After seeing my sister successfully capture the Milky Way using a Samsung S25 back in November, I went down the rabbit hole of smartphone astrophotography. When my Pixel 9a arrived, that was the first thing I did—I pointed it at the Orion Constellation and voila! I could see the Orion Nebula!
I captured Orion Nebula with Google Pixel 9a
I was on a high when I saw the Orion Nebula in the photo after 4 minutes of Night Sight on my Pixel 9a!
Then I thought to myself, what if I could bring it a little bit closer using binoculars? I spent another few days going down the rabbit hole, researching whether binoculars could be used for stargazing, until I came across monoculars.
K&F Concept 12×50 Monocular
After reading countless posts, I ended up googling “monocular telescope bak porro” and found a recent post about K&F. I already owned a tripod from the brand – it’s affordable and reliable – so why not give it a try?
The K&F 12×50 monocular is a handheld telescope with 12x magnification and a 50mm lens—that’s what those numbers mean. It’s marketed for activities including stargazing and moon watching.
Why it works for stargazing:
- The 50mm objective lens provides good light gathering for viewing celestial objects
- BAK-4 prism and fully multi-coated lens ensure superior light transmission and brightness
- Includes a tripod for stability when viewing stars or the moon
- Compact and affordable alternative to telescopes for casual astronomy
However, aligning the phone using an adapter is a pain. It took me about 30 minutes to align the lens with the adapter I bought, so I might need to purchase a better one.
Orion Nebula through Monocular
My quest was to bring the Orion Nebula closer to my eyes, and this monocular made it happen!
I just wish I could align the lens better so I can fully utilize the 4-minute astro mode of my Pixel 9a.
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Stay tuned for more stargazing experiments!
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