NASA Astronaut Captures Jaw-Dropping Aurora Photo on an iPhone

Earlier this year, NASA announced a policy shift allowing modern smartphones to accompany astronauts into space. Now, NASA astronaut Anil Menon has taken advantage of that change to capture a stunning view of the northern lights from the International Space Station. He didn’t need professional camera gear to do it. The image was shot on an iPhone.

Equipment onboard spacecraft typically must undergo a variety of assessments that can take years — including launch-condition simulations as well as vacuum, thermal, acoustic, vibration, and radiation testing. When NASA initially announced it would be relaxing its rules around smartphones, it didn’t announce which one would make the cut. However, within a matter of months, Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman shared video of Earth disappearing behind the Moon from an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

On October 10, Menon shared his incredible photo on X, capturing a weekend of intense geomagnetic storms from his vantage point aboard the ISS.

The image shows the Earth at night wrapped in a glowing band of pink, purple, and red auroras shimmering in the upper atmosphere above city lights. In the foreground, the ISS solar panels and the hulls of docked spacecraft are tinted purple by the light show.

We don’t know which iPhone model was used to take the photo. Menon has been on the ISS for about 90 days as part of Expedition 75, having launched aboard Soyuz MS-29 on July 14, 2026, alongside two cosmonauts. They’re scheduled to return home in April 2027.

The iPhone 17 series was the newest model available when Menon blasted off. However, the iPhone 18 Pro hit stores on September 18, just before SpaceX Crew-13 docked with the ISS on October 1 (with SpaceX CRS-35 also en route to deliver another 6,300 pounds of cargo on October 15). Did a fresh iPhone 18 Pro make it on board with the Crew-13 astronauts?

Historically, NASA astronauts have relied on bulky Nikon DSLR cameras, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max famously replaced a 2016 DSLR on the Artemis II mission, where it reached the farthest point in human history.

In 2019, Apple added Night mode to the iPhone 11 Camera app, a feature that’s expanded in the years since to embrace selfies, time-lapse, and Portrait mode shots.

Whether it’s filming the Moon from lunar orbit like Wiseman or snapping auroras 250 miles above Earth like Menon, the same camera technology astronauts rely on is probably sitting right in your pocket. Once the sun sets, grab your iPhone and see what the camera can do.