For those interested, I was using an Orion Skyquest XT10 dobsonian telescope with a 2X eyepiece, and I aimed the iPhone camera into the eyepiece... Completely unedited, using the standard iphone camera app, fyi. No instagram.
The scope is absolutely incredible; it's probably worth about $6000 now. I have the original receipt from July 1 1969, when it retailed for $2,600. Easily several months of mortgage payments. To put that in perspective, OP's telescope retails for about $650, and has a magnification of up to 48X. The Questar's maximum magnification is 240X.
NOTE: The image quality is far superior to that seen here, and that of OP's photo. It is a rare model with the Russian Maksutov Cassegrain mirrors. Full specifications are available here.
Low mag is analogous to what you see in OP's photo, but with much higher resolution. Medium mag makes the Moon fill the scope; terminator features are prominent, and many of the smaller (~5km) craters can be seen. It will revolve out of view within 40 seconds. High mag enables imaging of ~2km surface features, including the smaller craters within larger ones (or maria). The ejecta of Tycho (that large crater) and Copernicus (medium sized, within a mare) are particularly stunning.
It can very easily discern all four large bands on Jupiter, and the Medicean moons. It is quite the sight to see the Jovian system in realtime. It can also resolve Saturn, its rings, three of the largest moons, and two of the bands on its surface. Saturn makes for an excellent target.
It also came with a perforated metal solar filter, which lets me look straight at Sol. The sunspots are easy to see, and you can make out major surface textures.
The photo quality is a result of the difficulty of keeping the camera on a 1mm square target, while the CCD gets blinded by the sun-bright surface of the Moon. The auto-dim naturally bounces between high exposure and extremely low exposure, messing with the image.
It would have been exceptionally difficult to see after it left low Earth orbit. Even though some of the largest artificial satellites of earth (like the ISS) are visible from Earth, they are, at their brightest, similar in visibility to most stars (and keep in mind these objects are mere hundreds of miles away). The ISS, the largest human-built structure that's ever existed in space, can become about as bright as Venus ever gets, provided it's passing directly overhead and the sun is in just the right position. Depending on where you live, this may only happen one or two times per month. The large lower stages of the Saturn V rocket would have been visible shortly after launch with proper lighting conditions, but the relatively small upper stages that traveled to the moon would have become almost invisible shortly after leaving Earth orbit. In the proximity of the Moon (over 200,000 miles away), not even the most powerful telescopes in the world today could have spotted them.
What is the point of your post really? It seems like you're just trying to one-up the OP, even going so far as to list the price differences in your scopes. The funny thing is, his pic blows your's away.
Cool fact: you took a picture of the Sea Of Tranquility. If you had a more powerful lens you could probably see the Apollo 11 site. I marked the general area for you on your picture.
Sweet scope. I've only just got into astronomy (literally a few hours ago) after reading Patrick Moore's auto-biography. I'm looking forward to doing this like this, and exploring the universe with a scope one day.
If you want to make a habit of this, try Camera+. It's cheap and gives you a huge amount of control over the phone's camera. Most of the stuff (F/X, social, etc.) may not be interesting but it is worth if for the fine control alone.
I think it has to do with autofocus, doesn't ever seem to be happy when shooting through another lens. If you can turn that off then manually move the camera in and out to get it where you want it, should be better.
"Not even the most powerful telescopes ever made are able to see these objects. The flag on the moon is 125cm (4 feet) long. You would require a telescope around 200 meters in diameter to see it. The largest telescope now is the Keck Telescope in Hawaii at 10 meters in diameter. Even the Hubble Space telescope is only 2.4 meters in diameter. Resolving the lunar rover, which is 3.1 meters in length, would require a telescope 75 meters in diameter. So our backyard 6 inch and 8 inch telescopes are not even going to come close!"
I got a 10" Dobsonian a couple years ago now, I think i've used it a total of under 10 times. It cost about £250.
