The Pixel 4 extends Google’s Night Sight low-light photography feature to include astrophotography capabilities. This week, Google Research explained how it works.

By allowing exposures up to 4 minutes on Pixel 4, and 1 minute on Pixel 3 and 3a, the latest version of Night Sight makes it possible to take sharp and clear pictures of the stars in the night sky or of nighttime landscapes without any artificial light,” Google Research’s Florian Kainz and Kiran Murthy write. “With the phone on a tripod, Night Sight produces sharp pictures of star-filled skies, and as long as there is at least a small amount of moonlight, landscapes will be clear and colorful.”

The engineers’ explanation of this capability is, by definition, complex. Basically, the camera has to mitigate star motion over long exposures while using AI during and after the shot to correct imperfections including noise, light, hot pixels, and more.

As good, Google has also published a document for Pixel 4, 3, and 3a users who wish to take the best-possible astrophotography shots. Definitely worth checking out.

Tagged with Google Pixel 4