lightroom to adjust colours, colour balance & fine details. But yes, WaveletCam first, otherwise you risk losing details by passing through another app. l’ve tried to describe things in a bit more detail below…

For planetary I take video on my iPhone at 4K:60fps. Depending on which phone you have you might not be able to do this. But you want the maximum setting for video on your Phone. However, default is set lower, so ensure it’s set to the max. I also use the phones x2 “optical zoom”. Not sure if that makes any difference, but it makes it easier to focus. Having focus spot on is very important. I also put exposure right down low. On the stock iPhone camera app exposure settings are rather hidden, but they are there. Go for the maximum length of video you can get. The EQ platform that I use helps here. 

I then edit the video as best I can using the stock camera app. Try playing with contrast, shadows, colour balance, exposure, brightness and definition until your video looks the best you can get. 

After that put your video through the VideoStack app. 

Put the exported VideoStack image through the WaveletCam app. This app takes some getting us to. It’s  powerful for what it is, but It’s far too easy to over sharpen and stretch your image far too much. If that happens there’s no going back and you have to start again with WaveletCam. Generally the longer your video the more details you can potentially pull out. With practice you get a feel for what works and what doesn’t.

I then use Lightroom, sometimes SnapSeed. I find the interface in SnapSeed annoying and difficult to use but it has some good features. Lightroom (I only have the free version) is really good for adjusting colours, white balance and minimising any atmospheric dispersion. With these apps make sure you export at the highest quality. Using defaults often means that it exports at a lower quality and each time you export some details can be lost. Sometimes I go back into WaveletCam just to adjust sharpness in order to finish off. Once you have a workflow established, it’s relative straightforward and quick.

A couple of points - sounds obvious but good seeing is very important. On some more iffy nights it just doesn’t work well. And make sure your planet is as high in the sky as possible. You could also try something with Jupiter that’s a bit more widefield, ie an image that has all four moons. You’ll need a night where the moons are relatively close in, but with more feeling of space Jupiter itself doesn’t need to be quite so sharp. Even though I was still experimenting I tried to do this last year and it worked quite well. Something to try again. 

Thanks Peter, that is very useful and much appreciated. I am sure others will benefit too.
What you have show to be possible with a phone is amazing and perhaps this could be pinned in this section as a sort of guide?