We’re seeing more incredible pictures than ever before, thanks to record-breaking space telescopes like James Webb. It’s currently exploring the universe, sending us spectacular images of galaxies, planets and stars. If there's life out there, JWST is our best shot at finding it.
But there’s no need to launch your own satellite to get jaw-dropping pictures of the cosmos. You don’t even really need a telescope. If you’ve got a good mobile phone and a decent tripod, you can get started.
So, if you fancy giving astrophotography a shot, read on. We’ve reached out to an expert in the Manchester Astronomical Society and a specialist smartphone astrophotographer for some top tips, tricks and essential advice for capturing the night sky in all its glory.
Image: Lochie O’Reilly
Astrophotography – top tips on shooting the night sky
First things first, let’s talk phone cameras. If you want to get into astrophotography, you’re going to need a phone with a dedicated astrophotography mode. It’s a feature that automatically helps you capture as much light and detail as possible, helping you to take photos like this.
Image: Phil Swift, Manchester Astronomical Society
The best new mobile phones with an astrophotography mode are iPhone 15, Samsung Galaxy S24, and Google Pixel 8. Shooting the night sky with any of these can give you some truly stunning results, especially if you follow these top tips:
Find a dark location. Light pollution is a major challenge in astrophotography. To capture the best photos of the stars or Milky Way, it’s best to fins a location away from city lights. Apps like Light Pollution Map (available on iOS and Android) can help you locate dark skies near you.
Set focus to infinity. To ensure the stars appear sharp in your photos, set the focus to infinity. This can usually be done manually in astrophotography mode by adjusting the focus slider until the stars look sharp on your screen.
Experiment with exposure settings. Depending on your smartphone model, you might be able to adjust settings like ISO, exposure time, and aperture. Start with lower ISO to reduce noise and increase the exposure time to let in more light. Experiment to see what combination of settings gives you the best results.
Use the timer or remote shutter. Even pressing the shutter button can make your phone shake, so use your smartphone’s built-in timer or a remote shutter control to take photos without touching anything.
What can I see in the night sky right now?
To help you discover the best things to spot, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich has a great webpage with UK night sky highlights for each month.
What’s hot in May?
The Eta Aquariids meteor shower is active from 19 April to 27 May, and will peak from midnight to dawn on 6 May, when up to 50 meteors per hour are expected. The bad news for us in the UK is that stargazers in the southern hemisphere will get a better view, as the meteors will probably appear from below our horizon for most of the night. But if you’re up just before dawn, you’ve got a chance of spotting one, most likely near the horizon.
Astrophotography – top tips on shooting the moon
Image: Lochie O’Reilly
The most obvious object to shoot in the night sky is the moon. It’s not hard to find, and it’s the perfect subject for beginners. We spoke to Phil Swift from the Manchester Astronomical Society, who gave us some great lunar photography advice:
Use a tripod. You need stability for clear shots, especially when you zoom in on the moon.
Try manual focus. Tap and hold on the moon in your camera’s app to lock focus and exposure.
Zoom in. Use the digital zoom feature on your phone - but be aware that too much zoom can result in pixelation. Don’t go too far!
Experiment and edit. Try adjusting the exposure manually to get the right balance between brightness and detail. Then fine-tune your photo using an editing app, to enhance details and reduce noise.
Snapseed (available on iOS and Android) is a powerful photo editing app with a wide range of tools and filters specially designed for enhancing astrophotography. From adjusting brightness and contrast to adding creative effects, it’s a great tool for making your night sky photos look their best.
Image: Lochie O’Reilly
Shooting videos of the night sky
Okay, so we’ve given you some top tips on photography. Now what about videos?
We asked Lochie O’Reilly, a smartphone astrophotographer from Tasmania in Australia, to explain how he uses Astrophotography mode to shoot time-lapse videos on his Pixel 6 Pro.
“Astrophotography mode works by taking a 4-minute exposure made up of 16 x 15 second exposures. These are aligned and stacked in the camera, which helps to eliminate star trails and noise is still shots. But there’s also a happy bi-product of this – it produces a 1.5-second time-lapse clip. So, if you leave your phone in the same position long enough, you can create a great time lapse video.
I use an app called Intervalometer that simulates a touch on the screen at any set time interval. I set it to 4 minutes, then let it run for an hour or two. This produces a lot of those 1.5 second clips that can then be stitched together in a mobile video editing app, to produce a much longer time-lapse video.”
The best free apps for stargazing
Look up at the night sky. Is that Venus or Mars? Jupiter or just a star? If you’ve got a good stargazing app, you’ll be able to answer questions like that just by pointing your phone at the sky. Here are a few worth checking out.
Planets
Available on iOS and Android
Planets is a must-have app for anyone interested in the solar system and beyond. It’s full of detailed information about the planets, moons, and other celestial bodies whizzing around the cosmos. You can view 3D models of planets, track their positions in the sky, and even see upcoming astronomical events like meteor showers.
Star Walk 2
Available on iOS and Android
Star Walk 2 (free version) has loads of information about the night sky. With its mammoth database of celestial bodies, this app is perfect for learning about stars, planets, and constellations. It also includes a time machine feature, allowing you to explore the sky at different dates and times.
SkyView Lite
Available on iOS and Android
SkyView Lite is a fantastic app for beginners and seasoned stargazers alike. It uses your device's camera and augmented reality tech to overlay constellations, stars, and celestial objects onto your screen in real-time. Its simple interface makes it easy to identify stars, planets, and even satellites.
Need any help?
We’ve got more tips for taking photos at night here. If you’re looking for a phone with an astrophotography mode, here are the best mobiles of 2024.
If you’ve caught the astronomy bug, we’ve got a wide range of telescopes. A good telescope can take your astrophotography to a whole new level, giving you the power to zoom in to individual galaxies and deep space objects. If you want to speak to an expert for more advice, pop into one of our stores for a chat.
Special thanks to Lochie O’Reilly and Phil Swift for the expert advice and wonderful images they generously provided for this article.
Lochie is a smartphone astrophotographer who lives in Tasmania, Australia. The phone that got him into the subject was the Google Pixel 4a, and he’s still a firm believer that Pixel phones are still ‘hands-down’ the best mobile phone cameras for astrophotography.
Phil is a member of the famous Manchester Astronomical Society. Founded in 1892, it’s one of the oldest astronomical societies in the country, with a mission to encourage the study of astronomy for both newcomer and seasoned observers alike.