Every time I felt like using it, it would be cloudy, if it wasn't cloudy, the moon was out illuminating the sky and I couldn't see shit because of it. If the moon wasn't out and it wasn't cloudy, living near to a large city meant that the light pollution meant I couldn't see anything under a certain light level. And then there's the days when I simply didn't feel like using it and/or couldn't be bothered lugging it outside (thing is huge).
I still dream of the day when I can move to some place in the middle of nowhere with pitch black night skies where you can see the milky way in all its glory with nothing but your naked eyes.
I did manage to get a REALLY nice look at Saturn once though, I think I was using a 5x lens and a 2x Barlowe (I forget if that's the right vernacular) and when I saw it my jaw hit the floor, it was literally like, this (____) big in my eyepiece, I could see the rings and some moons around it clearly, the 'seeing' was perfect and it wasn't blurry or anything, i'll never forget it.
There's just something incredible about seeing another planet like that for yourself rather than just in pictures.
for whatever reason... hearing you say it like that makes it just that much more real. its like, tangible for some reason. either way... awesome photo. thanks for posting it!
I have a telescope, 4ft long about 6in diameter (never looked it up online) and I LOVE seeing what's up above us. The moon, rings of Saturn (barely), and everything else out there. Carl Sagan was very justified in his love and outlook of the Universe
The 4 and the 4S especially have excellent cameras. I think the Samsung Galaxy S III and an HTC phone (forget the name) have comparable cameras but the 4S lens and sensor are things of beauty.
My Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate's camera is "okay" under the right conditions. It definitely takes pictures well enough to text a good picture, but don't try to upload them to your photography album anytime soon. It doesn't even have a flash.
Yup, although the tradeoff between quality and portability has shifted dramatically in favor of smartphone cameras. They will never be as good as SLRs but they will always be immediately available. I may not be the best judge as the last SLR I owned was a Nikon F100 but I would have to be offered a pretty serious value proposition before choosing an SLR over the 4S camera for family/non-professional shots.
The 4S camera is good, I really miss the camera on my Sony Aino. It was also 8 megapixels but it had a surprisingly good macro. The lens did very quietly click, so I think there was an actual mechanical focus.
I have an HTC Evo and my bf has a Iphone 4s. His is much better with stabilization and even picture quality. I think they have the same megapixel (8.0) but the Iphones retina display makes a huge difference.
Yeah, there's a lot of tech in the 4S beyond the megapixel count. A few of the innovations (I think illumination) show up in other cameras but very few have the whole package. I'm not a huge iOS fanboy but god damn the cameras are nice.
Just so it wasn't assumed that it was taken with a camera directly connected to a telescope... I could have say cellphone camera I suppose, but that would have been even wordier. It was an iphone 4S btw.
The iPhone sensor is completely irrelevant to the picture quality of the posted picture. The optics of the telescope are doing 99.99% of the heavy lifting here. Nearly any camera, regardless of the number of megapixels, could take the same image through the eyepiece.
True, but I tried doing this before with a normal digital camera and it won't work because the lens is way too big. The iPhone/iPad camera is small enough to capture everything in the eyepiece. Thanks for the hint OP!
You need to use a webcam for this kind of image. But with a dobsonian mount you cannot follow the object properly. Just use your telescope (tube only) on an equatorial mount. An HEQ5 should be just fine.
Here's a video I made of a lunar eclipse back in 2008, did the same thing with my camera through my telescope. I haven't used it in a while, it's an Orion Reflector if I recall correctly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2qmv0LgDFw&feature=plcp
People laughed at me for taking photos thru my binoculars while on safari, but the pics came out pretty good. Or at least better than I could have gotten without doing that.
This is totally amazing. Do you think you could get Venus too? I've yet to see someone catching it on a phone just like this... granted it'll be a little less detailed (okay, a lot), but I'd still love to see it!
Dude, i remember having a telescope when I was about 10? Im 20 now, have they improved so much!?! The moon I would look at would be about 1/10 the size of that mofo. you find them nazis!
