“How do you actually take a good moon photo with an iPhone?” Redditor xLofty wondered in a post three years ago.
The moon appears to most amateur photographers as a bright detail against a completely dark background, and it is approx half the width if there is one fingernail on the outstretched hand. This makes shooting with an iPhone difficult, as anyone who has tried it can attest.
But the answer with the most votes from user seoulitude did a clever hack: take your photo while shooting 4k video, giving you easier and more detailed control over exposure, focus and telephoto zoom (as opposed to digital zoom).
One of the Artemis II astronauts (it’s not yet known which one) has a better idea: just go to the moon.
Artemis astronauts are now sharing iPhone photos of the Moon.
The lights on the spacecraft were turned off so they could take better pictures. pic.twitter.com/LEl5i9CH0c
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) April 6, 2026
As I mentioned over the weekend, the Artemis astronauts suits are equipped with iPhones When he left NASA’s lunar mission. Early Monday, they he has gone farther from Earth than anyone has ever gone beforethen they went a little further until they reached the quarter of Aysal, about the midpoint of their ten days’ journey.
But X user Scott Bryan NASA’s live video stream captured the moment astronauts showed off their unique iPhone lunar photography capabilities as lunar canyons and craters became stunningly visible.
This is such a neat photography trick. Why didn’t I think of this myself?
