Recommended apps?

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Hi folks,

I'm just wondering about the various astronomy apps that are available. So many, but I really have no idea which way to go. The reviews I've seen on the app stores are really not much use. I'd rather your opinion at the pointy end of things.

The way I see it, there are two options, free apps and paid for ones. What would be the better apps under each category? My brief is it will be a teaching tool at star parties. Not that it should matter, but maybe it does, my particular gear is an iphone 4S if it helps in the app selection.

Cheers,

Mental.

[michaellxv (Michael)]

My first suggestion is just try the free apps, they are after all free and you can always delete them. Many of the paid apps have a free lite version.

I'll assume you are looking for planetarium apps. My favourite is SkySafari3. intuitive app, easy to find objects, excellent descriptions and lots of images. The lite version is lite only having the Messier objects, the plus version is suitable for most covering the common catalogs, the pro version if you really need it or pick it up on sale as i did hasjust about everything you could think of.

Moon globe and Mars globe are good free apps showing the main features of the moon and mars strangely enough.

SoHo viewer for the latest images of the sun. Free from memory.

Astro weather gives you a 7timer panel.

NASA app, get the official one.

These are the main ones i use. I have a few other specific tools that get occasional use.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by mental4astro

Not that it should matter, but maybe it does, my particular gear is an iphone 4S if it helps in the app selection.

Alex, on my iPhone 4 I have "Star Walk" and "Sky Safari Pro". Sky Safari comes in two cheaper versions if $40ish is considered excessive. Sky Safari runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android. Sky Map probably better suits for the beginner.

I also have "Moon Globe", MoonMapPro, Sputnik (ISS/Iridium satellite predictions); a couple of Wolfram apps - "Stars" and "Planets" (but Planets won't run at the moment); and from NASA, "NASA", "NASA SWx", and "3D Sun".

"3D Sun" just sent a minor (Kp=5) geomagnetic storm alert.

Others will have more suggestions.

[Poita (Peter)]

In the free section, Star Walk is a great teaching tool, well worth the download and can be set to be red-screen as well. I also use the inclinometer "Clinometer'
The NASA app and NASA ISS Log are fun too.
SkySafari Pro is excellent in the paid apps.

[Nico13 (Ken)]

Running the 4S with StarWalk and SolarWalk are the ones I have and find them both quite good for a lot of basic stuff and some pretty good images from the Messier and NGC catalogues and NASA SWX is great.

Free apps generaly have adds where as paid apps don't.

Ken

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've downloaded Moon Globe. So cool! Man, you can even shift the "phase" manually and the shadows of the craters shift with the apparent shift in the position of the sun. Bloody excellent.

I'll look into the other 'star' ones. It really is only something as an aid/tool at star parties as most of the kids who attend will find this type of technology more tangible that a blasted eyepiece, .

I'll chase up the inclinometer one too, Peter.

Mental.