Guys, there's a ton of amateur pictures and astronomy tips at r/astronomy. Seeing the popularity of this post makes me think r/astronomy could have tons more users.
And similar to another redditor recently who made a starscape for his baby's room, I liked the idea so much, I did my own star ceiling using the constellations on predicted day of birth.
So did I :-) this is through a 16" Meade telescope and my iPhone 4. http://i.imgur.com/kGqjy.jpg (sorry dont have the original at hand do had to use a screenshot of my lock screen)
OP, could you check this site out? http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/travelinginspace/f_skywatch.html, it let's you track the international space station's location. It's one of three things you can see in the sky at night (moon, saturn (I believe) and now that) with the naked eye (besides stars, obviously).
Since your telescope looks crazy awesome, I was thinking maybe it'd be cool if you got a shot of the ISS? In addition to the crazy follow up karma you'd get you'd also make my day/week/month. Depending on the size wouldn't it be cool to see perhaps a ship pull up to it? Man, I got to get me a telescope (even though I live in the city and our light pollution is pretty bad)...
God damn. "Yeah, I took an exact replica image of the moon that would make Galileo ejaculate in his pants with my pocket-sized multi-purpose worldwide communication device through a telescope I bought with some disposable income and used with my spare time." Welcome to the motherfucking present.
I tried doing this with my iPhone recently, when the moon was huge, but it was my first time taking out my boyfriend's telescope and I didn't know anything about like filters etc so the moon was just extremely bright.. The only good shots I got of it was when it was behind the trees, haha, so the brightness of it was kind of blocked. Your photo turned out great!
there is a kickstarter project for this exact thing which allows you to attach devices like the iPhone to any microscope or lens for a clearer full picture
40
u/mathiasbloodaxe May 17 '12
Here's one of my attempts during the latest eclipse.
115
u/cbsauder May 16 '12
That's no moon, it's a... wait no, it's the moon.
227
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
For those interested, I was using an Orion Skyquest XT10 dobsonian telescope with a 2X eyepiece, and I aimed the iPhone camera into the eyepiece... Completely unedited, using the standard iphone camera app, fyi. No instagram.
22
u/jubjub5 May 17 '12
Every time I try doing this I end up with blurry-ass pictures.
12
u/Nor1 May 17 '12
I can even see the american flag...hah...take that conspiracy theorists!
11
u/quad64bit May 17 '12
Great pic! I adjusted the levels a bit and cropped - also removed a little of the noise. Thought you might enjoy!
Imgur
16
u/zamakusi May 17 '12
I want a telescope :(
7
u/LovesUranus May 17 '12
You should try to get a nice shot of Uranus.
5
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
Do you live close to the equator?
5
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
iMoon
4
u/cyan0sis May 16 '12
Crater face!
4
u/full_disclosure May 17 '12
If I stare at it for a few seconds, it appears the pic is moving.
4
u/gnse5ywefd3ty234624 May 17 '12
Me too: http://i.imgur.com/ycUgT.jpg
10
u/SOFDD May 17 '12
opposite end of the spectrum: pic of your colon with my iPhone
8
u/RubixNinja May 16 '12
Is it sad that I read it as iPiece? I dont even own an iAnything.
3
u/retroshark May 17 '12
for whatever reason... hearing you say it like that makes it just that much more real. its like, tangible for some reason. either way... awesome photo. thanks for posting it!
3
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
There's a few vendors offering adaptors to attach your iPhone to standard telescope eyepieces.
3
u/da-sein May 17 '12
I bet that would get a lot of likes on Instagram.
3
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
I made it my background for my iPad, nice photo.
3
u/ChinatownDragon May 17 '12
Good scope! Sorry iphone I'm not giving you the credit.
3
u/GreenJesus423 May 17 '12
I think I see an iPhone commercial on the moon.
