It’s easy to get the impression that if you want to look at the night sky, you have to live in the desert and have a telescope covered in so many wires and cables it looks like someone threw a bowl of spaghetti over it, or a camera powerful enough to photograph Perseverance as it crosses Mars.
In fact, the list of things that actually Need if you want to do skywatching nowadays it’s pretty much the same as when I started this hobby 40 years ago. You need a clear night, a dark place, and at least a basic understanding of the night sky so you can jump from star to star and constellation to constellation to find interesting things like star clusters, galaxies, and planets . If you have binoculars or a telescope to magnify these things, well, so much the better, but they are not essential.
A new tool
In recent years, for many (but not all) observers, another object has been added to that list: a smartphone. Why? Because there are now so many useful apps available to them that are, I think, an essential part of the amateur astronomer’s toolbox.
Today’s smartphones are essentially tricorder-like computers that occasionally – and inconveniently – make a strange noise or vibrate when someone wants to talk to you in real time. But if you’re an amateur astronomer, they’re also pocket-sized computers that let you not only plan your observing sessions in advance, but also enhance your enjoyment of them and maximize your productivity during them.
In Ye Olden Days, observers setting out on a clear night had to carry with them a cumbersome star atlas and perhaps a moon chart. They left with only a rough idea of what the weather would be like, and if they wanted to see a particular satellite or the space station, they had to rely on lists of dates and times printed on websites. Today you can download apps that provide your smartphone with a star atlas, a lunar map and local weather forecasts. They can also give you accurate satellite and ISS forecasts for exactly where you are, rather than just your part of the country. It’s almost witchcraft! Oh, and they can turn your cameraphone into an astronomical camera capable of taking time-lapse exposures long enough to show not only the brightest stars and planets, but also constellations, the Milky Way, and even deep-sky objects.
The list
Let’s take a look at some of the astronomy apps available, as well as a few others that, while they have nothing to do with astronomy, are sure to make your time under the stars more enjoyable. (Note: These are my personal recommendations, based on apps I personally use. Many more are available.)
SkySafari (various versions and prices, Android and iOS)
This is a planetarium-type app that, as the name suggests, essentially turns your phone into a planetarium. Set your location, date, and time, and the app shows you what the sky will look like, with the planets, stars, and constellations all accurately represented and labeled (if you want them to be; you can choose to turn them off). You can move back or forward in time by seconds, minutes or hours, seeing how the sky changes and where and when objects will rise and set. You can also see when the ISS will cross your sky, what future lunar and solar eclipses will look like from your location, and zoom in on the Moon to identify which of its features are visible through your binoculars or telescope. I have several planetarium apps on my phone and tablet, but SkySafari is my favorite choice because it has a lot of features without being bulky, its sky charts are colorful without being so gaudy that they induce a migraine, and it offers a lot of information about the objects in its database without drowning yourself in it. I also like how it can be updated very easily with the orbital elements of newly discovered comets, allowing me to see when they will become visible to me.
Stellarium Mobile (Android and iOS)
Another of my favorite planetarium apps, Stellarium also puts the night sky in your pocket, but with far fewer whistles and bells than SkySafari. A miniaturized version of the hugely popular computer package, the app works in exactly the same way as Sky Safari but offers the familiar features (and a lot more realistic) Stellarium view of the night sky, with beautiful sky colors at sunset and sunrise and stars that actually look like twinkling suns and not colored dots. If you could actually shrink the night sky and put it in your phone, it would look just like Stellarium.
Heavens-Up There (Android)
Although planetarium programs like the ones described above allow you to identify satellites, they get lost among all the other objects visible on their charts. This app is perfect for those who just want to know in advance where to look for the space station at night, when they can see the Starlink “trains” ruining the night sky crossing the sky, and identify any satellites they see gliding through the constellations while they’re out observe. After identifying your location using your phone’s GPS, Heavens-Above shows tracks of the ISS and satellite passes on a circular sky chart and also provides more detailed information in tables. While the app is only available for Android operating systems, iOS users can visit the Heavens-Above website for the same information, albeit via a browser.
Lunarmap HD (Android)
If you are observing the Moon through your binoculars or telescope and want to know what a certain crater or other feature is called, this is a great app to install on your device. In addition to labeling all the major features and landmarks – the seas, mountain ranges and major craters – you can zoom in on very small areas of the lunar surface as if you were descending towards it in a lunar module and see thousands of craters and other named features . One downside is that there’s no “red mode” for night vision, but to be honest, if you’re looking at the Moon through a telescope, you won’t need it much: the Moon will be so bright, both in the sky and in your eyepiece , so you don’t have to worry about dark adaptation!
Night vision light/night vision light (Android and iOS)
And speaking of dark adaptation, I can definitely recommend putting an app on your phone that turns it into a red light by turning its screen into a blank red panel. There are several of these apps available, all of which do the same thing: provide you with a red light source that will allow you to work on your telescope and protect your eyes’ dark adaptation without having to dig around in your pocket for a while. flashlight with red cellophane taped on the front. I use Light for Night Vision (called NightVision Light for iOS), which features a simple slide control to increase or decrease screen brightness. No frills, no extras, just on-demand red light, which is what you need when you’re looking for that eyepiece you just dropped…
Clear it out (Android, iOS)
Just like the weather forecast itself, choosing a weather forecast app is a very controversial area. If you ask 10 different amateur astronomers which weather app they recommend, you’ll get 10 different answers. I have yet to find one that is totally accurate or reliable – many times, my apps have told me that my night sky is clear and dotted with stars when in reality it is filling it with stars, or vice versa – and rare are the nights when some two of the weather apps I have on my phone actually give the same forecast. I’ve found Clear Outside to be right more times than wrong, but that’s hardly a glowing recommendation! But whatever your choice, you should definitely have at least one weather forecast app on your phone when you go out.
Radio Garden (Android and iOS)
Skywatching is a great group activity: seeing a meteor shower, a lunar eclipse or a Northern Lights show together is great fun, but if you don’t have friends or family who share your passion for the night sky, it can be a great activity. very lonely. Growing up, I always took a radio with me when I went out stargazing to keep me company in the dark and to keep me from coming home early. When you’re alone in the dark during a long break in the Geminids, when you start to feel the cold and suddenly can’t stop yawning, it’s easy to give up and call it a night.
This hasn’t been a problem for me since I found an app called Radio Garden (called Radio Garden Live on iOS), which gives you free access to tens of thousands of radio stations around the world. I can access all my favorite local and national stations, and if I get bored or just feel like a change, I can always find something new to listen to. Believe me, when that demon on your shoulder starts whispering, “Go home, go to bed, there’s nothing to see now,” you can silence it by tuning into a country music station from Texas, a disco hits station from France, or even a local news report from a town in Alaska.
Even though there are now thousands of astronomy-related apps available on both major smartphone platforms, don’t go crazy and fill your phone with them. Definitely try lots of them, but only keep a few and stick to the basics. You don’t want to miss a brilliant fireball from Leonid or a lovely high pass from the ISS because you were too busy scrolling!
