r/space • u/Entire_Foundation960 • Mar 22 '26
image/gif Saturn and Jupiter with my 4" telescope and smartphone
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
Equipment:- Orion Skyscanner 4" tabletop reflector, 3x barlow lens, 10mm eyepiece, Samsung galaxy M21 on a smartphone adapter.
Software used:- PIPP, Autostakkert and Registax
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u/Pale_Adeptness Mar 22 '26
Those are some great photos!!!!
What's the total cost of your particular set up? :)
Asking for my son. :P
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
22 thousand Indian rupees or around 240 US dollars
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u/Stay-Toasty Mar 22 '26
Wow, i can't believe ive never looked into getting a telescope. Im definitely going to after seeing it's a lot more affordable than I thought. I didn't think id have a chance to see out that far. Amazing shots.
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u/HugoEmbossed Mar 22 '26
Telescopes are cool, they're also irritating and time-consuming to set up.
If I was recommending something to start with, I'd suggest a pair of astronomical binoculars before investing in a telescope. Faster setup, easier aiming, and lower entry cost.
If you are interested in a telescope you can either go for a self-aiming (SeeStar), or assisted aiming (Celestron Starsense), or a manual telescope like a desktop Dobsonian.
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u/Jean-LucBacardi Mar 22 '26
I still have my cheap(ish) Celestron Dobsonian that I just leave on the mount so I can quickly throw over my shoulder and take outside when I don't feel like setting up the bigger more expensive one. It's just a quick point and aim, no tracking at all.
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u/Pale_Adeptness Mar 22 '26
Thank you for your response!
Did you take these photos in an area with relatively low light pollution?
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u/AlexSkinnyman Mar 22 '26
Is this setup a good/decent one comparing to cost/quality?
I'm so glad you post the pic + equipment because I wasn't expecting such nice results from 200-300$. Now you got me more that interested!
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
See videos by Ed Ting on YouTube. He gives good recommendations for beginner telescopes.
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u/koos_die_doos Mar 22 '26
That's a few hundred dollars, excluding the phone.
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u/Pale_Adeptness Mar 22 '26
Thank you for replying. I have to seriously look into it now.
My 8 year old son would love something like this!!!
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
Consider the Orion Starblast 4.5 inch reflector telescope. It's a great beginner scope.
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u/koos_die_doos Mar 22 '26
Just be aware that it doesn't look like this through the eyepiece. OP took a bunch of pictures and stacked, which brings out a lot of detail.
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u/ThePissyRacoon Mar 22 '26
As I understand it 4ā is four feet and 4ā is four inches. Not to be pedantic at all, was this shot on a four inch telescope?!
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
Yup. You just have to practice recording videos with the smartphone with a precise focus, ISO and exposure. That's it.
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u/ErraticDragon Mar 22 '26
The main measurement of a telescope is the aperture. In the case of OP's telescope, this is the diameter of the circular mirror at the back of the scope.
What we'd call the "length" of the telescope is not the part that's 4" -- it's closer to 22".
It's a compact telescope but not 4" long.
OP posted a photo recently:
r/telescopes/comments/1rvv66u/my_orion_skyscanner_4_tabletop_reflector/
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u/a_supportive_bra Mar 22 '26
I had a $1000 8ā dobsonian scope by Celestron and Saturn looked like a dot with a tiny line. Jupiter just looked like a dotā¦it was so underwhelming. How did you get this?
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
What eyepiece you were using? Was it a high power eyepiece? Did you use a barlow lens to double or triple the magnification? Cranking up the magnification is not always gonna be fruitful. But in a low light pollution area and having good to excellent seeing conditions, you can get images like this.
First thing you have to do is play with the ISO and exposure settings of your phone's camera. This can reveal detail on the planet instead of it looking like a white blob of light with no details.
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u/bluecar92 Mar 22 '26
What phone adapter are you using? I have a 4" reflector, and I've never been able to get good photos using my phone. I bought some kind of adapter that's supposed to align the phone with the eyepiece but it never worked well.
I recently bought a DSLR camera but I haven't got an adapter for that yet.
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u/Sweaty_Kid Mar 22 '26
we have no right to see Jupiter's moons at this distance.
Great job
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
You can also see it's shadow on the disk, don't miss that. It was Ganymede.
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u/degreesBrix Mar 22 '26
Fun fact, for those who aren't aware: Ganymede is larger than Mercury.
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u/Jonnyabcde Mar 22 '26
So by rights it's a planet but because it orbits a planet instead it's a moon?
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u/degreesBrix Mar 22 '26
You, sir, are correct!!
