How to Photograph a Satellite or a Moving Asteroid With Your Phone or Camera

Guide · 5 min read · By Dario Seretin · Updated October 28, 2026

Photographing something that moves across the sky is a different skill from photographing the Moon or the stars. A satellite never holds still, and an asteroid like Apophis in 2029 will be faint and fast. The good news is that you can practice on easy targets now, with equipment you probably already own.

Start with the easiest target: the space station

The International Space Station is the best training subject. It orbits roughly 400 km above Earth at about 28,000 km/h, so it crosses the whole sky in a few minutes. It shines because it reflects sunlight, which is why NASA says it is best seen within a few hours before sunrise or after sunset, when you are in darkness but the station is still lit. NASA describes it as the third brightest object in the sky, and it looks like a steady, bright "star" that does not blink and does not change course.

NASA's Spot the Station website and app list upcoming passes for your location, including start time, how long it is visible and how high it climbs above the horizon. Pick a pass that climbs high, because low passes are dimmer and blocked by trees and buildings.

Gear and starting settings

A tripod. Any support that holds the camera still works. A phone leaning on a wall is better than a hand-held phone, but a real tripod is far better.
Manual controls. Most modern phones have a "Pro" or "Night" mode that lets you set shutter time and ISO. A DSLR or mirrorless camera gives full control.
A wide lens. A wide view forgives aiming mistakes and lets you include a foreground such as a tree line.
A timer or remote. Pressing the shutter shakes the camera. Use a 2-second timer, a cable release or a Bluetooth remote.

Treat the following numbers as a first guess, not a rule. Skies differ and you should check your first frame.

Dark sky: about 10 seconds, widest aperture (around f/2 to f/2.8 on a camera lens), ISO near 800.
Suburb or town: shorter, about 3 to 6 seconds and a lower ISO, so the sky does not turn grey or orange.
Phones: use Night or Pro mode with a manual exposure of a few seconds to 30 seconds, depending on the model, and lock the focus.

If the stars look weak and the foreground is too dark, lengthen the exposure or raise the ISO. If the sky is washed out, do the opposite.

Focus and exposure technique

Autofocus fails in the dark. Before the pass begins, point at a bright star or planet, zoom in on the live view and turn the focus until the point of light is as small as possible. On many phones, a manual focus slider or an "infinity" setting does the same job. After that, do not touch the focus again. A slightly out-of-focus streak is still a streak, but a soft star field looks careless.

Long exposure or many short ones?

A single exposure draws the satellite as a line. The line length equals the time the shutter was open, so a longer exposure gives a longer trail. This is simple and works well for the ISS.

The second method is to shoot many short frames, for example 2 to 10 seconds each with almost no gap between them. Later you can stack the frames into one image, or play them as a short time-lapse. This protects against over-bright city lights, and it gives you a record of how the object actually moved. If your phone cannot take repeated exposures quickly, use a time-lapse mode.

Do not try to follow the object by hand. Aim at the part of the sky the pass will cross, start the exposure early and let the object enter the frame.

Practising for Apophis in 2029

On April 13, 2029, Apophis is expected to pass about 32,000 km above Earth's surface, with closest approach around 21:46 UTC, when it will be night over Europe and Africa. Our guide to watching the Apophis flyby explains where to look. It will be visible without a telescope under dark skies, but it will be faint compared with the ISS and will move noticeably between stars. Rehearse now:

Photograph the ISS, then a bright planet, then a faint star field, to learn how your camera behaves at each level of brightness.
Find the position of Apophis for your location with a tool such as NASA's JPL Horizons, once the date approaches. The idea of how orbits are measured is covered in how astronomers measure the size and speed of an asteroid.
Use a series of short exposures. Because Apophis is a faint dot, not a bright line, you want frames short enough that it shows as a point, which you can then stack into a path.

Do not expect a spectacular picture with a phone. A modest, honest photo of a faint dot moving against known stars is a good result, and it will be your own record of an event that is rare for a body of its size.

Common mistakes

Mistaking aircraft for satellites. Planes have blinking lights. Satellites shine steadily. If you see a line of lights that all move together, read our article on Starlink satellite trains.
Using the zoom. Digital zoom on phones reduces quality. Stay wide and crop later.
Bright Moon. Moonlight washes out faint stars, so shorten the exposure.
Dew. On cold nights, lenses fog. Keep a lens cloth ready.
Looking at a bright phone screen. It ruins your night vision. Use a red or dimmed display.

Key takeaways

The ISS is the ideal practice target, and NASA's Spot the Station tells you when it passes.
Use a tripod, manual focus on a bright star and a timer.
Begin with about 10 seconds in a dark sky and adjust after each test frame.
Many short frames give you more control than a single long one.
Practise before April 13, 2029, so the settings are familiar when it matters.

Sources and further reading

Facts in this article are drawn from public sources. For more information, see:

Camera settings are starting points and vary by equipment and sky conditions. See our editorial policy for how we write and correct articles.