Astrophotography With a Google Pixel Smartphone? Really?

The recent addition of an astrophoto time-lapse mode (uncovered by XDA Developers) coming to Google’s camera app on their Pixel line of phones piqued my interest. Not that I think it will replace all of our “real” cameras, but I do have a deep appreciation for the engineering wizardry required to push right up to the physical limits of a tiny sensor and lens. And as an astronomy enthusiast, any developments that might open an appreciation of the night skies to a wider population get me very interested.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Planetary Astrophotography

As we transition from summer to fall, two of the most photogenic planets, Jupiter and Saturn, have passed the point of closest approach (opposition) to the Earth for the year. Yet, they still make great targets for planetary astrophotography, especially since they are now high in the sky soon after sunset. As another bonus, photographing these planets does not require traveling to a dark sky site. This kind of astrophotography can be done from our backyards.

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A Review of the Revolutionary Sony Xperia 1 IV Camera Phone

Camera phones have become remarkably advanced in the last few years, especially as we have seen some impressive advancements in computational photography that help to offset the drawbacks of their small sensors. Sony’s new Xperia 1 IV ups the ante even more by being the first phone with an optical zoom, and this great video review takes a look at the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it.

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