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Stellarium vs Sky safari 6 pro


Olli

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Hi

I currently use stellarium on my iPad along with the free version of Sky Safari. I was just wondering is there a big difference between the pro versions compared to the other two? As im not sure i can justify the price for the pro version but maybe if theres more essential features.

 

Thanks for the help!

Edited by Olli
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Hi Olli. I used the cheaper plus version for over a year and it worked extremely well. I don't think you need pro. Other consideration is that SkySafari regularly goes on sale at half price. I think they have a newsletter you can sign up for which will notify when you it's on offer. From memory, I got SkySafari 5 plus for £6.99 and SkySafari 6 Pro for £19.99. Wait for the sale and if you don't want to spend a lot get the plus version. The plus version has over 32,000 DSO's in there which should keep you busy until SkySafari 7 comes out ;)  Here's the link to the version comparison page in case you haven't seen it:

https://www.skysafariastronomy.com/skysafari-6-professional-astronomy-telescope-control-software-for-ios.html

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I too have the SkySafari 6 Pro, and I bought it at the 'sale' price of £19.99.  I hesitated long and hard before spending so much (for me anyway!) on an app.  For a fossil like me I hate to admit it, but more often than not I take it outside with me instead of a star atlas  if I need any help to locate anything (it's on my phone) .  For me it's now become invaluable, it's repaid the purchase price for me many times over.  I use it a lot indoors as well for planning observing sessions, how sad is that!?  :smile:

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1 hour ago, paulastro said:

I too have the SkySafari 6 Pro, and I bought it at the 'sale' price of £19.99.  I hesitated long and hard before spending so much (for me anyway!) on an app.  For a fossil like me I hate to admit it, but more often than not I take it outside with me instead of a star atlas  if I need any help to locate anything (it's on my phone) .  For me it's now become invaluable, it's repaid the purchase price for me many times over.  I use it a lot indoors as well for planning observing sessions, how sad is that!?  :smile:

I tend to do that as well,when it’s cloudy just like looking at the stuff that I could see next like you said ?. I have just got the interstellarum atlas and was hoping to use it as well as one of the apps.

Edited by Olli
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The Plus version is likely all you actually need for most circumstances,  but as a Skysafari nut, I have the Full Monty of 6 Pro with the additional databases and the HR diagram add-on. Although I have no chance of seeing stars down to mag 17 (!) it is sometimes useful to help out with questions on the forum. I use SS for many things, including checking out fields of view with different kit, seeing what events are coming up in future and things like locating comet 46P or asteroid passes. It can also control a couple of my mounts, a really amazing app.

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I forgoten that I had some money left over from a voucher that some one had given me so have used that to get the pro version, thanks for all the help. :) 

Edited by Olli
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  • 1 year later...
On 19/12/2018 at 17:17, paulastro said:

I too have the SkySafari 6 Pro, and I bought it at the 'sale' price of £19.99.  I hesitated long and hard before spending so much (for me anyway!) on an app.  For a fossil like me I hate to admit it, but more often than not I take it outside with me instead of a star atlas  if I need any help to locate anything (it's on my phone) .  For me it's now become invaluable, it's repaid the purchase price for me many times over.  I use it a lot indoors as well for planning observing sessions, how sad is that!?  :smile:

Just checked the price for the SS 6 Pro and it’s £19.99 so I assume this is still the sale price?

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1 hour ago, jock1958 said:

Just checked the price for the SS 6 Pro and it’s £19.99 so I assume this is still the sale price?

I think you might be right Jock. They ran a 50% off Stay home and observe sale when lockdown started and it looks like it may still be running. It’s still expensive, but compared to other things you spend money on, for me it is excellent value. The search and planning tools, databases, kit lists and ability to visualise fields of view. It’s a great help for star hopping too. Last night I used it to find Caroline’s Rose from home, virtually invisible even in a 6” scope but I knew I was in exactly the right place, so spent time teasing it out.

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2 minutes ago, Stu said:

I think you might be right Jock. They ran a 50% off Stay home and observe sale when lockdown started and it looks like it may still be running.

Even though it’s an expensive App I think I will pull the trigger and buy it before they bump it up to £40 I assume? 

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19 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Even though it’s an expensive App I think I will pull the trigger and buy it before they bump it up to £40 I assume? 

Yep, not sure I would pay £39.99!

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Sky Safari started out many years (actually decades) ago and doesn't seem to be updated very often, but if people like it then fine.

But I have to ask whats wrong with Stellarium? It's free and you can download bang up to date databases of stars, comets, satellites all for free. It is constantly being extended to offer more features.

There is even a web based version now which you can access from any browser including a mobile phone.

Another free alternative is KStars which again is more than a match for Sky Safari.

I only pay for apps that offer me genuine benefits these days.

 

 

 

Edited by wornish
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I love SkySafari. I have Stellarium too but think SS is better. I have the Pro on the laptop and Plus on my phone. They talk to each other across SkyLive so any work carried out on the laptop transfers over. It’s fantastic for recording and logging your observations and linking your obs to the database for added info and Hubble (and other) photos. 
The ability to download observation lists and even share them is another good feature. 
It took time to find my way around but wouldn’t use anything else now.

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4 hours ago, wornish said:

Sky Safari started out many years (actually decades) ago and doesn't seem to be updated very often, but if people like it then fine.

But I have to ask whats wrong with Stellarium? It's free and you can download bang up to date databases of stars, comets, satellites all for free. It is constantly being extended to offer more features.

There is even a web based version now which you can access from any browser including a mobile phone.

Another free alternative is KStars which again is more than a match for Sky Safari.

I only pay for apps that offer me genuine benefits these days.

 

 

 

Obviously it is a matter of personal preference which apps you see value in. All I know is that I have SkySafari 6 Pro, Luminos and Stellarium on my phone and always come back to SS. It has an amazing feature set, integrates with Goto and push to scopes very well and I find the interface to be very easy to use and intuitive. I suspect that, more than anything is what makes us chose between the and that will always be a very personal choice. No right answers, it’s just about making people aware of what is available.

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14 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

I love SkySafari. I have Stellarium too but think SS is better. I have the Pro on the laptop and Plus on my phone. They talk to each other across SkyLive so any work carried out on the laptop transfers over. It’s fantastic for recording and logging your observations and linking your obs to the database for added info and Hubble (and other) photos. 
The ability to download observation lists and even share them is another good feature. 
It took time to find my way around but wouldn’t use anything else now.

I didn't know you could get SS on a laptop?

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  • 1 month later...
15 minutes ago, martin__newbold said:

Does anyone now how large the SkySafari  pro android app is i have a dinasaur phone and the demo was 320MB a tight squeeze a need a version with net control for telescope is this only available in pro version now   ?   I cant find out is specification on size anywhere.

Both "6 plus" and  "6 pro" have telescope control.

Plus needs about 600MB,  Pro about 2GB.

Detailed comparison here; https://www.skysafariastronomy.com/

Discussion of storage requirements here;

https://support.simulationcurriculum.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360015877874-Storage-requirements-for-SkySafari-6-versions-

Clear skies.

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