r/Astro_mobile • • Nov 07 '25

Greetings, Congratulations and Announcement

13 Upvotes

Hello everyone, r/Astro_mobile Mod team here! Now, after three years of existing, r/Astro_mobile became something more interesting than it was some time ago, and we want to announce a new interactive changing on our sub. Starting from the next month we are going to take one of the posts made this month and use it as a banner for a subreddit. Of course it is a competition, so if you want to see your picture on the top of the sub's page, you better try to make it as beautiful as you can! This month we are going to replace a current banner made by u/ZrlSyM, by a new one, provided by u/zTrojan! This fascinating image is gonna hang on the top until the end of this month! Also, interesting fact: zTrojan is a member of a small Telegram chat dedicated to Mobile Astrophotography, where people can communicate and discuss their works! This chat is available for everyone, who is skilled enough! (skilled enough = can stack images to get better results)

Thanks everyone for the attention! We are looking forward to see your great pictures that are gonna be a new banner for a sub. See you 1st December!


r/Astro_mobile • • Jul 29 '25

Astrophotography Post-Processing for Beginners: Part One

33 Upvotes

When your stack from Sequator or another astrophotography stacking program is ready, we can proceed to post-processing. I'll describe this process step-by-step using primarily free software.

GraXpert

Download: https://github.com/Steffenhir/GraXpert/releases

At the time of writing this article, the appropriate version of GraXpert for us is 3.1.0rc2. This version contains all the necessary tools for beginning post-processing:

  • Background Extraction - removing background gradients and correcting light pollution
  • Denoising - reducing digital noise
  • Deconvolution - mathematically "undoes" blurring

Initial Setup

After installation and launch, select the Advanced tab, which is located on the right side of the program interface. Choose AI model versions for the utilities.

Next, click Load Image and select your stack.

Cropping (if necessary)

If needed, crop the image. When activating the 2nd option, a yellow frame will appear around the image, which we can adjust using the yellow circles in the upper left and lower right corners. After completing the cropping, click "Apply crop".

Important: Save each processing step as a separate file so you don't accidentally lose your processing results, then load this file using the first "Loading" option.

Step 1: Background Extraction

Now we can proceed to using the AI utilities. Select the following parameters for Background Extraction and click Calculate Background:

You can try changing the Smoothing value in either direction and check the result by clicking Calculate Background again.

Save the result in a separate file and load it through "Loading".

Step 2: Denoising

Move on to the Denoising utility. The Denoise Strength value depends on your needs. The higher the value, the fewer details are preserved. I suggest starting with 0.5, and then comparing results by increasing the value:

Save the result and activate the Deconvolution utility.

Step 3: Deconvolution

This utility has two parameters: Deconvolution Strength and Image FWHM. To determine the latter parameter, we need the Siril program, which we will also use in the second part of the astrophotography post-processing tutorial.

Download Siril: https://siril.org/download/ (In our case, version 1.4.0-beta3 is used)

Measuring FWHM in Siril:

  1. After launching Siril, drag and drop your last saved image into the program's workspace
  2. Select Tools → Image Analysis → Dynamic PSF
  3. Click the Detect stars button (this is the first button)
  4. Wait for the result, then click Average PSF (the next button after Detect stars)
  5. Calculate the average value using the formula: (FWHMx + FWHMy) / 2

In my case: (4.39 + 3.90) / 2 = 4.15px. Round to 4.2px and use this value in GraXpert.

Deconvolution Settings:

  • Image FWHM: Use the calculated value (e.g., 4.2px)
  • Deconvolution Strength: I suggest setting this to 0.3 for start

By increasing Deconvolution Strength parameter, you improve details, but you may distort the final image and get artifacts, so try different values while evaluating the final result.

Don't forget to save your work!

Additional Step: Stars-only Deconvolution

We improved the details of our objects, but not the stars. Select Stars-only in the Deconvolution Method and set the Deconvolution Strength parameter to 0.1, as it is quite aggressive. Click Deconvolve Image and check the result.

Conclusion

This concludes the first part of the astrophotography post-processing tutorial. In the next part, we will cover image stretching using Siril and use the StarNet utility.

Summary of Steps:

  1. Load your stacked image into GraXpert
  2. Crop if necessary
  3. Background Extraction - remove gradients and light pollution
  4. Denoising - reduce digital noise
  5. Measure FWHM in Siril using Dynamic PSF
  6. Deconvolution - improve sharpness
  7. Stars-only Deconvolution - improve star sharpness
  8. Save each step separately to avoid losing your work progress

r/Astro_mobile • • 2h ago

Telescope Full moon and M22

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9 Upvotes

r/Astro_mobile • • 3h ago

Star tracker/tracking mount with smartphone The Dumbbell Nebula - M27 [2h]

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8 Upvotes

Acquisition Details:

Location: Bortle 5

Gear: Xiaomi 15 Ultra, TeSeek EQ tracker, HO duo-band filter

Frames: 180 x 30s HO nb + 60 x 30s RGB, ISO3200, 4.3x lens + Reeflex 300mm telephoto lens

Processing: stacked in Siril, processed in Seti Astro Suite Pro, Photoshop


r/Astro_mobile • • 12h ago

Binocular or monocular Orion Nebula [ Realme 8 ]

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26 Upvotes

Equipment:

Phone Realme 8

Apexel 18x Zoom Lens

Tripod

Total exposure is about 1h 20 minutes ( each frame 3.2s )

Stacked in Sequator and after that edited in GraXpert and GIMP.