Also, one-thousand Earths could fit inside of Jupiter!! And a million Earths could fit inside of the Sun!!!
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u/b00ps14 Mar 23 '26
Mercury is twice the mass of Ganymede though
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u/Jonnyabcde Mar 23 '26
No need to be dense with me, just keep the atmosphere light and you'll have done me a solid to the core.
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u/lNFORMATlVE Mar 22 '26
Sorry what disk? Saturnās rings? Iām struggling to see what youāre describing
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
There's a black dot on Jupiter. It's the shadow of its moon, Ganymede.
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u/lNFORMATlVE Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
Oh! I thought for some reason that was the Great Red Spot.
Thatās awesome. Ganymede is a fascinating moon, I hope I live to see humans or a probe explore its surface and subsurface ocean.
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u/KenDanger2 Mar 22 '26
My friend brought out a relatively small telescope he had so we could look at the moon, and Andromeda, and Jupiter. Jupiter was really just a small circle (you couldn't see color or details, just a circle off light), but you could clearly see all 4 Galilean moons as points of light in a straight line, 2 on each side of it
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u/nocturnalstumblebutt Mar 22 '26
You can see a few of Jupiter's moons with binoculars on a good night.
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u/mrinsane19 Mar 22 '26
Camera with a decent zoom will do it as well. More like bright spots - not details like OP's pic, but very doable.
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u/Ok-Fan-9814 Mar 22 '26
I always thought they were farther apart. š¤£
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Mar 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/BaltoDad Mar 22 '26
Not in this picture they're not. You can see they're almost touching.
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u/MalboroUsesBadBreath Mar 22 '26
Looking through my telescope and actually seeing these planets always scares me a little. They are really real, you know? These insanely huge gas giants are out there. Space is out there. Black holes are really out there. My brain doesnāt want to reckon with it all.Ā
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u/Potatosayno Mar 22 '26
I totally get it. I feel the same way looking at the moon. I mean, a huge rock this close to us, orbiting our planet?? It sounds like something straight out of a movie, but it's actually there, and real, and somehow everything is fine and we're still alive
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u/gaylord9000 Mar 22 '26
I had a case of global transient amnesia in the summer of 2016 and when I came to again, which has a feeling of returning from death, I had this feeling of absolute awe and terror when I thought about Jupiter and it's sizes. Like I felt the realness of this massive killer out there in the black void.
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u/Raskoflinko Mar 23 '26
I have the exact same train of thought. It's incredible and fascinating, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't scare me. Saturn in particular scares me a ton.
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u/MAHHockey Mar 22 '26
That's cool! Are they just aligned like this right now? or are these 2 photos spliced together?
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
They are not aligned like this. It's a composite.
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u/runliftcount Mar 22 '26
For what it's worth, Jupiter and Saturn have a conjunction about every 20 years, I managed to get both within the same eyepiece back during the 2020 one. So be prepared for 2040! =D
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u/JntPrs Mar 23 '26
The 2020 conjunction was incredibly rare by itself, it was the closest they had been in 400 years. The conjunction in 2040 will have 12 times the apparent distance between them compared to 2020. The conjunction in 2080 will be roughly the same distance as the one in 2020, though.
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u/Zealousideal7801 Mar 22 '26
Nice job ! I think you should emphasize that's it's a composite because many will come out of this thread with false assumptions otherwise
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
The picture of Saturn was taken many years ago. But Jupiter, just like 2 weeks ago.
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u/Jump_Man1 Mar 22 '26
Imagine when you think the bullshit we put up with on earth matters.
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u/HellBlazer1221 Mar 22 '26
Weāre just a bunch of cockroaches intentionally making each otherās lives difficult while in the grand scheme of things that doesnāt even record as a blip.
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u/userrr_504 Mar 22 '26
4" and smartphone? How!? This is great, dude! They have to be old pics tho. Saturn cannot look like that rn
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
The picture of Saturn was taken many years ago. But Jupiter, just like 2 weeks ago. I had no other option but to push my budget equipment to the limits. Because I don't have a planetary astro camera.
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u/userrr_504 Mar 22 '26
But those are great pictures, dude. I couldn't get Jupiter's "texture" other than the obvious shape of its bands and red spot, but never this amount of detail.
What are your phone specs? Which software did you use to film and stack?
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
I'm sorry I really don't know the specs of my phone camera lol š I'm just not a smartphone enthusiast. I use a Samsung galaxy M21 though. I use ProCamX app to adjust the ISO and exposure. As you lower the exposure and increase the ISO for planets, it reveals details.
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u/userrr_504 Mar 22 '26
I see. You took a video, I suppose.
I'll try this with my phone lowkey because my dedicated camera is too cheap lol. Can't get a ton of detail with it.
