You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar

Speciality Forums >> Astronomy Software & Computers Previous   Index   Next   Threaded

Pages: 1 DrBrown54 member Reged: 11/09/11 Smart Phone Apps?       #5471668 - 10/15/12 02:18 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Just curious if anyone here has a favorite app on their smart phones for finding things in the night sky when you are out in the field... or literally a dark field in the middle of nowhere? It would be nice having good charts and info on the phone for get pics at different hours. I have a free one called Sky Map but it's nothing special. If anyone has a better one I'm open to suggestions from the gallery! Post Extras:       csrlice12 Post Laureate Reged: 05/22/12 Loc: Denver, CO Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: DrBrown54]       #5471697 - 10/15/12 02:35 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Stellarium seems to be a popular choice. I believe it is freeware too. Sky Commander is another, and I believe you can use it to control your scopes movement as well (if motor driven). And don't throw away SkyMaps...in fact, the SECOND page of skymaps is more helpful then the first page. For people new to the hobby, the second page lists the objects viewable that month by naked by, Binoculars, or Telescope. I always use it to help plan out my viewing for the night. Edited by csrlice12 (10/15/12 02:39 PM) Post Extras:       Jon Isaacs Postmaster Reged: 06/16/04 Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: DrBrown54]       #5471805 - 10/15/12 04:00 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Just curious if anyone here has a favorite app on their smart phones for finding things in the night sky when you are out in the field... or literally a dark field in the middle of nowhere? It would be nice having good charts and info on the phone for get pics at different hours. I have a free one called Sky Map but it's nothing special. If anyone has a better one I'm open to suggestions from the gallery! Do you have an iPhone or an Android? Sky Safari is available for both but definitely it is the best thing out there for the Android. It is fast, has large databases and a well thought out interface.. It's a powerful program that got most desktop programs beat in terms of overall capability and yet it runs on a darn smart phone.. There are three version, the Basic... Good for someone who is not a serious stargazer. The Plus, probably has everything anyone could ever want and it's $15... and then there is the Pro... Sky Safari for the Android I had been using Planetarium for the Palm for several years and when I got my Droid smart phone I was hoping for an ap to replace it. I tried em all, there was nothing near as powerful. A friend showed me Sky Safari on his iPhone.., I knew I had to have it, it was the future. I wrote to Southern Stars encouraging them to port it to the Android... in the mean time I got an old iPhone from my son and was using that until Bill and Tim decided to port Sky Safari over to the Android OS.. There are other apps, Stellarium is available for the Android OS, Skeye is good... but Sky Safari is like having a super desktop program right on your cell phone..., you want to know the current separation of Sirius's companion, Sky Safari will not only give you the numbers but it will allow you to view the orbit.. Jon Post Extras:       A. Viegas sage Reged: 03/05/12 Loc: New York City/ CT Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: Jon Isaacs]       #5471905 - 10/15/12 05:10 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I highly recommend Observer Pro for the Iphone/Ipod/Ipad - $10 worth every penny. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/observer-pro-astronomy-planner/id462392803?ls=1&mt=8 Al Post Extras:       Sorny super member Reged: 03/15/12 Loc: Southern MN Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: A. Viegas]       #5471987 - 10/15/12 05:56 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Another vote for SkySafari. I run the Plus version, so I can use my iPad to run my telescope. Post Extras:       DrBrown54 member Reged: 11/09/11 Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: Sorny]       #5472359 - 10/15/12 09:54 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Downloading the $2.99 version of Sky Safari right now. Based on the reviews and description it's probably more than I'll need. I do more astrophotos than scope viewing since I only have a wimply 90mm refractor. Post Extras:       *skyguy* Pooh-Bah Reged: 12/31/08 Loc: Western New York Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: DrBrown54]       #5472487 - 10/15/12 11:17 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I have the $2.99 version of "Sky Safari" and the free version of "Star Map 3D" on my iPod touch 4. As good as "Sky Safari" is ... I really prefer the "Star Map 3D" app. Post Extras:       jrbarnett Eyepiece Hooligan Reged: 02/28/06 Loc: Petaluma, CA Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: *skyguy*]       #5472556 - 10/16/12 12:04 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Star Map 3D is a well done application, but with only 303 deep sky objects, it's a lot more limited than Sky Safari and some others. Regards, Jim Edited by jrbarnett (10/16/12 12:05 AM) Post Extras:       carver2011 member Reged: 08/07/11 Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: jrbarnett]       #5473359 - 10/16/12 02:02 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I've just about used them all on my iPhone and I think Sky Safari is the best one out there. It's with me at the scope every viewing session. Great for showing guests at a public party, where and what they are looking at. Very powerful, and loaded with info. Post Extras:       *skyguy* Pooh-Bah Reged: 12/31/08 Loc: Western New York Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: jrbarnett]       #5473838 - 10/16/12 07:11 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Star Map 3D is a well done application, but with only 303 deep sky objects, it's a lot more limited than Sky Safari and some others. Not if you use Star Map 3D with binoculars or a small telescope ... 