Astrophotography with a phone

Brief_Lives

Hi All,

new to writing here but have been ducking in for the last couple of years.

My background - physicist for many a moon, so mathematics of celestials is quite familiar. Iused to have telescopes in whichever country I lived in.

currently no telescope, but i have a rockstar of a phone, and I am shocked at how good it can take astrophotographs.

We had a decent night last night, I could see Mars and Jupiter with my eyes. I attempted Andromeda with the phone, but my exposure wasn't correct, and then I got cold..!

Will try again tonight.

Have any of ye tried some basic photographs with phones?

ItHurtsWhenIP

My Pixel device keeps telling me about its astrophotography capabilities, but I need to buy myself a new smartphone holder for my tripod to check it out properly. It did do a great job on the last Aurora that we had, when it was hand held.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058373767/aurora-watch-october-2024

Also, the comet came out pretty clearly too.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122727806#Comment_122727806

LambshankRedemption

I bought the below book and it is very good. It also has a section on using your phone:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginners-Guide-Astrophotography-Capture-Cosmos/dp/1681989697?crid=3E2XNEAB69RT9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.K3NqUVzesvPK4al1nc0JaQVb_Y5cApdfmgqCxv8XMyB9HlM_TgLfh3m2Up1S3qrFSSx6yK3wCzVD3dqCO7Vop9PuMp6B2Nx3Tak2v2qem-JxeTUMIN8MzdJ4aN6pPg6lIZ9-eYNM9i6dXDNmtEFAzhu8Mj1LyMXlUBd5xLYNbBoglF5ZHzs8WswZBuxE9a-wx3TQPL7puAXiie5FUyGrCan2W6PqbC4uJm1veMGEGAY.txkrGnhRQIY8IO8oGh6n4Oro25BbweEGXaUZ6KgukeU&dib_tag=se&keywords=astrophotography&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1734651473&sprefix=astrophotography%2Caps%2C861&sr=8-3

It even says with most smartphones you dont need a tripod, not sure I would entirely agree. I would recommend getting an attachment for a tripod, not least because it means you can put your hands in your pockets!