Searching Dark Skies by Lucas Licata

The Australian dark night sky not only offers breath-taking views of our galaxy it is also the home to our unique native animals. Searching Dark Skies is an astrophotography mobile phone film that captures the beauty and celebrates this precious resource which is under threat. Light pollution is growing at two percent every year, twice the rate of population growth. Several studies link light pollution to the deteriorating health of wildlife, humans, and the planet. Artificial light interferes with our circadian rhythms by messing with melatonin production and interrupts natural processes like breeding and migrating in everything from sea turtles to birds [i]. There is even evidence to suggest that bright lighting is responsible for the accelerated decline of biodiversity amongst insects [ii]. Reducing light pollution comes with the welcome benefit of decreasing energy consumption. According to the International Dark-Sky Association, about 30% of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. is wasted [iii].

Searching Dark Skies was captured using a mobile phone, which not only represents the accessibility to astrophotography equipment, but also represents a low-impact way of interacting with the night sky and celebrates a connection with our natural environment. By using a mobile phone, the weight of photographic equipment is reduced, helping me to hike significant distances into the wilderness away from development and artificial light.

To capture the night sky requires some planning and a little luck but can be accessible to a large group of the population using mobile phones. The hardest part in creating astrophotography is finding a dark place, due to the amount of light pollution from built up urban spaces. The best way to find a dark Sky near you is looking at a light pollution map like www.lightpollutionmap.info. The map allows you to plan to go to a location where there is less light pollution, a good tip is when picking a spot take note of which direction there is a lot of light pollution come from. This is usually a city or a town and try avoiding pointing your phone in that direction even if it is a long way away.

Pointing your phone at the Milky Way galaxy will give you the best pictures of the stars. The best time to do this is during the Milky Way season. In Australia and the southern hemisphere this is between late February to late October in the northern hemisphere it is between March and September. Once you find a dark sky, check where the Milky Way will be in the sky at that time you wish to capture it.  To know its location, I use a mobile app call PhotoPills which gives you an augmented reality view of the Milky Way through your phone’s camera. When planning it’s also a good idea to capture your photos around the new moon phase, which is when the sky is it’s darkest. Keep an eye on the weather and pick a night when there is a clear sky and little or no clouds. On the night that you plan to take photos it is best to get to your location before dark, so you can work out a good composition, which usually entails having some sort of foreground and background objects in the frame with the Milky Way.

Searching Dark Skies celebrates mobile phone film making, and the idea that the best camera is the one with you, even when it comes to astrophotography. This film was made on a Google Pixel 7 Pro mobile phone, with a tripod and a phone mount. To capture your own astrophotography, it is best wait for a few hours after sun set. Set the phone to Night Sight in the camera app, you will  see a small moon on the shutter button. In the camera setting which can be accessed via icon top left corner, you need to activate Auto Astrophotography mode. Point the camera towards the stars and try to focus on them. If it is dark enough the phone will change from the moon mode to star mode. You know when it changes to star mode when the moon icon becomes three stars. Tap the shutter button to take a picture, it will start to take a 4-minute-long picture. With the Google Pixel 7 Pro you will get an image as well as a 1 sec video clip time laps. To make this film I used a second app to tap the button automatically after 4 minutes called Intervalometer. Astro mode is available at present on the Google Pixel 6 and 7 and the iPhone 13 and 14.

For this short film I had the right conditions after three separate trips and did most of the shooting over three nights. I spent about 6 hours a night in total darkness just under the light of the stars and the sounds of the insects and frogs calling out to each other. It is a fantastic way to spend an evening, being still and just observing the stars and thinking about how our ancestors would have done this for generations. The heritage of the dark night sky is an important consideration and is affected not only by the lights on earth but also increasingly from the enormous number of satellites that have been deployed. If not protected, we and future generations will lose this precious connection to the dark sky, and this also adds pressure to our natural environment and the life that flourishes within it.

