best iphone apps for stargazing.... what do you use?

[garethmob]

hey guys iv got goskywatch for my iphone really like it lots but iv found skysafari (dec S@N) and it did win the app of the month.

do any one on here use any of them or any others and if so what do they think is there much difference between go skywatch and skysafari?

thanks guys

Gaz

[garethmob]

Any one at all use iPhone or any phone apps for helpin navigate the sky?

[starstalker]

i use pocket universe,and polar align for polar aligning also satellite visibility for times of passing satellites

[JohnR]

I use Distant Suns2 on a touch,and like it a lot.Cheap and very useful

[Neilius]

I use one called 'The Planets' which is free, but not very detailed. But hey! It doesn't cost owt!

[MikeWilson]

I use SkySafari and combined with the SkyFi (I'm selling one in the for sale section), I can search for or manually pick a target on my iPhone and slew the telescope to it.

It's better than using the SynScan hand controller as you can see if the target is viewable from where you're standing before you press the 'slew' button.

SkySafari also recently updated with extra graphics for deep sky objects so it's fun to kick back and browse the sky viewing the images in the app superimposed over the view.

Best,

Mike

[MikeWilson]

Oh yeah, pocket universe is quite nice too from the exploration point of view, and if you have an iPad get Star Walker Pro (i think that's what it is called?). It's got a supremely chill out soundtrack and its very pretty and responsive.

[Markyb916]

Mike. I would be very interested in the SKyfi (but can't see the for sale section).

Does anyone know the differences between SkySafari & Orions licensed version - Starseek ?.

[MikeWilson]

Hi Marky,

Differences: There is absolutely no difference between SkySafari and the Orion version other than a very slight change to the graphics.

For Sale: You need 50 posts to view the For Sale section.

I've also sent you a PM.

Best,

Mike

[Markyb916]

Thanks Mike. I thought that might be the case but Orion seem to claim to adding 'unique' features to theirs.

By the way, is the SkyFi still for sale and at what price ?

I can't view it yet as I don't have enough posts.

[Hawklord]

I use Star Walk. It's got a neat database. The chilled out soundtrack is Astropilot. It is £1.79 which is very good for what it is.

[MikeWilson]

pUniverse is pretty good too but if you have an iPad, Star Walk is the one from the Apple adverts. It's got a beautiful chill out soundtrack and today an update was released that lets you see where Santa is

[Markyb916]

I like pUniverse too but it seems a little 'clunky' at times esp with the motion tracking. Star walk is cheap and cheerful. Haven't found Santa yet though.

[dlp]

I think StarmapPro is the best, albeit quite 'expensive'. The latest version of Star Walk is much improved and has traded some of the whizzy effects for features found in StarmapPro. Santa? He's going to come down the chimley anyway isn't he?

[MikeWilson]

SkySafari/SkyGazer/SkyVoyager is the spiritual equivalent to Stellarium on iOS with more or less the same features.

They've recently added a load of extra objects as well as deep sky images (via in-app purchase) too. It performs a little more laggy than Star Walk but it has much more useful features in the field.

Having said that, when it was cloudy at Salisbury Star Party some of us kicked back with Star Walk, several beers and enjoyed a 'virtual' star party accompanied by chillout music

Regarding StarMapPro, it is expensive but tempting. How do it's viewing lists compare to say, SkySafari?

[paul mc c]

Decembers sky at night mag has a best iphone app article,SkySafari came out top!

[MikeWilson]

Observatory for iPad - neat planner...

[dlp]

Haven't tried SkySafari yet Mike, but to say starmap pro is feature rich would be an understatement. I can only refer you to their website: Starmap

Edit : just seen your comment - want iPad...

[MikeWilson]

Thanks dlp,

The sheer good value of apps in the App Store isn't lost on me (as a developer myself!) but I do wish Starmap Pro wasn't >£10 as it puts it into the 'considered purchase' rather than impulse purchase category.

I may pick up a copy of Sky at Night magazine and see how well they compare it to SkyGazer.

[dlp]

Yeah, know what you mean, but there again £10 is only 2 copies of Sky at Night...

[MikeWilson]

Yeah, know what you mean, but there again £10 is only 2 copies of Sky at Night...

It's also another app to add to my 'astronomy' folder

Just taking a look through the screenshots it seems that Starmap is generally geared towards the visual observer rather than the imager. Although by the looks of things (assuming it has the gyroscope [iPhone 4], compass and accelerometer) any of the main planetarium packages should help one find their way across the sky.

I like how Starmap Pro displays it's telrad circles, but I like the way SkyGazer can display my DSLR FoV *and* a finder FoV at the same time and in the correct orientation.

They're all good, imo.

[dlp]

Yes, I think starmap does show fov based on your scope/ep also but I haven't used that yet. It'll control the scope as well, sheesh. The value of these things is beyond belief thanks to it being a global apps market now.