You can rent a Google Pixel for free to go stargazing in Japan
TheGoogle Pixel 7and7 Proare amongour favorite smartphones of the year, partly thanks to their incredible array of cameras and the color science baked into the Google Camera app. Since Google added Night Sight to the app, Pixel phones have been the go-to smartphone for professional and casual astrophotography. In Japan, you can rent a Pixel 7 for a stargazing event called the “Night Tour,” and snap photos of the sky to your heart’s content.
Google and Japanese cellular company SoftBank are presenting the event, from December 24, 2022, to March 26, 2023, at the Achi Village in Nagano Prefecture (via9to5Google). The location is well known as the best place in Japan to go stargazing. Thanks to Google’s partnership, you can arrive at this location empty-handed but walk away with wonderful visuals of the winter night sky. The viewpoint is aBortle class 4 location, where light pollution is quite low, and you can see most of the brighter stars and galactic structures.
The first 100 groups toreserve a Night Tourevery day of the stipulated viewing window will get a free Google Pixel, appropriate winter clothing, and a tripod for one and a half hours — all for free. With this kit, people can take full advantage of the Google Camera app’s Night Sight mode, even if the viewing interval is just four minutes per person.
The website to book a Google Pixel plan for the Night Tour also contains links to accommodation and instructions on how to capture a long exposure using Night Sight. However, the webpage doesn’t say which Pixel phone is being handed to the stargazers, and how their images are handed over after every session. There’s a mention of the Pixel 7 being the latest Google-branded smartphone, so we presume the lucky 100 attendees every night are getting to discover what the Pixel 7 can do in low-light situations where most smartphones would struggle.
If you’re reading this in Japan, or plan to visit soon, remember that you’ll have to book your Pixel-enabled stargazing session at least two weeks prior. Cancelations won’t be accepted unless storms play spoilsport, but the average cloudy or rainy night won’t land you a discount or refund. Tickets cost ¥2,000 (around $15) per person, including the fifteen-minute gondola ride round trip to the viewpoint.
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