First ever Astrophoto

[helicon]

Time: 9:50 P.M May 19th, location: Berkeley Hills, Berkeley, CA. Subject: Ursa major
Camera: Pixel 4 XL 128 GB
Exposure time: 4 seconds

Finally clear so I could try out the "nightsight" feature on my phone, Basically the camera adjusts to low light conditions using AI and prompted me to turn on the feature when I held up the phone. It then automatically stacks the frames and produces an integrated image. So for now a very humble effort. In the photo looking closely you can just make out Alcor next to Mizar. I'll try to experiment with longer exposure times.

[bobharmony]

Be careful, Michael. This could be the start down the slippery slope That is a pretty nice result - being able to pick out Alcor is an indication the frames were short enough not to be impacted by shaky hands, assuming you didn't have the phone mounted on a tripod.

Now if they could program in some flats to go with the stacked image and address the vignetting.

Bob

[helicon]

Be careful, Michael. This could be the start down the slippery slope That is a pretty nice result - being able to pick out Alcor is an indication the frames were short enough not to be impacted by shaky hands, assuming you didn't have the phone mounted on a tripod.

Now if they could program in some flats to go with the stacked image and address the vignetting.

Bob

I'm afraid I'm heading down the slippery slope as I'm ordering a ZWO next week. Also, the picture size as posted was somehow reduced in size from the way it looks in Google photos, e.g. kind of hard to see the stars. My original shot shows the dipper asterism more clearly.

[UlteriorModem]

And so it begins!

Nice night scape for a simple cell phone snap!

ps; If you click on the image you can see the full size.

[helicon]

And so it begins!

Nice night scape for a simple cell phone snap!

ps; If you click on the image you can see the full size.

Thanks for the tip Tom!

[Greenman]

Well Helicon, a good start and it sounds as if more are coming. Do let us know when you remortgage the house

[Juno16]

Very nice Michael!

Alright! Another imager to share our frustrations with!

[KathyNS]

Bwah-ha-ha! Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

[jerrysykes]

Nice first image, Michael. Welcome to the club.
Kathy is right.....you will be assimilated.

[UlteriorModem]

Bwah-ha-ha! Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Just look at Bryan!

Next thing you know Gabby will start imaging! (In a cold day in hell that is)

[Gordon]

I heard it's going to be cloudy in your area pretty soon.........

Great shot on the cell phone!

[pakarinen]

Nice! Speaking of being assimilated, I was surfing Malincams while I had lunch.

[Ylem]

Nice
Rabbit holes vs black holes

[JayTee]

Nice job Michael.

It will be entertaining to watch your journey down the rabbit hole.

It is not like downhill skiing where you point your skis downhill and whoosh you're at the bottom - your destination. No, it is more like bumper cars where you continually run into things and you never get to your destination. Or, at best it's like a pinball game and you're the ball and you're banging off the bumpers until you finally make it down to the flippers, then oops you get launched back up to the bumpers again.

Cheers and good luck,
JT

[SkyHiker]

Looking good Michael. If you process the stacker image, I'd like to see the results!

Time to check out the real estate in Nevada for a dark site cabin?

[starfield]

I'm afraid I'm heading down the slippery slope as I'm ordering a ZWO next week. Also, the picture size as posted was somehow reduced in size from the way it looks in Google photos, e.g. kind of hard to see the stars. My original shot shows the dipper asterism more clearly.

What camera did you get? You can head down the rabbit hole with the rest of us!

[helicon]

Looking good Michael. If you process the stacker image, I'd like to see the results!

Time to check out the real estate in Nevada for a dark site cabin?

So true. My timeline for that is a couple of years. Tonopah looks good. Quite dark and one of those international dark sky sites, elevation about 6,000 feet so not too hot in the summer.

[helicon]

I'm afraid I'm heading down the slippery slope as I'm ordering a ZWO next week. Also, the picture size as posted was somehow reduced in size from the way it looks in Google photos, e.g. kind of hard to see the stars. My original shot shows the dipper asterism more clearly.

What camera did you get? You can head down the rabbit hole with the rest of us!

ZWO ASI either monochrome or color. I'm leaning toward the monochrome. Pulling the trigger next week.

[UlteriorModem]

Planetary or deep sky?

Be forewarned, if you go down the monochrome road and decide to do LRGB or NB the workload, complexity, and of course costs increase dramatically. Probably close to 4 x as much!

I used to do mono LRGB but found I could just not get enough clear sky time to actually finish a target!

[helicon]

Probably planetary to start out Tom (and Luna). Since I don't know anything (including how to attach the camera to the scope!) it will be an interesting experience!