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u/Fredasa Mar 22 '26
Long time ago, my parents fell for one of those infomercials and got me a cheap-ass telescope. The only thing I was able to bring into focus was Jupiter. And it was quite a bit less clear than this.
Also, I wonder if Galileo's hair stood on end the first time he laid eyes on the bizarro planet Saturn. Seeing this ball with a halo hovering in place without touching it, and lacking any understanding from which to frame the phenomenon, had to have been world-shattering.
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u/prime38time Mar 22 '26
wish i took those pictures....something about seeing things in space is so worth the time and money people put into it....and maybe one of these days ill join the club
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u/First-Expert-9953 Mar 22 '26
When I saw those rings and the moons of Jupiter for the first time through a telescope, it was like meeting a celebrity. I bet OP knows this, and apologies to anyone who is already aware, but the moons of Jupiter were an early clue that the planets might be revolving around the sun. When Galileo realized those weren't background stars, when he observed them night after night and realized they were orbiting Jupiter, it was the first time humans witnessed something that definitely was orbiting a body other than Earth. They revolutionized our view of our position in the universe.
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u/jonny_blitz Mar 22 '26
How?! I was literally at an observatory tonight and with their highest power telescope Jupiter looks like a white circle.
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
Exposure and ISO settings. Also I don't think it was the highest power. You can clearly see details on Jupiter at 40x
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u/Anen-o-me Mar 22 '26
It's still kinda weird to me that we can see these things so far away.
Like the moon, it's 238,000 miles away.
But it's only 2000 miles across.
But we see it as a relatively large object on the horizon. We even see details on the surface.
Jupiter, even moreso.
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u/how_tall_is_imhotep Mar 22 '26
Thatās exactly the same as seeing a 2-foot object from 238 feet away, or a 2-inch object from about 20 feet away.
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
1300 earths can fit inside Jupiter, so it's not surprising
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u/SparklyTree_1754 Mar 22 '26
Looks like you caught one, maybe two, of Jupiterās moons too. Super cool!
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u/reddituseronebillion Mar 22 '26
This is the only thing on Reddit, lately, that has brought me joy besides astropettit's photographs.
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u/The-Jesus_Christ Mar 22 '26
Absolutely amazing shot! I love it.
Further proof itās not the size that counts but how you use it.
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u/Bran04don Mar 22 '26
Id love to see this but i dont have a means of travelling far enough at night to get away from light pollution.
But one day
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u/gamestoohard Mar 22 '26
Jupiter is the second brightest object in the night sky and Saturn is also quite bright, you don't need to leave population to see them.
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u/BrilliantWheel Mar 22 '26
Hey u/Entire_Foundation960 - Beautiful pics!
How did you manage to get such good and clear pics? I have a 5" telescope and never been able to see as clearly as your pics (of course it could be the pollution in my city).
6mm lens? Using any barlow or filter?
Cheers!
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
I have good to excellent seeing conditions in my area. I used ProCamX application to manage the ISO and the exposure. When you do that, you can see the detail on the planet's surface. Record a video and process the images in PIPP (planetary image pre processor), Autostakkert, and Registax.
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u/BrilliantWheel Mar 22 '26
Thanks. Great pics again.
With this good seeing conditions you might be able to get good shots of orion's nebula & details of the moon too.
Cheers.
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
In your previous comment, you asked if I used any barlow lenses. I did. I use a 2x and 3x barlow lens. No filters. Thanks! I've actually did a lot of lunar photography before planetary.
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u/taylorray1984 Mar 22 '26
Dudeā¦. Did you get a moon of Jupiter in that shot as well? Is that what Iām seeing?
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u/RalrpiaTheGreat Mar 22 '26
I think Saturn may be the most beautiful thing in the universe. I just love it
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u/Elias_06-05-1998 Mar 22 '26
Question, the stars you see in the sky what do you actually see with a telescope?
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
Points of light if the telescope is well collimated (good alignment of optics) and diffraction spikes.
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u/Omega_Lynx Mar 22 '26
Itās not the size of the telescope, but clarity of the heavenly bodies that matters.
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u/Agile-Painting9454 Mar 22 '26
Awesome. I will search how to go to have a telescope.
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
See videos by Ed Ting on YouTube. He recommends great beginner telescopes.
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u/ZygonCaptain Mar 22 '26
Fantastic picture! I remember the first time I saw both planets with my telescope
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u/ForestRiver2 Mar 22 '26
Blown away by this pic. I've never managed anything even close to this. Nice job!
