Good iPhone app for coordinates

[Gzigmont]

Hi folks,

 

Newbie here.  Back into astronomy after a 40 year period without a scope.  Wife got me a nice beginner reflector - Celestron 130eq.  I am aware of its limitations.  Scope came with Starry Night software, which is nice, but I probably won't bring my MacBook outside.  Looking for a good app to use on the iPhone and iPad to get coordinates.  I used to do this completely manually back in high school, by having a halfway decent knowledge of the sky.  I'm sure a lot will come back, but a nice app will be helpful.  I am aware that this telescope and mount cannot be controlled by the computer or smartphone, but it will be nice to have.  Any other tips on using this particular piece of equipment would be helpful too.

 

Thanks in advance,

Greg

[Leewfc]

7 hours ago, Gzigmont said:

Hi folks,

 

Newbie here.  Back into astronomy after a 40 year period without a scope.  Wife got me a nice beginner reflector - Celestron 130eq.  I am aware of its limitations.  Scope came with Starry Night software, which is nice, but I probably won't bring my MacBook outside.  Looking for a good app to use on the iPhone and iPad to get coordinates.  I used to do this completely manually back in high school, by having a halfway decent knowledge of the sky.  I'm sure a lot will come back, but a nice app will be helpful.  I am aware that this telescope and mount cannot be controlled by the computer or smartphone, but it will be nice to have.  Any other tips on using this particular piece of equipment would be helpful too.

 

Thanks in advance,

Greg

Hi Greg I currently use synscaninit 2.1. Great little app. Gives you your coordinates from phone GPS. Also gives you polar allignment details along with everything needed to be entered on most handsets. Hope this helps 👍

[johninderby]

Unfortunately Synscaninit is an Android app.

[Red Chilli]

I'm using on my iPad NightSkyToolbox- https://www.cloudmakers.eu/nightskytoolbox/

[ddm4313]

Compass I believe gives you coordinates, latitude & longitude, you can also set your compass to true north for more accurate polar alignment.

[Cornelius Varley]

16 hours ago, Gzigmont said:

 Looking for a good app to use on the iPhone and iPad to get coordinates

By "coordinates" I assume you mean some sort of software similar to Starry Night but for you iphone/ipad. Something like Skysafari SkySafari 6 | Professional Astronomy Telescope Control Software for iOS (skysafariastronomy.com)  or Stellarium Mobile Stellarium Mobile - Stellarium Labs (stellarium-labs.com)

 

[Gzigmont]

4 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

By "coordinates" I assume you mean some sort of software similar to Starry Night but for you iphone/ipad. Something like Skysafari SkySafari 6 | Professional Astronomy Telescope Control Software for iOS (skysafariastronomy.com)  or Stellarium Mobile Stellarium Mobile - Stellarium Labs (stellarium-labs.com)

 

Yes, something similar.  Thank you.   Thanks to all.

 

[bosun21]

Sky safari 6 plus or Stellarium will provide you with everything you need. Good luck with your new telescope. I believe that there’s a tracking motor that you can buy for your RA axis which would be a good addition for your mount to keep your target in the field of view.

Edited March 8, 2023 by bosun21
Typo

[jjohnson3803]

I've used SkySafari+ for quite awhile.  The only proviso is that the print is quite small on my iPhone SE screen, so coords are hard to read using red screen, etc. (at least with my eyes).  I'm not aware of a way to increase the font size.

I've recently started experimenting with the free version of Stellarium.  The Stellarium coords are a bit easier for me to see, but in reality I suspect they're the same size font.  I rather like the Stellarium display compared to SS, but that's just personal taste.

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by jjohnson3803

[StarDuke82]

If you’re just looking for Alt and Alz cords Planet finder is a good IOS app for planets but a more well rounded free app is Celestrons skyportal app it’s meant for to be used with their advanced wifi controlled go to scopes but can still be used to find the cords of stars and planets and contains almost all the same objects listed in their skysafari pro app.