For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with iCandiApps to give two MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's first hardware products - the Night Sky MiniScope.

The Night Sky MiniScope is a telescope that connects to your iPhone and works in conjunction with the Night Sky app to help you gaze at and capture images of celestial bodies like stars and planets. It has offers 50x optical zoom and 500x digital optical zoom when paired with the app.

miniscope
Priced at $349, the MiniScope comes with a telescope, a tripod, and an iPhone case to connect the device to your phone. It's compatible with the iPhone 4, 4s, 5, 5c, 5s, 6, and 6 Plus.

miniscopefeatures

Night Sky MiniScope is easy to use, lightweight, small, sturdy, powerful and sublime. Everything you need is supplied in a handcrafted luxurious box. Night Sky MiniScope works seamlessly with the Night Sky stargazing apps.

Locate a celestial object with the Night Sky app and get the perfect image with Night Sky MiniScope.

The Night Sky MiniScope not a tiny device, but it's small enough that it's able to be carried in a bag or backpack to be taken on trips and star-viewing excursions. It can capture some impressive photos of the moon and stars.

mooniminiscope

Moon photo captured with the Night Sky MiniScope

To enter to win one of two Night Sky MiniScopes, use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter your email address. Your email address will not be given to any third party and is used solely for contact purposes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.

This contest will run from today (July 17) at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time through 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time on July 24. The winner will be chosen randomly on July 24 and will be contacted by email. The winner has 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address or a new winner will be chosen.

Top Rated Comments

joelisfar Avatar
133 months ago
If anyone has some experience with astrophotography I'd love to know how this measures up to other options on the market…
My father-in-law makes telescopes and I always try taking photos through the eyepiece with my iPhone. Here’s one of the best ones I've taken:

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
japanime Avatar
133 months ago
My father-in-law makes telescopes and I always try taking photos through the eyepiece with my iPhone. Here’s one of the best ones I've taken
Stellar photo!

I do the same with my Meade ETX-90 and iPhone. Here's a photo I took of a recent lunar eclipse.



I simply hold the phone up to the telescope's eyepiece when taking photos. Getting the camera lens to properly align with the image coming out of the eyepiece has been a bit troublesome, though. Lots of trial and error. How have you managed to pull it off? Are you using some sort of camera mount?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joelisfar Avatar
133 months ago
I simply hold the phone up to the telescope's eyepiece when taking photos. Getting the camera lens to properly align with the image coming out of the eyepiece has been a bit troublesome, though. Lots of trial and error. How have you managed to pull it off? Are you using some sort of camera mount?
Great shot of the eclipse! Cool what we can do with phones (and scopes) these days!

I've been taking the same approach, lots of trial and error here too. I would love to find a good way to mount the phone to the scope so I could just worry about pointing the scope and not trying to hold the camera at just the right spot. But until I find such a thing I'll stick with the casual approach… burst mode is pretty helpful because I usually only hold it in the right spot for a split second.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C DM Avatar
133 months ago
My father-in-law makes telescopes and I always try taking photos through the eyepiece with my iPhone. Here’s one of the best ones I've taken:

Trying out a new telescope I got the idea to do the same thing using my iPhone. Didn't spend as much time on it and it was rather hard to catch it to begin with. Ended up with this:

Attachment Image
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Henriok Avatar
133 months ago
This is my shot of the Moon, with a HookUpz to regular binoculars, using Camera+ for exposure settings.

Attachment Image
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jclo Avatar
133 months ago
The site has some images taken with it:

http://www.icandiapps.com/icandiapps/gallery/

If anyone has some experience with astrophotography I'd love to know how this measures up to other options on the market and what you think of the images. I'm planning to follow this giveaway up with a review, but this is the first telescope I've used.

Edit: Here are some photos I took using it, if anyone wants to know how they come out. http://imgur.com/a/8gHrM
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Event in October? Here's What to Expect

Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends. Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below. Apple in October Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023. In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro teal 1

Apple's iPhone Driver's License Feature Now Available in 11 U.S. States

Tuesday September 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Apple recently revealed that the feature would soon be available in North Dakota, and starting today, the feature has officially gone...
maxresdefault

New iPad Pro With M5 Chip Leaked in Unboxing Video

Tuesday September 30, 2025 8:39 am PDT by
An apparent unboxing video for an unannounced iPad Pro with the M5 chip was uploaded to YouTube today by Russian channel Wylsacom. The same YouTube account leaked the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip before it was announced by Apple last year, so this is likely a legitimate leak. Based on the box shown in the video, this appears to be a 13-inch iPad Pro with an M5 chip, 256GB of...
fcc vision pro leak

FCC Accidentally Leaks Apple's Next Vision Pro

Tuesday September 30, 2025 3:48 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has seemingly confirmed Apple's work on an updated version of the Vision Pro headset. One of several documents the FCC shared today references an Apple-designed "Head Mounted Device" with a model number of A3416. An included image confirms the device is a Vision Pro. The FCC's uploads are transmission tests, SAR test reports, and...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.0.1 With Fixes for Wi-Fi, Cellular, and Camera Issues on iPhone 17 Models

Monday September 29, 2025 10:12 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 26.0.1 and iPadOS 26.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out earlier this week. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes for the update, iOS 26.0.1 addresses a bug that could cause aberrations in...
macbook pro prime day 2025

FCC Leaks Upcoming MacBook Pro and More

Tuesday September 30, 2025 1:58 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission has confirmed Apple's work on a new version of the MacBook Pro and several other products, leaking details on the devices ahead of launch. The FCC published documents that reference model numbers that do not correspond with existing devices. A3434, for example, references an unreleased MacBook Pro, while other numbers are likely for...
space black mbp

Here's Every New Apple Product That Leaked Yesterday

Wednesday October 1, 2025 8:27 am PDT by
A handful of upcoming Apple products leaked yesterday, through a combination of YouTube videos out of Russia and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents that were released, despite Apple's confidentiality requests. The leaked products include an iPad Pro with an M5 chip, as well as updated MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro models. All of these devices had already been rumored...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pro Nears Mass Production, But Four Bigger Upgrades Expected Next Year

Sunday September 28, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next MacBook Pro models will enter mass production soon, according to the latest information shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said he continues to believe the new MacBook Pro models will be released at some point between late 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, meaning they should be available to order by March at the latest. Apple often...
iOS 26

Apple Continues to Prepare iOS 26.0.1 With Multiple Bug Fixes Expected

Sunday September 28, 2025 1:30 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The account initially said iOS 26.0.1 would have a build number of 23A350, but they now expect the update to have a build number of 23A355. This suggests that the software update will include more bug fixes or changes than initially...
Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Thursday September 25, 2025 1:11 pm PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system codenamed "Charismatic," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple smart home hub concept based on rumors This is likely Apple's long-rumored "homeOS" operating system. In a report last month, Gurman said both Apple's rumored smart home hub in 2026 and tabletop robot in 2027 will run the new operating system. He said the software platform ...