Can a Mobile Phone Capture the Beauty of the Night Sky?

[DennisN]

Behold my first photos of stars...

Thanks to PF members and PF threads, and reading about astrophotography, I succeeded the first time. This was just some tests I did with my mobile phone, LG G4, which has a pretty decent camera which can be used in manual mode, i.e. I can set the ISO, shutter speed, focus etc. manually (!). I also taped a anti-lightpollution filter in front of the camera.

All photos are taken with no zoom, focus to infinity, and with at least 5 seconds exposure.
Stacking software used: DeepSkyStacker
Detection software used (online): Astrometry.net (pretty nice!)
Additional software: Stellarium

To infinity and beyond
My first photo, with the mobile phone camera pointing straight up into the sky, not amazing, but there are at least some stars... 23 stacked images, 8 seconds exposure each, ISO 1000:

Detections:

Stars with Big Dipper/Ursa major,
20 stacked photos, ISO 800:

Stars with Cygnus and part of Milky Way (if I understood Stellarium correctly),
10 stacked images, ISO 200:

Detections:

Stellarium view:

Stars with Draco & Ursa Minor etc, 10 stacked images, ISO 800:

Detections:

 

[Drakkith]

Very nice for a mere cell phone camera!

 

[davenn]

Behold my first photos of stars...

Thanks to PF members and PF threads, and reading about astrophotography, I succeeded the first time. This was just some tests I did with my mobile phone, LG G4, which has a pretty decent camera which can be used in manual mode, i.e. I can set the ISO, shutter speed, focus etc. manually (!). I also taped a anti-lightpollution filter in front of the camera.

outstanding ... WELL DONE

welcome to the astro-tog world
you are one of us now... there is no escaping

Can you set the aperture as well ? That would be good if it can be opened up for the most lightDave

 

[DennisN]

outstanding ... WELL DONE

Thanks!

welcome to the astro-tog world
you are one of us now... there is no escaping

I already feel addicted . And I am also considering the Celestron NexStar 130SLT, which got good reviews here.

Can you set the aperture as well ? That would be good if it can be opened up for the most light

I had to check that up, and it seems the aperture is fixed at max f/1.8 (according to LG G4 Camera Full Manual Mode Guide).

I've tried the LG G4 camera in more normal situations too, and I am quite impressed by it. Also, it can shoot raw (DNG).
Item link, if someone is interested: Refurbished LG G4 ($105-140).
And two android camera applications which support manual mode: Open Camera (which I most often use) and Camera FV-5 Lite.

 

[Drakkith]

I already feel addicted . And I am also considering the Celestron NexStar 130SLT, which got good reviews here.

Before you buy, be sure about what the purpose of the scope and mount will be. Most telescopes and mounts are not suited to anything but the most basic of astrophotography, regardless of how well they perform for visual work. You don't need to spend a fortune to get decent quality gear suited to astrophotography, but you will almost certainly need to spend more than you would for a comparable visual-only scope/mount.

If you don't already have a telescope and just want to get into the hobby and get used to astronomy and using a telescope, then the 130SLT should work just fine. Just keep in mind that if you want to get into astrophotography you'll most likely end up pulling your hair out if you try to use that particular system. Still, everyone has to start somewhere, and I don't recommend shelling out several times the cost of that telescope for something more suited to astrophotography if you aren't at least a little experienced using a telescope, navigating the night sky, etc.

To satiate your desire for astrophotography in the meantime, you could get one of those little mounts for your phone that holds it up to the eyepiece. Something like this. Though it's quite a bit more expensive than I thought it would be...

 

[DennisN]

Thanks for the advice, @Drakkith, I appreciate it!

We have very clear skies at the moment, and I will try to boldly go where I have not gone before. I will try to take a night sky panorama with the mobile phone camera (i.e. multiple stacks of images -> panorama)... don't know if it will work, but if I don't try, I'll never know...