Utility Apps For Stargazing

Planets is not a top choice in this category because it leaves much to be desired. Although it has a wide variety of views such as 2D, 3D and Globe view, it is not initially clear how to use them. Other problems with the app range from lack of landscape mode to that fact that no information about space objects is available. Overall, it's not our top recommendation, but it is free and universal, so it might be a good place to start.

Which star belongs to you? Name a star now as the most original gift of the universe! Search, find and gaze at your star with this FREE app which is available in 20 languages!

With the OSR Star Finder App you have the universe in the palm of your hand. You can almost literally touch your star and easily locate and track it at any time of the day. The Star Finder App helps you navigate the universe and shows you the beauty of the constellations and the stars in our galaxy. Learn more about the 88 constellations and several famous Landmark Stars along the way.

With the registration code it's easy to find a star. The app shows you the dates and times at which you can gaze at the star from your location. Did you locate the star? You can easily take a picture of the star and share it with friends and family. Optimize your experience by changing the settings. For example switch the Augmented Reality-mode and Night Mode on/off.

Would you like to register a star? You can also do this with the OSR Star Finder. Select the constellation of your choice and personalize the star registration in the order form. The named star can then be looked up in the Star Finder right away!

Among other things, the app offers you:
- A clean and clear tutorial;
- 88 constellations with artwork and descriptions;
- Various landmark stars with descriptions;
- Augmented reality and night modes;
- Options to find the best visible constellations;
- The option to name and find your own star;
- No less than 20 languages!

Discover the constellations and the stars by downloading the FREE Star Finder App!

"Every amateur astronomer yearns for clear, dark skies, and this exhaustive app helps you find them."
- Sky At Night Magazine 2017

"Several astronomy-oriented weather apps are available, but Scope Nights has become my favorite… it does a fine job of summarizing the data in a clear and understandable fashion."
- Sky & Telescope Magazine 2015

"Conventional weather forecasts meet the needs of Earthly dwellers; news of cloud cover when sensible folk are asleep is hardly required. Now via this wonderful App… local forecasts for nocturnal weather… are now available."
- Astronomy Now Magazine 2012

If you’re a stargazer, astronomer or astrophotographer, analysing conventional weather forecasts for favourable night time conditions can be very time consuming, you just want to know when to plan your stargazing trip or set up your telescope. Scope Nights analyses night time weather forecast data for you and shows exactly when and where to go for the darkest and clearest skies, as well as offering customisable stargazing ratings to suit your telescope and observing habits, stargazing notifications, and a detailed light pollution map showing nearby dark sky sites and observatories. Finding clear dark skies and discovering the night sky has never been easier!


PLAN YOUR OBSERVING WITH CUSTOM STARGAZING RATINGS

• View at a glance which nights will be good for astronomy using smart weather analysis with clear stargazing ratings and animated weather icons to quickly see if it’s worth preparing your telescope or planning a stargazing trip

• Create custom stargazing ratings using observing thresholds for moon phase, wind, humidity and temperature. Choose night, evening or morning coverage to suit when you observe, the type of telescope, and the type of observing you plan to do.

• View at a glance which of your favourite Scope Sites will have the most suitable conditions


FIND DARK SKY SITES & OBSERVATORIES

• Find nearby dark sky sites with the clearest skies using a detailed light pollution map derived from the latest NASA satellite data

• Searchable lists and dark sky map showing certified dark sky places, major astronomical observatories and robotic telescopes


DETAILED ASTRONOMY FORECASTS

• Long range astronomy forecasts for any location worldwide, compare up to 10 locations up to 10 nights ahead

• Local 3-hourly forecasts for UK & USA updated hourly using the best forecast data available direct from the UK Met Office and the US NOAA National Weather Service


CUSTOM STARGAZING NOTIFICATIONS

• Receive accurate notifications of good or fair stargazing ratings based on your custom thresholds, well before sunset so you can prepare for your observing session

• App badge showing the number of sites with good observing conditions for tonight


SHARE STARGAZING FORECASTS

• Share astronomy weather reports with fellow astronomers via email, social media or print them out for your observatory


DETAILED CUSTOM ASTRONOMY FORECASTS

• Night time specific astronomy forecasts from sunset to sunrise

• Forecast coverage to suit when you observe: All Night, Evening or Morning

• Detailed colour coded forecasts:
- Moon phase percentage & altitude
- Cloud cover
- Precipitation probability
- Relative humidity
- Minimum temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit
- Wind direction
- Wind speed & gusts in Mph, Knots, Kph or Mps

• Moonrise and moonset times

• Sunrise & sunset times

• Wind speed gust sensitivity switch for those with large telescopes or in exposed locations


REQUIREMENTS
• Requires a device with iOS 9.3 or later
• Requires Internet access over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection
• Requires Location Services be enabled to automatically find local astronomy forecast
• Requires Background Services be enabled to get stargazing notifications

Sky Live provides the stargazing conditions for planning your observations. Check the weather forecast, light pollution, visible objects, and the moon light.