[i]  https://www.popsci.com/story/science/dark-sky-places/

[ii] https://www.thesca.org/connect/blog/why-dark-skies-need-be-preserved/

[iii] https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/energy-waste/

Searching Dark Skies by Lucas Licata

The Australian dark night sky not only offers breath-taking views of our galaxy it is also the home to our unique native animals. Searching Dark Skies is an astrophotography mobile phone film that captures the beauty and celebrates this precious resource which is under threat. Light pollution is growing at two percent every year, twice the rate of population growth. Several studies link light pollution to the deteriorating health of wildlife, humans, and the planet. Artificial light interferes with our circadian rhythms by messing with melatonin production and interrupts natural processes like breeding and migrating in everything from sea turtles to birds[i]. There is even evidence to suggest that bright lighting is responsible for the accelerated decline of biodiversity amongst insects[ii]. Reducing light pollution comes with the welcome benefit of decreasing energy consumption. According to the International Dark-Sky Association, about 30% of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. is wasted[iii].

Searching Dark Skies was captured using a mobile phone, which not only represents the accessibility to astrophotography equipment, but also represents a low-impact way of interacting with the night sky and celebrates a connection with our natural environment. By using a mobile phone, the weight of photographic equipment is reduced, helping me to hike significant distances into the wilderness away from development and artificial light.

To capture the night sky requires some planning and a little luck but can be accessible to a large group of the population using mobile phones. The hardest part in creating astrophotography is finding a dark place, due to the amount of light pollution from built up urban spaces. The best way to find a dark Sky near you is looking at a light pollution map like www.lightpollutionmap.info. The map allows you to plan to go to a location where there is less light pollution, a good tip is when picking a spot take note of which direction there is a lot of light pollution come from. This is usually a city or a town and try avoiding pointing your phone in that direction even if it is a long way away.

Pointing your phone at the Milky Way galaxy will give you the best pictures of the stars. The best time to do this is during the Milky Way season. In Australia and the southern hemisphere this is between late February to late October in the northern hemisphere it is between March and September. Once you find a dark sky, check where the Milky Way will be in the sky at that time you wish to capture it.  To know its location, I use a mobile app call PhotoPills which gives you an augmented reality view of the Milky Way through your phone’s camera. When planning it’s also a good idea to capture your photos around the new moon phase, which is when the sky is it’s darkest. Keep an eye on the weather and pick a night when there is a clear sky and little or no clouds. On the night that you plan to take photos it is best to get to your location before dark, so you can work out a good composition, which usually entails having some sort of foreground and background objects in the frame with the Milky Way.

Searching Dark Skies celebrates mobile phone film making, and the idea that the best camera is the one with you, even when it comes to astrophotography. This film was made on a Google Pixel 7 Pro mobile phone, with a tripod and a phone mount. To capture your own astrophotography, it is best wait for a few hours after sun set. Set the phone to Night Sight in the camera app, you will  see a small moon on the shutter button. In the camera setting which can be accessed via icon top left corner, you need to activate Auto Astrophotography mode. Point the camera towards the stars and try to focus on them. If it is dark enough the phone will change from the moon mode to star mode. You know when it changes to star mode when the moon icon becomes three stars. Tap the shutter button to take a picture, it will start to take a 4-minute-long picture. With the Google Pixel 7 Pro you will get an image as well as a 1 sec video clip time laps. To make this film I used a second app to tap the button automatically after 4 minutes called Intervalometer. Astro mode is available at present on the Google Pixel 6 and 7 and the iPhone 13 and 14.

For this short film I had the right conditions after three separate trips and did most of the shooting over three nights. I spent about 6 hours a night in total darkness just under the light of the stars and the sounds of the insects and frogs calling out to each other. It is a fantastic way to spend an evening, being still and just observing the stars and thinking about how our ancestors would have done this for generations. The heritage of the dark night sky is an important consideration and is affected not only by the lights on earth but also increasingly from the enormous number of satellites that have been deployed. If not protected, we and future generations will lose this precious connection to the dark sky, and this also adds pressure to our natural environment and the life that flourishes within it.

[i]  https://www.popsci.com/story/science/dark-sky-places/

[ii] https://www.thesca.org/connect/blog/why-dark-skies-need-be-preserved/

[iii] https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/energy-waste/

Filmmakers

Filmmakers

Lucas Licata

Living on the banks of the Yara River near Banyule Flats in Wurundjeri Country, Lucas Licata has a solid connection to the natural environment. Spending a significant amount of time in remote areas of the Victorian wilderness, he is passionate about the importance of biodiversity and the protection of the natural environment, including the night sky. A passionate motion designer working as a lecturer at the Swinburne University of Technology School of Design.