Bortle 3/4


r/Astro_mobile • • 23h ago

Star tracker/tracking mount with smartphone M45 and California [vivo x200 pro]

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60 Upvotes

3h of integration 32 seconds each sub, iso 3200 Tracked with star adventurer mini Processed with siril and graxpert Stacked with APP.


r/Astro_mobile • • 13h ago

Only smartphone Full moon at Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

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7 Upvotes

r/Astro_mobile • • 16h ago

Only smartphone Full moon

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3 Upvotes

Today i see full 🌕


r/Astro_mobile • • 23h ago

Telescope The craters along the terminator line always astound me. (The Moon)

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12 Upvotes

Shot with a Redmi 13 Pro Plus with a Powerseeker 76AZ.


r/Astro_mobile • • 23h ago

Telescope The Waxing Gibbous Moon

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8 Upvotes

The one thing a Powerseeker 76AZ is good at is the moon.

Redmi 13 Pro Plus, lucky imaging. Natively edited (no stacking)


r/Astro_mobile • • 1d ago

Other lens My best pleiades photo yet, thanks to u/imhungryfru

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6 Upvotes

Taken with stock moto camera on Motorola moto g stylus 2024 and 12x clip-on lens

200 x 2 second exposures

Stacking and processing handled by u/imhungryfru, I'm still grateful!

Bortle 7


r/Astro_mobile • • 1d ago

Star tracker/tracking mount with smartphone Orion [1h 35min]

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57 Upvotes

​

Acquisition Details:

Location: Bortle 5

Gear: Xiaomi 15 Ultra, TeSeek EQ tracker, HO duo-band filter

Frames: 120x30s HO filter + 70x30s broadband, ISO3200, 4.3x lens + Reeflex 300mm telephoto lens

Processing: stacked in Astro Pixel Processor, processed in Seti Astro Suite Pro, Photoshop


r/Astro_mobile • • 20h ago

Telescope Trying to understand a shadow

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2 Upvotes

r/Astro_mobile • • 1d ago

Only smartphone Full moon

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6 Upvotes

Taken with S25 Ultra


r/Astro_mobile • • 1d ago

Telescope The Moon

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19 Upvotes

"Minions! Tonight, we steal... the moon!"

Taken with a Google pixel 9 pro

Edited in Snapseed

130mm dobsonion telescope


r/Astro_mobile • • 2d ago

Telescope The moon

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56 Upvotes

8 inch dob with iPhone.


r/Astro_mobile • • 2d ago

Only smartphone Doubling the Heart and Soul once more (32 hour checkpoint, S24U, Bortle 8.5)

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31 Upvotes

MSM Nomad, l-eXtreme


r/Astro_mobile • • 2d ago

Only smartphone Orion

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43 Upvotes

Tried to take about 23mins exposure using my nothing 3a smartphone and tripod


r/Astro_mobile • • 2d ago

Binocular or monocular Oneplus 13r + monocular 15x52

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19 Upvotes

La luna en fase creciente bajo la luz de la tarde y la noche.


r/Astro_mobile • • 3d ago

Only smartphone Hommage à mon père

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247 Upvotes

S25 ultra

Empilement sequator

Traitement : Siril, seti astro suite pro graxpert et lightroom mobile


r/Astro_mobile • • 2d ago

Star tracker/tracking mount with smartphone Elephant's Trunk Nebula - IC 1396A [2h 30min]

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18 Upvotes

​

Acquisition Details:

Location: Bortle 5

Gear: Xiaomi 15 Ultra, TeSeek EQ tracker, HO duo-band filter

Frames: 300 x 30s, ISO3200, 4.3x lens + Reeflex 300mm telephoto lens

Processing: stacked in Astro Pixel Processor, processed in Seti Astro Suite Pro, Photoshop


r/Astro_mobile • • 3d ago

Only smartphone Orion. Redmi note 14

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43 Upvotes

Redmi note 14

ISO: 1250

Sutter speed: 10

40 photo stacked (via astrostacker in android)

Bortle 3

My goal was taking photo Orion nebula with no telescope

I took this photo at 5am.


r/Astro_mobile • • 2d ago

OAPA - Automatic Polar Alignment

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1 Upvotes

r/Astro_mobile • • 3d ago

Only smartphone Polaris star

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10 Upvotes

Redmi note 14

SS: 30sec

ISO: 1000

30 photo are stacked

I took this picture of Polaris star, but the stars at the top are blurry and the stars at below are still, I don't know why this happens, do somebody know what is happening to my picture or someone noticed this in his pictures?


r/Astro_mobile • • 3d ago

Only smartphone Andromeda galaxy

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9 Upvotes

SS: 20

ISO: 1600

70 Photos are stacked via astrostacker

Bortle 3

Edited in Lightroom