Note that the only in-app purchases available are donations (tip jar). All functionality is included and updates are free forever - through the years the app has become an astronomer's swiss-army knife.

Polar Scope Align will calculate the position of Polaris or σ Octantis in your Polar Scope reticle for your location (using your phone's GPS or manually), allowing a quick and accurate polar alignment. It is one of the few programs that are accurate in lower latitudes by correcting for atmospheric refraction (so expect results to agree only with precise software and not most simplistic "polar align" apps - see the "Accuracy" section in help for details). It will even allow you to measure and correct a centering error of the reticle. In the settings you can select from a vast collection of reticles, one that matches your own - currently iOptron, Astro-Physics, Takahashi, Orion, Skywatcher, Celestron, Meade, Vixen, Bresser, Explore Scientific, Astrotrac, Losmandy, Kenko, Avalon Instruments, Konus, Tuthill, TeleVue Systems (Carton), Telrad reticles are available. Feel free to contact the developer with any questions, feature/reticle requests and any problems you have with the app. If you like Polar Scope Align, please consider leaving a review on the app store.

The Pro Watch version has all the features of Polar Scope Align Pro, with the addition of an Apple Watch app featuring:
-Graphic & Text display of polar alignment.
-Weather view.
-Bubble level.
-Day alignment.
-Moon phase/altitude.
-Moon/Sun rise/set & twilight times.

App feature list:

-Accurate calculation of Polaris or Sigma Oct for any date and location, including effect of atmospheric refraction (and stellar aberration, nutation).
-Use device time/date and GPS location, or manually enter your own.
-Location manager with favorite locations, list of recent locations, online search and offline world database.
-Supports a multitude of polar scopes: iOptron, Astro-Physics RAPAS & PASILL, various versions of Takahashi EM-10/11/200/400/500, NJP, PM-1, P2-Z, the latest Orion / Skywatcher, the Classic Skywatcher / Orion / Celestron / Meade / EXOS2 / Bresser, the Telrad, a couple for Astrotrac / Losmandy / Kenko / Avalon, the Vixen Atlux/SX/SXD/SXP/AXD/GP/GP-DX/Polarie Polar Axis Scopes, a Konus and several Polar Finders: Tuthill, Explore Scientific 8x50, Meade 9x60, Vixen Polaris, Celestron 7x50, Carton Optical. PoleMaster help view for South Hemisphere users.
-Full app in red-color (or alternative) night mode - tools switchable to daytime view.
-Moon phase & lunar Calendar with solar/lunar rise/set and twilight times.
-Wizard to calculate your reticle centering offset and correct or compensate for it.
-Zoomable reticle view.
-Alt-az alignment error display for mounts that calculate it after star alignment (e.g. iOptron iEQ45, CEM60).
-Polar alignment when your scope is not in zero position (for mounts like iOptron ZEQ/CEM on which you can always access the polar scope).
-Remember zero position on Celestron / Skywatcher / Orion etc reticles.
-Approximate daytime / no polarscope polar alignment tool. Great for solar imaging (including eclipses).
-Bubble level (using either gyro or accelerometer) and Compass heading, as well as magnetic declination reading.
-GPS accuracy & elevation data.
-Red/White/LED light.
-Dimming slider.
-Deep Space Object (DSO) Database with 13000+ objects from several catalogs (Messier, Caldwell, NGC, IC, Herschell 400, Sharpless 2). The database is searchable and fully configurable with filters, various sorting methods etc.
-Download and explore DSS color images of the DSO database entries.
-Over 25 calculators useful for observing and astrophotography, from eyepiece magnification and field of view, to imaging resolution and reducers.
-World astro-weather report based on 7Timer! data.
-Water vapor satellite images.
-List of visible ISS passes and Iridium flares.
-iOptron, NexStar and Meade LX200 Star Lists.
-Supports iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Star Map Tracker is a stargazing augmented reality app with more than 3k stars and constellations.
This app will guide you through most known stars and show all necessary information (right ascension, declination, azimuth, elevation and etc.) You can use all of this data for pointing your telescope or point your device at the sky to identify stars, constellations, nebulas, galaxies or solar system objects. This app is like an star finder and augmented reality map of celestial bodies with real-time information about them.
Make your self a night stars safari. Take a walk to open place, hold your device up towards the night sky view. Star Map is a good tracker for all celestial objects.
You can always have a power seeker for sky objects in your pocket.

Features:
• Augmented reality view for celestial bodies
• 88 constellations with their shapes
• More than 3K real stars with description
• Search by star/constellation name, HD, HR, HIP
• Real time star/constellation position in the sky
• Solar system (9 planets + Sun + Moon)
• Realistic light, shadows and planet textures
• Milky way galaxy background with a precise location in space
• Compass calibration by the moon, sun or cardinal points

In-App Purchase
• Available names and info of more then 3k stars (by default available only stars info of zodiac constellations)
• Available 74 constellations (only 14 available by default: 12 Zodiac + Ursa Minor and Ursa Major)
• Solar system (9 planets. Moon, Sun, Venus available by default)

As featured in Astronomy Now and Sky At Night Magazines!

