astro

Astrophotographer Reviews the Google Pixel 4’s Astro Mode

Astrophotographer Ian Norman of Lonely Speck recently got his hands on a Google Pixel 4 XL for testing, so he took it out to Joshua Tree National Park to see how well the "Astrophotography Mode" on this smartphone compares to shooting with a "real" camera.

Comparing the Sony a7 III and Canon 5D Mark IV for Astrophotography

I’m an avid night sky photographer that cut my teeth capturing the stars using the original Canon 6D. I shot with that camera for years until purchasing the Sony a7S (Mark I) after reading about how it could essentially “see in the dark.”

AstroPad Mini Turns Your iPhone Into a Photo Editing Graphics Tablet

Last month we reported on the AstroPad App for the Apple iPad: a solution that allowed you to turn your consumer tablet into a professional graphics tablet when working with applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or Illustrator. Now, the company is announcing a new app for the iPhone called AstroPad Mini -- it's everything you love about AstroPad... just minimized.

Smartphone Astrophotography: How I Capture the Moon and Planets with My Phone

I’m often asked how I am able to take high-quality images of the solar system using my iPhone. In short, the quality of today’s smartphone cameras makes it possible to take very respectable images of the Moon and planets through a telescope with your phone – but it takes some work.

Earthquake Turns Photographer’s Jupiter Photo Into a Light Painting

"Earthquake astrophotography light painting." How's that for a novel photography technique? It sounds strange, it's an apt description of how photographer Andrew Dare captured the squiggly photo above (on right). Dare was photographing the night sky with long exposures when an earthquake struck while his shutter was open.

The Moon and Venus Captured in a Single Photograph

Behold, a photograph of the moon. Can you see it? No, it's not that tiny bright crescent you see... The moon is that faint giant crescent. That tiny one to its left is Venus. Hungarian astrophotographer Iván Éder captured this beautiful photograph back in 2004 from Budapest, Hungary.

Astro: A Time Lapse “Hockey Puck” That Mounts on Your Tripod

Time-lapse photography has become more and more popular in recent months, and even though you can find cheap intervalometer solutions to take care of the basic triggering of your camera, there really isn't anything outside of the DIY category that will allow you to add smooth motion to your time-lapse on the cheap. Fortunately, innovations happen every day, and a new intervalometer and motion control unit over on Kickstarter is just the innovation to solve this problem.

Beautiful Time Lapse of a Starry Night Sky

If you live in an urban area, you probably don't see the night sky very clearly due to light pollution. Luckily, there's videos like this one to remind us how beautiful the sky above is when there aren't artificial lights drowning out the stars. This is a high-definition time-lapse of the Milky Way floating across the sky.

Dude Shoots the Moon with an iPhone 4

Believe it or not, the above photograph was made with an iPhone 4. jurilog created a tiny astrophotography kit using a small telescope you can buy online for ¥9,800 (~$115) and a miniature tripod mount.

Shooting Space with Two Hacked Cameras and a Homemade Balloon

Pacific Star is a photography project by Colin Rich in which he sends programmed cameras up to epic heights using homemade weather balloons. This is an interesting step-by-step look into what went into the second launch. After purchasing two Canon compact cameras on eBay, Rich programmed them to take 3 photos every 3 minutes, and shoot a minute of video every fourth minute. The cameras were then insulated in styrofoam, and sent up to 125,000 feet before the balloon burst. With the help of a parachute, the cameras descended for 35 minutes and landed about 15-20 miles away.

Time-Lapse of the Milky Way over Hawaii

The White Mountain is Charles Leung's first time-lapse video, showing the stars and our galaxy sweep beautifully across the Hawaiian sky. It was shot in Mauna Kea, Hawai'i using a Canon 5D Mark II (with an assortment of lenses) at ISO6400 using 30 sec exposures and 15 sec intervals.