John Kennedy, the app’s creator, said an Android version would probably appear eventually. And as with the other top competitors, you can alter the lighting of the app so you are not compromising your night vision with bright white light. Like other apps, you can filter the view in other respects, to show only constellations or deep-sky objects.
Pocket Universe also features a “Tonight’s Sky” option, showing you a list of planets you can spot with the naked eye. The app is designed to be intuitive, so you can turn it on, point it toward the sky and start learning. For someone with no ambition to discover the next comet, this was more my speed. Less ambitious astronomers might consider StarMap 3-D ($2 for iPhone), which, among other things, puts you at the controls of a simulated deep-space flight. Do you want to set the navigation options to show the Azimuthal grid? Should “Target is Telrad” be turned on? The app is so dense with information and options that stargazing novices may want a guide to help navigate it. Star Map also works in conjunction with, by showing images in the app that other users have uploaded to the Web site. When a mobile device is pointed at the night sky, apps like Star Walk identify stars or objects there. Such people will find this app useful, but these users are better suited to the Starmap apps, which offer a depth of astronomical information that others lack.ĭata from the Star Walk application for the iPad. The box also includes data that few people other than telescope owners will need, like the RA positioning and the object’s visual magnitude. A dropdown box displays a brief description of the star - which, it turns out, is a mere 34 light years from Earth. Touch “Pollux,” Gemini’s brightest star, and then tap on the information icon. Even better, it will label stars, planets and constellations, and offer up details about them in terms that amateurs will easily absorb.Įver wonder about the constellation that’s tied to your astrological sign? Search for Gemini, for instance, and it will display the constellation as it currently looks in the sky, even if it isn’t visible from your particular vantage point. Open the app in your bedroom and point the iPad skyward, and it will show you whatever you would have seen if you were looking through a telescope in that very direction. You don’t even need a starry night - or, for that matter, a view of the night sky. IPad owners, meanwhile, can download Star Walk for iPad ($5).
Starmap ($12) and Starmap Pro ($19) will probably appeal to more experienced astronomers.
Google Sky Map (free) will do the same for Android users. Pocket Universe ($3) and Star Walk ($3) offer great experiences for beginners with an iPhone. These apps - like Starmap, Star Walk, Pocket Universe, Google Sky Map and others - are part of a category known as “augmented reality.” The idea is to point a mobile device toward an object and let an app show you more about what you’re seeing than your own eyes could.Īt the moment, the category is in its nascent stages, with one exception - the stargazing apps.Īs for which app you should buy, it depends on your level of astronomical expertise, and what device you have. If ever there were a type of mobile software guaranteed to elicit a grin, this is it.
Choose a clear night and hold your phone skyward, and the heavens suddenly make sense - that is, with the help of a stargazing application.