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There are also many programs that make themselves at home on desktop and laptop computers. Carolyn Collins PetersenĪ quick search of app sites reveals a wealth of astronomy apps that work well on smartphones and tablets. Some programs can also tell a star's classification (that is, what type of star it is), and can animate the apparent motion of planets, the Sun, Moon, comets, and asteroids across the sky over time.Ī sample screen from the iOS-based astronomy app Starmap 2. All the user has to do is look at the chart to know what is up in the sky.ĭigital star charts show an object's position, but also deliver information about the object itself (its magnitude, its type, and distance.
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Using databases of stars, planets, and deep-sky objects, plus some chart-creation code, these programs can deliver an accurate digital chart. Since computers and mobiles have access to time, date, and location information (often through GPS), the programs and apps know where they are, and in the case of an app on a smartphone, uses the device's compass to know where it's pointed. Mobile and desktop stargazing applications have as their main purpose to show observers the night sky at a given location on Earth. Most apps and other programs for astronomy have settings that allow the user to customize it for location and time. For mobile device users, apps offer great portability, allowing users access to electronic stars in the field. In all cases, these programs offer access to cosmic information early astronomers could only dream of accessing.
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Many of these apps and programs are free or have in-app purchases to help users customize their experience. Whether someone is a stargazer or simply interested in what's going on "up there", these digital assistants open up the cosmos for individual exploration. Each one delivers up-to-date content for people interested in various missions. There are dozens of decent apps for astronomy out there, as well as apps from most of the major space missions. These come in handy in addition to astronomy books and other products. With the digital revolution, tools that people use for navigation, communication, and education are prime targets for astronomy apps and programs. Of course, they also had to guide their own telescopes and, in some cases, rely simply on the naked eye for observing the night sky. In the old days of stargazing, before smartphones and tablets and desktop computers existed, astronomers relied on star charts and catalogs to find things in the sky.