The Pixel 8A and the camera you have with you
![Photo of northern lights over a rooftop.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZQIAY4YeVrq_O7DBLInJnSx0z-0=/0x1155:3472x3470/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73343730/PXL_20240511_065234540.0.jpg)
Sometimes you travel thousands of miles from home to see something amazing. And every once in a while, that something appears right in your backyard.
That’s what happened on Friday. “What’s the aurora forecast for tonight?” I asked a friend who keeps up with those things. “Amazing,” he said. He wasn’t lying. At 9:30PM, my husband and I went to the backyard to check the sky — nothing but hazy light pollution on the northern horizon. But just an hour later, the sky erupted.
I didn’t think twice about what camera to use to photograph the event since I already had my SIM card in the Pixel 8A — it had arrived a couple of days ago fresh off its announcement. I handed my husband the Pixel 8 Pro; he left his night mode-less iPhone XR in the...