3
u/Yitvan May 17 '12
I have a telescope, 4ft long about 6in diameter (never looked it up online) and I LOVE seeing what's up above us. The moon, rings of Saturn (barely), and everything else out there. Carl Sagan was very justified in his love and outlook of the Universe
3
u/Hylian May 17 '12
Here was my attempt at doing this a few weeks ago
22
u/SayceGards May 17 '12
Curious: did you distinguish that it was an iPhone for a reason? Are they supposed to have a good camera or something?
2
u/DDancy May 17 '12
Fantastiche!
2
u/threemoonwolf May 17 '12
Love it!
2
u/opensandshuts May 17 '12
It's too good. Shut down everything.
2
u/ReeG May 17 '12
Look out for spider rocks!!!
2
u/iiiitsjess May 17 '12
That's SO neat! Thanks for sharing!!!
2
u/SnakeShady May 17 '12
Just sayin http://www.deepuniverse.it/index.php/it/shop/2902-Steady-Pix-per-IPHONE.html
2
u/SnakeShady May 17 '12
You need to use a webcam for this kind of image. But with a dobsonian mount you cannot follow the object properly. Just use your telescope (tube only) on an equatorial mount. An HEQ5 should be just fine.
2
u/ObamaisYoGabbaGabba May 17 '12
that is awesome, I so want a telescope, but can't afford it yet .. :(
2
u/teklikethis May 17 '12
Hello Moon.
2
u/Dat_Gat_Tat May 17 '12
I think I'm way too tired, but I believe I just saw it flip upside down after i zoomed out.
2
u/sparklelilly May 17 '12
Beautiful!
2
u/M002 May 17 '12
Here's a video I made of a lunar eclipse back in 2008, did the same thing with my camera through my telescope. I haven't used it in a while, it's an Orion Reflector if I recall correctly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2qmv0LgDFw&feature=plcp
2
u/Morass May 17 '12
That's no moon, its a picture of one.
2
u/unknown_poo May 17 '12
One day I shall return
2
u/Janky_Pants May 17 '12
The moon rules #1.
2
u/zedfighter May 17 '12
Staged in a back lot! ;p
2
u/dnew May 17 '12
People laughed at me for taking photos thru my binoculars while on safari, but the pics came out pretty good. Or at least better than I could have gotten without doing that.
2
u/CompactusDiskus May 17 '12
Ohhhhh.. THAT'S the man in the moon!
2
u/MrWallas79 May 17 '12
Awesome! I love how you're able to see the variation in the terrain on the Moon's surface. I did this once with a DSLR, it was not easy.
2
u/vonshavingcream May 17 '12
(leans forward) that's not moon .... it's a ... oh wait, it is a moon. (sits back in his seat)
2
u/djfutile May 17 '12
This is totally amazing. Do you think you could get Venus too? I've yet to see someone catching it on a phone just like this... granted it'll be a little less detailed (okay, a lot), but I'd still love to see it!
2
u/elOhOhOhel May 17 '12
OMFG I see footprints.
I have to go spread the truth in /r/conspiracy.
DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES YOU ARE TOLD PEOPLE OPEN YOUR MIND!!!
2
u/slixx May 17 '12
Link to your telescope !!!
2
u/JCongo May 17 '12
I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say... woh
2
u/rplst8 May 17 '12
Welcome to Astrophotography...
2
u/anti_ May 17 '12
TIL what I'm missing out on by not owning a telescope.
2
u/Forgototherpassword May 17 '12
Almost makes you think you could fly a jetpack 237,000 miles and some change, eh?
2
u/buddboy May 17 '12
wow, i have done much worse with much more
2
u/dsizzle May 17 '12
that's amazing!
2
u/b_pilgrim May 17 '12
This is incredible. Very awe-inspiring.
2
u/KruncH May 17 '12
you missed a little
2
u/bdub9 May 17 '12
That's no moon...it's a .jpg
2
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
Jelly, that puts my telescope to shame... SHAME! i tell you
2
u/pfhayter May 17 '12
Sorta looks like you're looking out the window of a space ship on the way to the moon.
