How to take pictures of the northern lights with an iPhone

Updated October 15, 2026 by madebykamal

Yes: put the iPhone on a tripod or a solid surface, turn the flash off, face north from a dark spot and let Night mode take the shot with its capture time set to Max. Camera sensors are often more sensitive than your eyes in the dark, so the photo can show green and red where you saw only a pale white glow, or nothing at all. Check NOAA's aurora forecast first: the phone can only record an aurora that is there.

Why the camera sees more than your eyes

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center explains that night vision picks out brightness before color, so a faint aurora often looks pale white, and only a fairly bright one shows its green and red to the eye. Digital cameras are often more sensitive and can record the aurora and its colors when it is too dim for people to see; NASA says the same of phone and camera sensors.

The common pale green is oxygen glowing about 80 to 250 miles (120 to 400 kilometers) up, and deep red is oxygen above about 180 miles (300 kilometers). NASA notes that red is the color most often seen at lower latitudes, because the oxygen that glows red sits highest.

iPhone settings for the northern lights

• Night mode: iPhone 11 and later. It turns on by itself in low light; its icon turns yellow and shows how many seconds the shot will take.
• Capture time: tap the arrow above the viewfinder, tap the Night mode button, then slide the control above the shutter button to Max, which Apple says extends the capture time.
• Flash and Live Photos: set both off. Apple notes that turning on either one switches Night mode off.
• Focus: tap a bright star or a distant light, then touch and hold until AE/AF Lock appears, which locks focus and exposure for the next shots.
• Exposure: if the sky comes out brighter than it looked, drag down beside the focus box to darken the frame.

Kamera Pro: LiDAR Night Vision

Night vision camera with a LiDAR lens

Get it on the App StoreAbout the app

On a computer? Scan this with your iPhone camera to open it in the App Store.

Keep the phone still

A Night mode photo can take several seconds, and Apple's advice is to hold the iPhone steady until the capture completes, on a tripod or a solid, secure surface. If crosshairs appear in the frame, the phone has detected movement: line them up. Start the shot with the 3, 5 or 10 second timer so your finger does not shake it. For video, Night mode Time-lapse (iPhone 12 and later) captures frames at longer intervals from a tripod.

Shoot in ProRAW for more editing room

On iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models, Apple ProRAW works with Night mode and gives more flexibility when you edit exposure, color and white balance afterward. Turn it on in Settings, Camera, Formats, then tap RAW in the Camera app. The files are 10 to 12 times larger than HEIF or JPEG, and Night mode RAW photos are kept at 12 MP.

When and where to look

NOAA's aurora dashboard predicts the aurora for tonight and tomorrow night and estimates where it will be over the next 30 minutes. NASA says a chance can sometimes be spotted a day or two ahead, but the picture only clears once the solar storm reaches monitoring satellites about an hour out, so keep checking through the evening.

The Kp index, from 0 to 9, is a rough guide to the aurora's brightness and how far from the poles it reaches. NASA says the northern states can see auroras at a Kp as low as 4. NOAA's viewing tips put the northern edge of the United States in range at Kp 6 to 7 and the aurora overhead in the northern states at 8 to 9, and major storms can bring it over most of the country. NOAA calls these figures approximate.

Leave city lights behind and find an open view to the north, such as a hilltop: NOAA notes that a bright aurora can be seen from about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away, so it may sit low on your horizon. Skies must be clear, and a full moon dims how bright the aurora looks. NOAA adds that activity usually peaks within an hour or two of midnight, about 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. local time, and that the seasons around the spring and fall equinoxes tend to bring larger storms.

Practical tips for a cold night

• Take a test shot as soon as you arrive: the camera may show a faint aurora before your eyes do.
• Keep a battery pack in a pocket. NASA notes that cold batteries lose power quickly.
• Use a red headlamp, which NASA recommends to help keep your night vision.
• Try more than one capture time. Max suits a faint glow, but NOAA describes active arcs that twist, sway and move rapidly, so test a shorter time when the display is bright and moving.
• Be patient. NASA says displays can wax and wane through the night, and NOAA points out that the far north does not get dark in summer, so an aurora there may be present but unseen.

Using Kamera Pro for night shots

Kamera Pro is a night vision camera app for iPhone with capture modes for the dark, including Night Photo, Night Timelapse and Astro, which takes stacked exposures of the night sky. It offers manual shutter, ISO, focus and white balance with focus peaking, and RAW capture as DNG. Its Night Almanac shows moonrise, the moon phase and tonight's darkest hour, which helps you plan around moonlight. For the aurora itself, check NOAA's forecast.

Questions people ask

Related

• Does iPhone Have Night Vision? How to See in the Dark
• Which iPhones Have LiDAR? Every Model, 12 Pro to 18 Pro
• How to Take Pictures of Stars With an iPhone
• How to Check if Your iPhone's LiDAR Is Working
• Best iPhone night vision and low light camera apps in 2026
• Kamera Pro: LiDAR Night Vision