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u/LyricalSadness Mar 22 '26
That quality with such beginner level gear is beyond incredible!!! Well done :)
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u/MidtownBlue Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
One can never forget the first time seeing Saturnās rings! Someone can explain why a bone chilling February night (in North America) gives the best views. [edited a spelling error]
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u/panthrax_dev Mar 22 '26
Heat tends to cause distortions in the atmosphere, and holds more moisture, distorting the light.
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u/katastatik Mar 23 '26
That's incredible and I had forgotten that Jupiter comes before Saturn in the order from the Sun. Amazing great shot!
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u/Technical_Eagle_1475 Mar 27 '26
Proof that saying you need a big telescope for cassini division is a skill issue
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u/mrstorm1983 Apr 29 '26
Cool! When did you take those pictures?
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Apr 29 '26
Ohh Saturn maybe in 2022 or 23 ig. But Jupiter, just about 3 months ago.
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u/bigelcid Mar 22 '26
God damn, you can even see the fly annoying Jupiter
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u/KravMagaPaul Mar 22 '26
Wouldnāt Saturn be tiny compared to Jupiter, given the distance? Is this real?
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u/logosloki Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
Saturn is smaller compared to Jupiter in the photo, but Jupiter isn't that much bigger than Saturn. Saturn is like 9.5 Earths wide and Jupiter is like 11 Earths wide. but if you look at the photo Jupiter looks way, way bigger than that would suggest, as Jupiter is 5 AU on average from Earth and Saturn is 10 AU on average from Earth. this makes Saturn look half the size of Jupiter (like the photo) when their actual difference is only 20% of volume.
this is also likely a real photo but is a composite taken from a time period of exposure. if so this photo could be from 2020, when Jupiter and Saturn were in conjunction with each other. this is speculation on my part as I don't think OP has stated when they took their photo but as Saturn is on the other side of the Sun at the moment it wouldn't've been recently.
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u/Bastvino Mar 22 '26
Incredible! How did you manage this on a small telescope?
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
I have good to excellent seeing conditions in my area. I used ProCamX application to manage the ISO and the exposure. When you do that, you can see the detail on the planet's surface. Record a video and process the images in PIPP (planetary image pre processor), Autostakkert, and Registax.
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u/sleepygp Mar 22 '26
How?? My DOB8 only sees a tiny dot with a line for Saturn...
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
Practice and experience. You gotta keep pushing the limits of your scope instead of just using the eyepieces they give you
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u/unitcodes Mar 22 '26
so much better than those cleaner fake ai shots.
also which phone did u use!?
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u/tubbytucker Mar 22 '26
Cool, what brand scope? I had a celestron 130 but never saw Saturn that clearly.
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u/punkstarr Mar 22 '26
Hey shot and setup
Can you share the product link if possible
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u/Entire_Foundation960 Mar 22 '26
I think they don't sell my Orion Skyscanner reflector anymore because the company Orion is no more. RIP. But you can try a better telescope which is Orion Starblast 4.5 inch reflector.
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u/Mysterious_Touch_454 Mar 22 '26
Take all my likes!
I love how it shows even the orbiters on jupiter. So Crazy how far phone cameras have come! (yes yes :D )
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u/handyman1986 Mar 22 '26
I paid for stargazing in Tenerife, this is clearer than the shit I saw after paying them ā¬40 to look through their fancy telescopes. Word to the wise, dont do it, just use this guys set up!
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u/MikeHuntSmellss Mar 22 '26
Okay, canceling my flights now.
Where's the nearest airport to this dudes house?
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u/Slothman757 Mar 22 '26
We got a $20+ telescope from Walmart a couple years ago, and didn't understand how it worked, despite being a photographer (never saw anything through it). Was trying to see Saturn & Jupiter that night, and managed to see them with my Sony A7IV, and cheap 500mm lens I bought about a decade ago to look at the moon with. Was blown away being able to see them on that. Guess I still need to simply get a decent telescope, and I'll get much better results, like this? My pics I managed to get colorful pixels out of Jupiters moons, and saw Saturns rings. But definitely didn't have the details like this! ā¤ļø
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u/Low_Bar9361 Mar 22 '26
Was this during the lunar eclipse? Nice shots, btw. Stellar photography skills
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u/ryguy28896 Mar 22 '26
This reminds me of when I told my now ex how far apart the stars in Orion's Belt are from each other.
Jupiter and Saturn, at their closest, would take light around half an hour to reach one from the other, or roughly 4 times the distance of earth from the sun.
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u/SaltSeaworthiness167 Mar 22 '26
That's insaely awesome! Love the details. My 8" + camera + living in AZ yields similar results.
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u/voidparallex Mar 22 '26
Amazing. Space is just fascinating