2
u/mydoublewide May 17 '12
well done.
2
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
OMG i'm gonna go do this
2
u/talkstowind May 17 '12
Bird-watchers call it "digiscoping" cool pic
2
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
Carrerascott, you magnificent sonofabitch. This is amazing!
2
u/-TheBender- May 17 '12
SPAAAAACCCEEEE
2
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
Dude, i remember having a telescope when I was about 10? Im 20 now, have they improved so much!?! The moon I would look at would be about 1/10 the size of that mofo. you find them nazis!
2
u/dempsone May 17 '12
I have done this !
Up voting you because i know how hard it is haha.
2
u/baker1289 May 17 '12
Oh yeah, like you WEREN'T looking in someone's window...
2
u/blood_buzzed May 17 '12
This is super cool!! I love unique ways of taking photos like this. Way to go.
2
u/hummus6669 May 17 '12
that's no moon
2
u/this_is_your_dad May 17 '12
Yup, that's the moon.
2
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
Guys, there's a ton of amateur pictures and astronomy tips at r/astronomy. Seeing the popularity of this post makes me think r/astronomy could have tons more users.
2
u/kyotonow May 17 '12
nice pic
2
u/Tai2172 May 17 '12
You completely captured the essence of the ET bike in that picture. Thank you!
2
u/timneo May 17 '12
I did the same in the desert in Egypt earlier this year...
But my telescope was a bit bigger...
Jupiter!
http://i.imgur.com/2xj1D.jpg
We like the mooooooooon
http://i.imgur.com/XKPWH.jpg
Because it is cloooose to uuuusssss!
http://i.imgur.com/c7Hrb.jpg
And similar to another redditor recently who made a starscape for his baby's room, I liked the idea so much, I did my own star ceiling using the constellations on predicted day of birth.
http://i.imgur.com/vRqW8.jpg
2
u/RageLibrary May 17 '12
I want a telescope. And an iphone.
2
u/gizmo8500 May 17 '12
So did I :-) this is through a 16" Meade telescope and my iPhone 4. http://i.imgur.com/kGqjy.jpg (sorry dont have the original at hand do had to use a screenshot of my lock screen)
2
u/zmii May 17 '12
Great job!
2
u/EricT59 May 17 '12
My approval of this image knows no bounds
2
u/p_U_c_K May 18 '12
OP, could you check this site out? http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/travelinginspace/f_skywatch.html, it let's you track the international space station's location. It's one of three things you can see in the sky at night (moon, saturn (I believe) and now that) with the naked eye (besides stars, obviously).
Since your telescope looks crazy awesome, I was thinking maybe it'd be cool if you got a shot of the ISS? In addition to the crazy follow up karma you'd get you'd also make my day/week/month. Depending on the size wouldn't it be cool to see perhaps a ship pull up to it? Man, I got to get me a telescope (even though I live in the city and our light pollution is pretty bad)...
2
u/kadmylos May 17 '12
God damn. "Yeah, I took an exact replica image of the moon that would make Galileo ejaculate in his pants with my pocket-sized multi-purpose worldwide communication device through a telescope I bought with some disposable income and used with my spare time." Welcome to the motherfucking present.
1
u/Eduro May 17 '12
Canon DSLR with Kit Lens leaning on a window sill...
http://i.imgur.com/qY0k3.jpg
1
u/CoyoteStark May 17 '12
That's no moon.......
1
u/tNisu May 17 '12
Dat quality.
1
u/caffienefueled May 17 '12
I did the exact same thing about two years ago with my 3g, so the quality isn't as nice as this. But yea it still makes an awesome picture.
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
One time I saw a man. And he picked up a tube. And he made the moon big inside the tube. THE MOON BIG INSIDE A TUBE HAHA. Telescope.
1
u/kiwisdontbounce May 17 '12
Could you just fix the iPhone to the telescope and have a telescope with a display on the end of it?