303 objects is all you'll ever need and the price is right. I can also zoom into smaller areas of the star map without loosing the "real-time" star display. I can't seem to do that with Sky Safari using my iPod touch. I also think the "real-time" setup is much easier and faster on Sky Map 3D. But, the differences are what makes a horse race. They're both excellent apps ... IMHO. Post Extras:       weezy Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/13/04 Loc: Colorado, USA Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: *skyguy*]       #5474629 - 10/17/12 08:22 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I like Mobile Observatory for the menu. I don't have a goto or pushto, so that part of any program doesn't matter. What I want is to find out how to set up any app to look like the telrad/finder charts in the O'Reilly book "Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders" They show where to place the telrad, then another 50mm finder view of the object. Post Extras:       kurat super member Reged: 05/07/08 Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: weezy]       #5476096 - 10/17/12 11:32 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   On my iPad and iPhone, I have SkySafari Plus, Skyview, GoSatWatch and iFlares, these four apps can affect your nightly sleep pattens, I also use skysafari to guide my LX200 GPS. Post Extras:       Jon Isaacs Postmaster Reged: 06/16/04 Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: weezy]       #5476282 - 10/18/12 02:46 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: I like Mobile Observatory for the menu. I don't have a goto or pushto, so that part of any program doesn't matter. What I want is to find out how to set up any app to look like the telrad/finder charts in the O'Reilly book "Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders" They show where to place the telrad, then another 50mm finder view of the object. I use Sky Safari and it's easy to setup with Telrad circles, you just need to turn them on. You can also add circles of any diameter you desire and zoom to a given field of view. At one point, I downloaded Mobile Observatory. As I recall it was slow and only had the Calwell and Messier catalogs for DSOs. Jon Post Extras:       weezy Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/13/04 Loc: Colorado, USA Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: Jon Isaacs]       #5476617 - 10/18/12 09:53 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I've tried. I want to switch without zooming that way. I'd prefer to zoom in closer with the telrad, then have the finder circle switch in. Think I'll just buy the pdf copy of the book and use that. All I need is the Caldwell and Messier. I just can't find telrad markings in Observatory. I have no intention of buying a larger or different scope. Post Extras:       ebusinesstutor Pooh-Bah Reged: 07/01/09 Loc: Nanaimo, BC, Canada Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: weezy]       #5503187 - 11/03/12 11:36 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Another vote for Sky Safari Pro. I use mine on my Android Samsung Galaxy Note and it works great. I purchased some red rubylith (red clinging plastic) to put over the smart phone screen so that the power on screen wouldn't affect my night vision. Post Extras:       AdirondackAstro sage Reged: 06/06/11 Loc: Plattsburgh, NY Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: ebusinesstutor]       #5503203 - 11/03/12 11:52 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I have so many apps on my iPod for astronomy. Out of all the apps I have though Sky Safari +, Observer Pro, Luminos, Moon Globe, 3d Sun, GoSatWatch, and iFlares all get the most use. Post Extras:       Deb and Todd sage Reged: 05/23/06 Loc: Billings, MT Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: AdirondackAstro]       #5512146 - 11/09/12 06:50 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   On my I-phone and I-pad I have a number of astronomy apps. Mostly I jump between Sky Safari and StarmapPro if I have a telescope out. Often use Distant Suns if I just have binoculars. For the moon I use moon globe,or the moon map inside Astromist. Post Extras:       Matt2893 member Reged: 09/18/12 Loc: ChicagoLand Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: Deb and Todd]       #5518216 - 11/13/12 04:12 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I downloaded the basic Sky Safari app last night, its price dropped to free yesterday (all versions are reduced right now). It's like a lot of the other star apps, but seems to have a lot more info packed into it. I can see why so many folks here give it high praises. I don't know what the other versions (Plus and Pro) have that the base one doesn't, but with just my brief look at it since last night, the basic version should prove useful for my needs. Post Extras:       tezster professor emeritus Reged: 07/14/09 Loc: Missisauga, Canada Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: Matt2893]       #5518351 - 11/13/12 05:20 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   What's a good Moon atlas app for Android? Something like Moon HD - I haven't been able to find one that combines high resolution images displayed as as the current phase of the Moon i.e. a telescope view; most of them seem to be plain rectangular maps. Post Extras:       Sean Wood member Reged: 04/19/11 Loc: North Carolina Re: Smart Phone Apps? [Re: tezster]       #5536385 - 11/23/12 10:36 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I agree SkySafari has probably one of the most extensive databases of info as I have ever seen in an app... But by far my personal favorite is Skeye Pro. It has a pretty good data base also but has the advantage over SkySafari in that it allows you to set your phone/tablet off axis in a comfortable position on your OTA.(primarily advantageous on Dobs) then you align to a known object and you have a visual virtual digital setting circles that you can use as a "push to" guide to help find objects. Plus with the Pro version($9.00) there are some filter settings sliders for object brightness and or size. With the filters you can get what you want on the screen and eliminate the stuff there's no way your scope could pick up.. or if you're searching for the exceptionally small and faint you can filter out the brigter/bigger objects to only show the others. Ohh and as to my knowledge it is only available on android. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lavadip.skeyepro#?t=W251bGw... Post Extras:       Pages: 1

