Simple Astrophotography with a Phone or Camera

Astrophotography does not have to be expensive or complicated — and you almost certainly already have everything you need to take your first astronomical image sitting in your pocket right now.This picture of a Lunar Eclipse was taken by Amelia Wyatt who was 15 at the time using her phone camera and a £70 Bresser telescope

Starting with your smartphone
Modern smartphones are remarkably capable in low light. Simply propping your phone on a small tripod and using Night Mode will capture a surprisingly detailed view of a starry sky, the Milky Way from a dark site, or a wide-field constellation shot. For the Moon and bright planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, you can often simply hold your phone up to the telescope eyepiece and let the camera do the rest. Focus the telescope carefully first, centre the image on screen and use the timer or volume button to avoid shake when triggering the shutter.

Phone adapters
An inexpensive phone adapter cradle — available online for just a few pounds — clamps to the eyepiece and holds your phone lens precisely aligned, leaving both hands free and making afocal imaging much more consistent and enjoyable.

Using video
Recording a short video of a planet through the eyepiece captures hundreds of frames in just a minute or two. The sharpest frames can then be selected and stacked using free software such as AutoStakkert to produce a much better result than any single frame could achieve — a technique that works surprisingly well even with a phone.

Ready to go further?
If astrophotography has caught your imagination, our Astrophotography Special Interest Group covers everything from smartscope imaging through to advanced deep-sky processing — and everyone is welcome.