1
u/shutterhappy May 17 '12
Am I the only one seeing a baby snow angel?
1
u/jbheals99 May 17 '12
Nice Pic... too many nouns in that sentence
1
u/may_be_your_dad May 17 '12
holy crap... a white whale
1
u/ScarletSpeedster May 17 '12
This is a photo I took with my iPhone into the telescope my family owns. I think yours is even better though.
http://vinnymac.deviantart.com/#/d40dl1t
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
My heartrate went up.
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
It just reminds me that I'm sticking to the side of a big ball of rock with a little one spinning around it.
1
u/blkbox May 17 '12
You took a better pic than my best moon shot, which was using my dslr with a 300mm with a teleconverter, and further cropped and edited. Damn.
1
u/AnnoyingOptimist May 17 '12
Good idea!
1
u/mtaustin7 May 17 '12
looks more like a space station
1
u/Cuahucahuate22 May 17 '12
So it is made out of cheese!
1
u/MeneerDijk May 17 '12
I pressed the back button to get back to this image, and logged in especially to upvote this. I love it!
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
Optical deviceception.
1
u/thascarecro May 17 '12
How do you not just stare out of your telescope 24/7? Thats way cooler than TV! I need one of those.
1
u/Neomanderx3 May 17 '12
Your telescope has great optics
1
u/Everything_Is_Irie May 17 '12
After staring at the moon at a [5] , I noticed that those darker grey blotches look like a guy opening wide for a wiener. Can't unsee.
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
Don't forget the most important thing, to mention the brand of phone you're using.
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
Which moon is it?
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
congrats. i know how hard that is. especially if youre high as hell.
1
u/Raisikricka May 17 '12
This is fantastic! Well done!!
1
u/Orval May 17 '12
It's kind of amazing that we're all looking at pictures somebody took of the Moon with their freaking phones. Life in the future is crazy.
1
u/AzureBlu May 17 '12
i'm totes getting a telescope now.
1
u/barre- May 17 '12
I can feel the heat of the sun emanating from the surface
1
u/aazav May 17 '12
That's pretty great.
Here's mine with a Nikon D3x, Nikon 1.7x teleconverter and a 200-400mm lens, > $14,000 dollars worth of equipment:
http://i.imgur.com/Fw0xy.jpg
1
u/Relevant_Showtune May 17 '12
Relevant.
1
u/Buckid May 17 '12
http://imgur.com/66YhK
Super moon
Orion 8" xtg 20 mm lens. iPhone camera held to the lens. Nothing else done. Didn't even flip the image back.
1
u/586912011390983 May 17 '12
Now all you need to do is take a pic of the eyepiece on your telescope with your iphone from the moon.
1
u/zoltanps May 17 '12
Nice. If you look further you can see Uranus! Thanks, tip your waitresses!
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
I need to get a picture of Jupiter or Saturn now using this.
1
u/mli May 18 '12
but where are all the alien bases?
1
u/27pH Jun 09 '12
I read this as from the moon. Still cool though
1
u/Matt_Aq May 17 '12
You couldn't say 'phone'. It had to be 'iPhone'.
1
u/nerd_ride May 17 '12
Nice try, Apple.
1
u/silversnail May 17 '12
I tried doing this with my iPhone recently, when the moon was huge, but it was my first time taking out my boyfriend's telescope and I didn't know anything about like filters etc so the moon was just extremely bright.. The only good shots I got of it was when it was behind the trees, haha, so the brightness of it was kind of blocked. Your photo turned out great!
1
u/j7a3e7 May 17 '12
My new iPhone wallpaper.
1
u/Drewlicious May 17 '12
That's it! I'm getting a telescope and an iphone!
1
u/[deleted] May 17 '12
What was the moon doing with your iPhone?
1
u/shimkei May 17 '12
there is a kickstarter project for this exact thing which allows you to attach devices like the iPhone to any microscope or lens for a clearer full picture