Previous   Index   Next   Threaded

Extra information 2 registered and 9 anonymous users are browsing this forum. Moderator:  Bowmoreman, richard7  Print Thread Forum Permissions       You cannot start new topics       You cannot reply to topics       HTML is disabled       UBBCode is enabled Thread views: 1313 Jump to *Announcements and News* -----   Cloudy Nights Announcements   Discussion of CN Articles, Reviews, and Reports   Celestial Events*General Astronomy* -----   Beginners Forum   General Observing and Astronomy   Outreach   Light Pollution*Equipment Discussions* -----   ATM, Optics and DIY Forum   Binoculars   Binoviewers   Cats & Casses   Classic Telescopes   Equipment   Eyepieces   Mounts   Observatories   Reflectors   Refractors    Video and Electronically Assisted Astronomy*Astrophotography and Sketching* -----   Beginning and Intermediate Imaging   Film Astrophotography   DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing   CCD Imaging & Processing   Solar System Imaging & Processing   Sketching   Astro Imaging/Sketching Contest *Observing* -----   NEO   Planetary and Solar System Observing   Lunar Observing   Deep Sky Observing   Double Star Observing   Solar   Variable Star Observing and Radio Astronomy*Telescope Specific Forums* -----   Celestron NexStar    NexStar GPS / CPC Telescopes   Questar Forum   Meade ACF/RCX / LX / GPS    Meade ETX*Speciality Forums* -----   Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo   NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum) and NEAIC (Northeast Astro Imaging Conference)   AstroArt   Astronomy Clubs and Star Parties   Astronomy Software & Computers   AstroWebsites   Science! Astronomy & Space Exploration, and Others   Space Rocks   Stellar Media*Swap and Shop* -----   Shop and Swap Audio Components*CN Feedback and Vendor Announcements* -----   Vendor and Group Announcements*International Year of Astronomy 2009 - Forums are now closed.* -----   IYA Archive Info

CN Forums Home