Jupiter and its moons--through an iPhone camera

(Credit: Mike Weasner and Mac Observer)

The fact that an amateur astronomer named Mike Weasner was able to take a photograph of Jupiter and its moons is hardly something worth a mention on Crave, but the fact that he did it with his iPhone camera is rather remarkable.

It was aimed through a telescope to create a 267x magnification. He then cleaned it up in aperture on a Mac and posted it to Mac Observer.

Before you rush out and try to duplicate the image, you should know that you've got to have perfect conditions and fairly expensive gear. Still, it's incredible that a 2-megapixel, fixed-focus camera can see more than 500 million miles.

[Zimm2]

Actually, this is pretty simple to do with any compact camera. Given a decent telescope, Jupiter is a nice, bright subject.

[drpr]

Nice photo, but I think the real story is the telescope, not the camera phone.

[NPGMBR]

I agree 100%. To say that the camera on the iPhone can see Jupiter is nonsense. This picture would not be possible without the aid of the telescope; as such, its a total scham.

[Penguinisto]

Nice, but most pro-am and pro telescopes have what is known as a "t-ring", which allows you to latch on an SLR camera - minus the lens (and oftentime both with or without it). It's basically that you use the telescope itself as your lens.

[markdoiron]

Yes, but you won't get 267X that way. He had to shoot it afocal (through the eyepiece). But, I've done similarly with the sun just holding a digital camera to the eyepiece to record sunspots (through an appropriate filter; never point a telescope at the sun otherwise!). Really, not a big deal that it was an iPhone. --mark d.

[hermantf]

You can see the bands of Jupiter, the Great Red Spot, and 4 of Jupiter's moons with almost any telescope. Point any camera through it, take a picture, and you'll even get a better view than with the human eye. While it is remarkable that we can do this in this day and age, the fact that it was with an iPhone, is not.

[Galaxy5]

In other news, I can see how many cars are parked on my street from 50 miles away by using a satellite 220 miles in orbit.

***SNORE***

Good grief. I'll tell you what's unbelieveable. The "cult of personality." The i-phone took no better picture than any other cell phone on the market having the same camera resolution. It's quite a lot less than "remarkable." It only barely passes the "somewhat cool" test. For decades, amatuer astronomers have been doing the same thing all over the world using homemade telescopes and camera mounts with any variety of digital and film cameras. Heck, some of those cameras are probably homemade, too. Now there's a story! I could use an iphone to squash a bug. Does that make it *THE WORLD'S COOLEST* flyswatter? I think not.

[artistjoh]

The camera in the iPhone is generally sneered at because it is only 2MP but I beg to differ. Besides the fact that camera results have more to do with the creativity of the user than the camera itself, the many photography apps available make it one of the best cameras I own including the feature rich high megapixel digital cameras that common sense says should be better.

But then while the apps make the iPhone camera very flexible, this Jupiter photograph is more an example of the creative impulse of the photographer that caused him to try something different and capture an image that most would have not thought to try.

[Michichael]

This just in. I can take a picture of the sun on my G1. Omg, post a news blog article about it...

It's a 267x telescope. Why is this even news?

[Magicland]

Matt, why don't you go and get a real job somewhere? I hear there are burgers that need flipped. I think you'll find the G1's higher resolution camera, coupled with the same telescope, will produce MUCH better pictures. As for this being anything new, nope, folks with telescopes have been doing this LONG before the iphone came along.

[rapier1]

Nice chromatic aberations...

[kojacked]

OMG! You can take a picture with an iPhone?!?!?! That's so cool! I'm going to go out and buy one right now! I wonder if it can capture the hemorrhoidal rings of Uranus?

Oh wait...

"Still, it's incredible that a 2-megapixel, fixed-focus camera can see more than 500 million miles"

Ummm, not so much...The TELESCOPE saw more than 500 million miles, not the "miracle" iPhone.

I did the same thing with a freakin nokia camera phone a few years ago...just about any camera with a good telescope can capture the image the telescope is seeing.

And as for the "Miracle iPhone", I was also able to copy and paste on my smartphones years ago.

Sure the iPhone is a slick little device, but I'm just so sick of hearing the rediculous "look what else it can do [that dozens of other phones have done before]" crap...

Apple makes something and all of a sudden everything else that came before it can't hold a candle to it...whatever.

[walwebster]

Reminds me of the guy who went back to the optometrist to complain that his new glasses didn't fix his short-sightedness. Optometrist took him to the door of the store, pointed up in the sky, and said, "What's that?"

"Well, the sun, of course ..."

"So how far did you want to be able to see?"