How to photograph the stars with Google Pixel.

So he hiked deep into Arches National Park in Utah on an early March night. There, he would be far enough away from any foot traffic and light pollution that might spoil his photos. 

He timed his trek so that Jupiter would be rising and Leo would be low, near the horizon. Then, the photographer and image quality expert for Google set his Pixel on a tripod 250 feet away from a red sandstone arch Wilson picked to frame the stars. He lit up the ground and the arch with small headlamps and camping lights.

With the press of the shutter button, his Google Pixel photographed a dark sky with a clear trace of the Leo constellation above the moonlit arch. “The moon rose up from behind me and lit everything up and just made this beautiful landscape,” says Wilson, an astrophotographer who has worked with the Google Pixel team to develop some of its pro-level features.

Google Pixel is opening up possibilities for night photography, which has traditionally required sophisticated equipment and knowledge about everything from shutter speed to ISO settings on your camera. Night Sight processes long-exposure star photos faster, with sharper low-light detail. You can set your Pixel on a stable surface, open Night Sight, and create a detailed photo of the night sky in just a few minutes.

How astrophotography works on an AI camera

Capturing the night sky requires long exposures, whether it’s with a DSLR camera or a Google Pixel. Astrophotographer Tristan Greszko says he would use his DSLR with a telephoto lens and take more than 120 long exposures over a period of hours to get great star shots. Then, using photo editing software, he would merge multiple photos and layer them to eliminate “noise,” whether that’s magenta or green tints, or passing airplanes or satellites. “It gets pretty complicated to get a really great shot,” says Greszko.

Camera phones have historically struggled with these long-exposure photos because of shaky hands and movement in the scene or sky – those passing satellites or airplanes, or the stars themselves seeming to move as the Earth rotates. 

The Tensor chip in Google Pixel phones solves that problem, improving the Night Sight feature¹ that first became available on Pixel 3. The custom-built Tensor processor detects motion before the photo is taken and optimizes the process to reduce blur and give you a sharp picture. On newer models like Google Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold, long-exposure pictures process faster and with even sharper low-light detail thanks to the Tensor G5 chip.  

“The long exposure brings out details you can’t see with the naked eye, and the Pixel makes the whole process feel effortless,” says user Apurv G, who used their Pixel and a tripod to photograph the silhouette of a lone tree under a sky full of stars in Shenandoah National Park.

“They’re shockingly beautiful photos,” says Greszko, who has used his Google Pixel phone at night in Nevada.

 In astrophotography mode, Pixel takes and stacks multiple long exposures when you press the shutter, then merges them all together – essentially automating the work that Greszko used to do by hand. The result is a single crisp, detailed photograph of the night sky and your chosen framing of the landscape. Night Sight also has a special feature called Astro time-lapse, which takes the string of photos and creates a cool one-second time-lapse movie of the moving stars – just for fun. 

Tip: Set a 3- to 10-second self-timer to reduce shake when you tap the shutter.

Getting the phone perfectly still is important. Improved image stabilisation makes tabletop astrophotography simple and effective. And Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s tabletop mode gives you a steady camera with a quick, tripod-free setup.

“I placed the phone on a stable surface and waited for the long exposure to finish – and the results were mind-blowing,” says @oh.kshitij, a Pixel user who clicked this picture using Astrophotography mode while on a midnight stargazing hike.

Planning your night shot

As a professional, Wilson typically spends up to two weeks scouting out the perfect location for his Night Sight photos. He pays attention to weather and cloud cover, and uses a stargazing app to learn about the exact phase of the moon and where the constellations will be in the sky. He picks landscapes far away from cities or urban areas. “You’ve really got to monitor the sky and the weather and everything else that goes into a photo,” he says. When he wants the stars to really pop, he waits for the moon to disappear to ensure he has the darkest sky possible.  

Google Pixel user @naddrxxh agrees and shares these tips: 

• Make sure to remove or distance yourself from any harsh or direct lighting.

• Use focus lock to keep your subject sharp.

• Take multiple photos and choose the best one.

Wilson also says finding interesting landscape features – rather than simply pointing the camera at the sky – is key to composing a great photograph. 

His last bit of advice: Bring warm clothes and a snack, because sometimes the best shots don’t come right away. 

“Anybody can take these photos,” says Wilson. “If you have a desire to go take astrophotos and you have patience, you can get a great shot.”

You don’t have to spend weeks scouting locations like Wilson does to make the most of Night Sight on your Pixel. No matter your skill level or which Pixel model you use, you can turn a night sky into a lasting memory with these tips and tricks.

• Go 45 to 90 minutes after sunset for a naturally darker sky and more visible stars.

• Check the moon phase in a stargazing app – avoiding a full moon will give you deeper blacks and more contrast.

• Aim for a night with steady air (low wind and low atmospheric haze) to keep stars crisp.

• Choose a location far from direct or harsh light, including streetlamps, car headlights, and nearby buildings.

• Look for dark, cloud-free skies away from urban areas.

• Add a foreground element – a tree, arch, hillside, or rock – to give depth and scale to the final image.

• Open Camera → Night Sight → Astro to enable Astrophotography mode.

• Place your Pixel on a stable surface. (If you have a Pixel 10 Pro Fold, use tabletop mode by setting the phone half-open so it supports itself.)

• Turn on a 3- to 10-second self-timer to minimise shake when tapping the shutter.

• Tap and lock focus on a bright star or your foreground.

• Adjust exposure by sliding your finger up or down on the screen until the sky and foreground look balanced.

• Compose your frame so the sky fills most of the image, with a grounded element for context.

• Once you press the shutter, Pixel will begin a long exposure (often around four minutes).

• Keep the phone completely still until the on-screen timer finishes.

• If the sky is very dark, Pixel may automatically extend the capture time to improve detail.

• Open the photo in Google Photos.

• Start with Magic Editor to refine the composition, brighten the stars slightly, or remove distractions like lights or passersby.

• Or use light adjustments to:

  • Increase contrast for star definition.

  • Reduce noise while keeping texture natural.

  • Fine-tune colour balance so the sky tones remain true to the moment.

• Save a copy so you can return to the original if needed.