Double Stars is an astronomy app for hunting down and resolving the beautiful double stars throughout the night sky. The app features a catalogue of hundreds of known double stars, and will identify for you which ones you will be able to see, and when, based on your location and viewing equipment. You can then take the app out into the field to help you locate the double star and record a successful sighting.

Here's what our beta testers told us about the app:

"Great app and I'm loving the filter functions. It makes it so easy for me to decide my targets for the night!"

"What a wonderful app. I had a brilliant time last night seeing double stars in Leo and Bootes, mostly new and some old friends"

"a great app, well designed interface and a unique use for the iPhone's accelerometers and GPS"

Interested? Please read on...

Double star spotting is a pursuit everyone can enjoy with the just the naked eye or with advanced telescope equipment. For centuries, astronomers have enjoyed tracking down these objects and testing their eyes and the limits of their equipment.

Double Stars has a detailed catalogue covering both hemispheres and all 88 constellations. The catalogue covers the key data for double stars; the magnitudes of the pair, the separation of the pair, the positive angle and the location in the night sky. It also notes stars with colour variations and those that form part of a multiple system for 3 or more stars.

Using your location, the time and date, and the details of your observing equipment, the app will filter the catalogue, creating a bespoke list for your location and equipment.

"Smart Tours" automatically create lists of the best doubles each night; your favourites, colour doubles, multiple systems, wide easy pairs, tough split pairs or by constellation. In addition, you can create your own tour.

Out in the field, the app operates in a special night mode allowing you to use it without ruining your dark adapted vision. All the key information you need is present – Double Stars even suggests an eyepiece to obtain the best magnification.

The app also features live Alt Azimuth tracking of the double star for those without GoTo equipment, and uses the inbuilt compass and gyroscope (where available) to point you in the right direction! Try attaching your iPhone to your telescope for precision control. The Sky Tour allows you to record which stars you have resolved. You can add the best double stars to a favourites list for later.

As the seasons change, revisit the night sky each month with Double Stars to see the pick of the delights of each constellation.

We really hope you’ll enjoy discovering and resolving new double stars with this app.

SkyWeek Plus is the new, enhanced version of SkyWeek — a day-by-day calendar of events to observe in the changing night sky. SkyWeek Plus takes the guesswork out of finding the best celestial sights. It’s a daily diary of the most interesting astronomical happenings. It comes with an interactive sky chart you can customize for your location. 
 
You can synch SkyWeek Plus with your calendar so you’ll never forget about an important sky event.

*** LIMITED TIME ONLY - 75% OFF SALE
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Star Discovery - Simply Magical

Star Discovery is a magical new app that enables you to identify the stars, planets, galaxies, constellations and even satellites you can see above. Just stand anywhere and hold your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad up to the sky and Star Discovery will display the names of the stars, planets and other objects you are able to see, just like magic! 

Even if your view is obscured by clouds or daylight, the Star Discovery app will know which stars, planets, galaxies, constellations and satellites are hiding from your view! You have to use this app to realise just how amazing it is! 

Star Discovery does this by using your location data provided by the GPS and compass built in to your device. It then cross references your location data with its inbuilt map of the sky and overlays the stars, planets, galaxies, constellations and satellites names on your screen. It really is magical and will amaze you, and anyone you show it to! 


So next time you're gazing up in to Star Discovery and wonder the name of a star, planet, galaxy, constellation or even a satellite, just get out your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and let Star Discovery app amaze your gaze! 

Star Discovery really is simply magical!


***

Star Discovery is amazing people worldwide! Look at how the magic is working!


* IDENTIFY HUNDRED'S OF OBJECTS IN THE NIGHT SKY


* AMAZE ANYONE YOU SHOW IT TO, WORKS JUST LIKE MAGIC!


* A UNIVERSAL APP - PAY ONCE AND GET THE IPAD & IPHONE VERSIONS!

* WORKS ANYWHERE, NO DATA CONNECTION REQUIRED!


* AMAZING PRICE FOR AN AMAZING APP!


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SkyWeek is the new, interactive, mobile version of Sky & Telescope magazine’s super-popular “This Week’s Sky at a Glance” web page — a day-by-day calendar of events to observe in the changing night sky. “This Week’s Sky at a Glance” has been Sky & Telescope’s most popular online offering for 21 years. The S&T SkyWeek application gives you access to the content and interactive features described below.

SkyWeek now adds interactive, custom sky maps that are automatically set for your location (not the static version’s compromise for the center of North America). And starting from the sky scene that’s displayed, you can pan all around your heavens, change the scene to other times and dates, and zoom in or out.

• All major sky events: eclipses, conjunctions, good meteor showers — miss nothing!

• Zoomable constellation charts: pan around your whole sky, and change to any time or date!

• Automatically customized to your location worldwide.

• Links to more info.

Whether you’re a newbie skywatcher or an experienced amateur astronomer, SkyWeek will become your handy, everyday guide to what’s up.