Astrophotography: How to capture the sky with your phone

Astrophotography
How to capture the sky with your phone

iPhone photography by Weather & Radar Meteorologist Tamsin Green.

With the upcoming green comet, did you know you can take just as great astrophotography on your smartphone?

The green comet is approaching Earth and is due to pass us later this month, making it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It will even be visible to the naked eye, making it the perfect chance for amateur photographers to get involved.

You might assume that it is only possible to capture stars in the night sky through professional camera equipment, but we're here to tell you that you can take just as great shots with your smartphones.

It's simple, all you have to do is follow these steps:

Grab your smartphone! It'll need a fairly decent camera

Use a phone tripod if you have one handy, if not, it is possible to rest your phone on a sturdy surface instead

On your camera;

On iPhones, select the Night Mode icon and slide all the way to the longest capture time of around 10 seconds

On Samsung Galaxy, swipe to tape More, then Night

On Google Pixel, tap Night Sight, there is even a specific Astrophotography mode too

On Sony, tap the Night Shooting icon

On Xiaomi, enable Night Mode, you can also manually adjust features yourself via 'More' > 'Exposition Prolonged'

On Huawei, select Night Mode

After, you can edit the photo to bring the stars out more, especially if any light pollution interferes. This can be done by increasing the Black Point and lifting Shadows.

If you grab any spectacular shots of the sky, send them to us through our dedicated uploader for us to feature!

Weather & Radar USA editorial team

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