How to photograph the aurora with your phone: settings that work

Yes, you can take good aurora photos with your phone. What matters most is not the model but keeping the phone perfectly still while it gathers light for several seconds. Use Night mode or Pro mode, focus at infinity, start with a 2 to 5 second exposure when the aurora is dancing, and keep the battery warm.

Before you head out

Good photos start at home. Check this before you leave:

• Charge the phone fully and bring a power bank. The cold drains batteries quickly (more below).
• Wipe the lens. A greasy fingerprint from your pocket puts a haze around every light in a night shot.
• Bring something steady. A small phone tripod or clamp is enough. In a pinch, a rock, a fence post or a hat on the car bonnet works, as long as the phone does not move.
• Turn off the flash. All it does is light up the snow in front of you.
• Practise the settings in the dark at home, so you are not hunting through menus with cold fingers.

Also check that it is worth going out: check tonight's verdict for your location, and read about clouds and clear skies.

iPhone: Night mode

On iPhone 11 and later, Night mode turns on automatically when the camera detects low light. The icon at the top turns yellow and a number shows how many seconds the shot will take. According to Apple, you can tap the arrow above the viewfinder, then the Night mode button, and drag the slider to Max for a longer capture. Apple recommends holding the phone very still, resting it on a solid surface or using a tripod.

Practical tips:

• Use the self-timer (3 or 10 seconds) so you do not shake the phone when you tap the shutter.
• Turn the exposure down if the photo looks like daylight. Apple's support page shows how to adjust exposure in the Camera app. A slightly darker image usually looks more natural and gives richer aurora colours.
• Try Night mode Time-lapse. On iPhone 12 and later you can shoot time-lapse in the dark with a tripod, a great way to show how the aurora moves.

Note that the maximum capture time is not always best. When the aurora is moving quickly, long exposures smear its shapes. Try both short and long.

Android: Pixel and Samsung

Android phones vary a lot, but most have either a night mode or a pro mode.

Google Pixel phones have Night Sight. According to Google, the phone switches to Astrophotography mode when it is completely still on a tripod or a steady surface. The capture takes a long time, with a countdown showing how long to keep the phone still. That gives superb star photos and suits calm, faint aurora, but fast-moving aurora easily gets smeared. Ordinary Night Sight with a shorter capture is often better then. Google also describes a focus setting called Far, made for subjects like the night sky.

Samsung Galaxy phones have Pro mode. Samsung explains that it lets you set ISO, shutter speed, white balance and manual focus yourself. It is the most predictable way to shoot the aurora on an Android phone.

Other brands usually have similar features under names like Pro, Manual or Night.

Pro mode settings: a starting point

If you use Pro or manual mode, start here and adjust after a test shot:

These are rules of thumb, not fixed answers. Phone sensors are small and high ISO adds a lot of noise, so choose a longer exposure rather than a higher ISO when the aurora is calm. Set the white balance manually, for example around 3500 to 4000 kelvin, so the sky does not change colour from shot to shot. Photographers interviewed by Nikon use anything from a couple of seconds up to 30 seconds with a proper camera; shorter exposures give crisper shapes in the aurora.

Focus: the most common problem

Your phone tries to autofocus, and in the dark it often has nothing to lock on to. Blurry stars are the telltale sign.

• Manual focus: Slide the focus to infinity in Pro mode, or choose Far on a Pixel.
• Lock focus: Press and hold on a bright star, the Moon or a distant light until focus and exposure lock.
• Zoom in on the photo after your first attempt and check that the stars are small points.

Avoid the overprocessed aurora photo

Phone cameras are programmed to make dark scenes bright. The result can be a sky that looks like dusk, neon-green aurora and a grey foreground. It is not wrong, but it is not what you saw.

A camera gathers light over time, while the eye sees in real time. Nikon photographer Tom Bol points out that a faint aurora can come out almost saturated in a long exposure, so it is completely normal for a photo to show stronger colours than you experienced. Our article on aurora colours explains why. If you want the photo to match the moment, lower the exposure, skip extra filters and go easy on saturation and auto-enhance when editing.

Cold and batteries

Cold is your phone's worst enemy. Apple says iPhones are designed for use between 0 and 35 °C, and that in very cold conditions battery life may temporarily drop or the phone may switch off. The battery recovers once the phone warms up again.

• Keep the phone in an inside pocket between shots and only take it out to shoot.
• Keep the power bank warm too, and use a short cable.
• Wear touchscreen gloves, or thin liner gloves under your mittens. See safety and clothing.
• When you come back inside, let the phone warm up in a pocket or bag before using it, so condensation on the lens has time to clear.

Composition and people in the shot

A mountain, a lake, a boathouse or a person gives your aurora photo a sense of scale. If you want people in the picture, they have to stand completely still for the whole exposure. You can light them briefly with a torch for a second, but keep your headlamp off otherwise so you do not spoil other people's photos. And when the aurora is at its strongest, put the phone down for a while. Visit Svalbard gives similar advice: better to look up and enjoy it than to take blurry photos.

With a dedicated camera you get far more control. See photographing the aurora with a camera and the best time of night.

In short

• Keep the phone steady and use the self-timer.
• iPhone: Night mode, ideally Max on a tripod. Pixel: Night Sight with Far focus. Samsung: Pro mode.
• Start with 2 to 5 seconds at ISO 800 to 1600, and adjust after a test shot.
• Focus at infinity and check that the stars are sharp.
• Keep the battery warm, and do not let the photo turn brighter and greener than what you saw.