Pick your phone class and a target: Moon, planet, Milky Way, meteors or the ISS. Get yes, maybe or no for tonight, the settings and a field card for the tropics.
Frequently asked questions
Can a phone photograph the Milky Way?
A phone with an astro mode can, on a tripod, under a dark sky (about Bortle 4 or darker) with the core up and the Moon down. Night mode alone shows a faint band at best from a very dark site, and a phone without either cannot. The check works this out for tonight at your pin.
Which phones have an astro mode?
Google says Astrophotography in Night Sight turns on when a Pixel is still on a tripod, and names Pixel 4a (5G) and later for it. Samsung lists Astrophotography in the Expert RAW app for the Galaxy S22 and S23 series. Apple describes Night mode for iPhone 11 and later but no separate astro mode. The table on the page links each page.
Why does a yes become a maybe on a cloudy night?
The check reads tonight's Tonight Observing Score. On a Skip night a bright target (the Moon, a bright planet, the ISS) can still show through gaps, so it drops to maybe; a faint one (the Milky Way, meteors) drops to no.