The iPhone is a surprisingly capable meteor-hunting camera, but it's definitely not a point-and-shoot sort of situation. Here's how to take excellent photos of the Perseids, satellites, and more.

It's August, which means those in the northern hemisphere are being treated to the annual Perseids meteor shower. If you've got an iPhone, you're pretty much ready to go take some stunning astrophotography shots yourself.

Of course, it's not as simple as heading outside and pointing your iPhone at the sky, but you probably already knew that. Fortunately, we're here to help.

Don't expect perfection

While the iPhone can take incredible pictures, it's still a smartphone, not a full-featured DSLR. You're going to want to temper your expectations, especially if this is your first time using your iPhone for astrophotography.

It's going to take you some extra time, effort, and fiddling to find what works for you. And here's the kicker: there's no universal magic method for taking the best pictures.

You'll get different results based on whether you're using a Pro model or a standard iPhone. Typically, Pro-level phones, like the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, have larger sensors than their standard counterparts.

Similarly, there's going to be differences between an older iPhone, like the iPhone 14, and a newer iPhone.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. A "just okay" picture is the first step to taking great pictures, and its certainly better than no pictures at all.

Still, I'd like to remind you of the important part here: don't forget to actually look up and enjoy the meteor shower. Spending the entire night trying to get the perfect picture isn't going to mean much if you don't enjoy your time out there.

So grab your iPhone, a cooler full of your favorite drinks, and a few friends or family members, and make a night of it.

The darker the better

If you're going to make an attempt to get some good pictures, you're going to need to find a location that has the lowest level of light pollution you can find. This seems obvious, but good locations tend to fill up quickly, especially for events like this.

Fortunately, in 2026, the height of the Perseids meteor shower and the new moon coincide. August 10 through August 14 should be ideal viewing in most locations that are decently away from cities.

If possible, try to find a rural location where you have permission to park your car if you're not lucky enough to have your own suitable property.

Non-negotiable: The humble tripod

Regardless of which iPhone you have, a tripod is non-optional. Night photography relies on long exposure times, so holding your phone while snapping a shot is a sure-fire way to ensure you'll ruin it.

Fortunately, they're also ridiculously cheap, and you can get a good one for a few bucks from Amazon.

Also ensure you've got a stable place to shoot, like the hood of a car, a patio table, or a flat piece of ground. If not, you might want to pick up a portable stool or drag along a spare cooler.

And while it's not strictly necessary, it's not a bad idea to have a remote shutter button. If you've got an Apple Watch, you already have one on hand.

If not, again, they're not terribly expensive to pick up. Alternatively, sometimes you can use a Bluetooth speaker's volume controls in a pinch — just make sure you test before you travel all the way to some remote location.

Get yourself NightCap

Astrophotography requires a camera to make the most of what little light there is. On traditional digital cameras, this is done by opening the shutter for longer exposure times and increasing the ISO to higher values.

Which is why you probably thought using your iPhone's built-in Night Mode would be sufficient. Unfortunately, it's not.

This is because instead of taking one long exposure, it rapidly shoots a burst of shorter images and stacks them together to boost brightness.

Vibrant aurora borealis with swirling pink, purple, and green lights across the night sky, shown in three panels, one including a flagpole, clouds, trees, and a small house below

Night Mode works surprisingly well for photographing the aurora borealis | Image credit: Amber Neely

While this does great to, say, capture the Milky Way out in the desert, or even the Northern Lights in a sleepy little Western Pennsylvanian town, it's not a good solution for meteors. In fact, Night Mode won't capture those lovely trails at all.

Redditor nerdcan, for example, learned this the hard way after trying to photograph the Perseids with an iPhone using Night Mode. While the picture was stunning, it wasn't quit what they were looking for.

Night sky filled with countless bright stars and a faint cloudy band of the Milky Way stretching across a dark, deep blue background

Image credit: Reddit user nerdcan

But that doesn't mean you don't have options.

NightCap Camera is a fan-favorite app that you can snag from the App Store that is designed for this exact scenario. Even better: it's a one-time $2.99 purchase.

NightCap has a dedicated Meteor Mode which sets everything up for you. It automatically takes about 720 photos per hour with a five-second exposure time.

If you're worried about your storage, don't be. NightCap only saves photos that it thinks contain a meteor.

Bright blue-white meteor streaking across a dark night sky, leaving a glowing tail that tapers off into the distance

Image credit: NightCap Team

However, because you're going to be taking so many photos, I suggest taking a portable battery pack with you, if possible. It's better than running out of battery in the busiest part of the night, after all.

Be prepared to edit

Once you get some good shots, don't be afraid to go edit them. You can do so with any number of apps, including the built-in Photos app.

If your picture looks a little washed out, try lowering your exposure. If the image is very dark, don't start by raising your exposure; this can introduce a lot of ugly noise into your image.

Instead, head over to your Highlights and boost them as needed. Sometimes raising your shadow levels can also help recover a bit more of your foreground detail.

Another helpful trick for any photography that might be lacking in contrast is boosting Contrast. You can overdo this, so start with less than you think and increase slowly — you can always come back if you need to.

Once you've completed those steps, try setting your Black Point again. Increase it until the sky gets dark once again, which should help to bring a bit more life back into the image.

If you find that your image is still a bit lackluster, try increasing both Definition and Sharpness. Again, you can easily overdo this.

Instead of cranking it to maximum, zoom into part of your image and increase slowly. The idea is to sharpen the edges of the stars and meteors without highlighting the noise itself.

Practice makes perfect

Ultimately, like everything else in life, practice makes perfect. And there's no better way to practice than to get outside and take the pictures yourself.

If you can, try not to limit yourself to just one night of stargazing while you're learning. The Perseids continue until August 24 and peak on August 12 and 13. You've got plenty of time to experiment!