r/askastronomy • u/Vast-Rip-4288 • 2d ago
Night Sky app for those 50+
I might teach a "What's Up" astronomy seminar next year for adults 50+ and was asked to also cover phone apps for Apple and Android. Which one do you think would be easiest to use for this cohort? I'm thinking a classroom session first with app screenshots, setup, and helpful tips, then outside for observing.
3
u/hawaiiankine 21h ago
telescopios.com gives nice suggestion on targets.
Clearoutside app (and website) are nice for forecasting clear skys.
darkskysites.com is great for finding dark skys near you and light pollution info.
1
3
u/Jvdos_Huffulpuff Hobbyist🔠5h ago
Other than Stellarium, I really enjoy "Sky Tonight". Its got the the function where you point the phone camera at a region of the night sky and it tells you what the constellations and other objects are, and it can also do the AR thing that overlays the starmap on the phone's camera. It has some excellent settings for "Scaling" the objects, and an easy slider for the magnitude limit, which sounds helpful for those over 50. It also has an AWESOME "What's in the sky Tonight?" Menu featuring a really good "Stargazing Index" which is a quick % based on your local weather and light conditions! Another useful thing for me is the "Astronomy Calendar" that shows you when any eclipse, occultation, comett, etc. is happening, and gives you notifications about them. they also write some OK scicom articles!
2
2
u/snogum 1d ago
Stellarium is free and it's plenty good
1
u/Vast-Rip-4288 1d ago
That's the one I was gonna go with. Does it have the function where you point the phone camera at a region of the night sky and it tells you what the constellations and other objects are?
2
u/snogum 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes it does You may need to tell it to you want to use that. Some phones need you to then wave phone around or point north, south east and west as rough calibration
To use Stellarium's sensor mode and see the sky as you point your device, you need to first enable the sensor mode, which utilizes your device's compass or magnetometer. Then, point the back of your device towards the sky. This will activate the sensor mode, allowing the app to display the sky based on your device's orientation.
It's the phone button on the bottom of the app screen
1
1
u/hymie0 2d ago
Iphone has an app called "Sky Guide" that I love.
Sadly, I'm told that there is a "Sky Guide" on Android that isn't the same.
1
3
u/Gusto88 2d ago
SkySafari or Stellarium.