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L^ PHOTOS^ PROVIDEDBYAUTHORIMAGING TIPS by Jeff Dai
64 AUGUST 2019 • SKY & TELESCOPE
W
e are on the cusp of a new revolution in astropho-
tography. Much like the digital revolution of the
1990s when CCD technology overtook fi lm as the
popular media for picture-taking, casual astrophotography
is about to change forever. The device that is driving this
change is probably in most every reader’s pocket at this very
moment — a smartphone.
The mobile-phone revolution is a booming business,
creating some of the most valuable companies in the world.
And as such, the pressure to produce better models is driv-
ing improvements at breakneck speed. Not only are smart-
phones becoming powerful computers that can do practically
anything your old desktop model could do, but they also now
boast remarkably versatile cameras that open up many pos-
sibilities for photography, particularly nightscape imaging.A Pocket Camera and More
The app industry that grew in support of smartphones has
long provided users the ability to run planetarium programs
and observing-planning apps, as well as to take some rudi-
mentary control of a device’s camera when the standard con-
trols are inadequate for astro-imaging. And for quite some
time, intrepid amateurs have been recording good close-ups
of the Moon and planets by attaching their device to a tele-
scope and snapping away (see last month’s issue, page 28).
Only recently have cameras in the newest smartphones
been able to take exposures lasting longer than a second
or two. And while some of these may be a bit pricey, you
can often greatly mitigate the cost by upgrading the phone
through your service provider. You usually don’t
need to spend much more than a few hundred
dollars to get the latest iPhone or Android
model this way.What to Look For
If you’re on shooting scenic
landscapes crowned by stars
and the Milky Way with your
smart device, you’ll need toThe ever-improving quality of cameras
in smart devices makes nightscape
astrophotography a snap.puDOING IT ALL Besides being powerful computers, the lat-
est smartphones include cameras that can take exposures deep
enough to record stars, bright nebulae, and even the Milky Way.
This shot of our home galaxy over the Himalaya Mountains in Tibet
was captured using a Meizu 16th Plus smartphone. Total exposure
is 78 seconds at ISO 3200.Smartphone
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