15 Best Stargazing Apps for iPhones and Androids to Try Now
These night sky apps are like a planetarium in your pocket (sometimes for free).
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Whether the Super Pink Moon in April kickstarted your love of astronomy, or you want to be prepared by the time the Perseids meteor shower rolls around in during warmer weather, you should start with checking these best stargazing apps. Most of the time, all you have to do is point them at the night sky, and they'll demystify what's in front of you, be it stars, planets, constellations, or man-made objects like satellites or the International Space Station. Many of them can even alert you to the upcoming celestial events, so you'll never miss another Super Moon again. How does it work? Most of them have some kind of augmented-reality feature, where they can locate where you are automatically and pull up what the star map should look like above you. That means you don't need a planetarium docent's knowledge of hundreds and thousands of stars to find the one you're looking for. Heck, you don't even need a telescope. You just have to fire up the app and then look like some kind of astronomical genius. Next time you find yourself on a nighttime walk, or looking for a way to entertain the kids in the backyard after the sunset, pull out one of these apps and prepare to be amazed. Best of all: Many are free! The apps below are free to install unless otherwise note (though in-app purchases may be available).
Star Walk 2
This one uses your GPS to find the exact position of celestial bodies — you just have to point your phone at the stars. If you're looking with little ones, there's also Star Walk Kids for iOS and Android. Star Walk 2 is free or Android users, but $3 for iOS users.
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SkyView Lite
Star Chart
Like the others, point this at the sky to see what's above you. But then, when you're done, point it down on the ground to get a view of the sky on the other side of the world.
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SkyWiki
Miss the last Super Moon? Set this one to calendar mode, and you'll never miss another important celestial event in your viewing area.
Sky Map
This one started out as a project at Google, and then became open source. If you don't know where to start, point it at the sky and have it direct you toward something cool.
SkEye
You can use this like a regular planetarium app, or, if you have a telescope, you can use it in conjunction and have it guide your towards objects of interest.
Star and Planet Finder
This works like the reverse of the other apps — instead of pointing your phone at the sky and having the app tell you what's there, you tell it what you want to see, and it'll tell you where to look. (The free version only comes with a few star/planet options, but you can unlock more if you pay.)
GoSkyWatch Planetarium
This one is only for the iPad, but the bigger screen works for it: Touch anything you see, and a pop-up will display with more information.
ISS Detector Satellite Tracker
Not exactly for stars per se, but this is a fun one to have if you're looking to keep track of the International Space Station; it'll ring an alarm when either the International Space Station or the Chinese space station Tiangong 2 are in view, and you can run and see them with the naked eye.
Pocket Universe
Though this one costs a little bit of money ($3), you'll get a catalog of 80,000 stars, plus a guide that can show you what's in the night sky above you — even if it's cloudy out.
The Best Stargazing Apps
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