Capturing Stars with Mobile Devices: Fact or Fiction?

[liometopum]

This Facebook video is said to be of the star Rigel, taken with an Ipad. Comments?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

hmmm I wouldn't think an ipad could zoom in close enough to make out a star.

 

[liometopum]

My daughter mentioned it to me, and took me out and pointed to the star that was the supposed target. It was Rigel. I have a first generation Ipad, which has no camera, so I could not attempt to duplicate the video. Maybe someone here can try it.

Actually, it was not an Ipad, but an IPhone. Whatever... I hope some others try it.

 

[berkeman]

Taken with an iPad through a telescope...

 

[DaveC426913]

To state the obvious, it is highly out-of-focus. That's why it's a disc, rather than a point. (And I'm going to guess that it's through a refractor-type scope (no vanes))

 

[russ_watters]

[edit] Wait a minute:

here's the video of it when it was bigger/closer in (used my iphone video camera filming Jakob's camera screen capturing the object).

iphone taking a picture of a "camera screen"? What kind of camera screen? Like the photo in my avatar? DSLR attached to the back of a telescope? Oy!