Astronomy Apps For iPhone - 10 Best Picks for 2020

Long gone are days when astronomy was only a telescope stargazing experience. With today’s technology, we can experience the night sky like never before. Although astronomy equipment is not cheap – telescopes, mounts, specialized cameras, high-end computers, etc., you don’t need them to admire the night sky, because you have your astronomy and astrophotography device in your pocket. Today I will show you my personal Top 10 Astronomy Apps for iPhone – including Astrophotography and Stargazing apps.

Beginner Astrophotography Telescope – 5 Best Picks for 2020

Table of Contents

10. Night Sky

Night Sky app is a mobile augmented reality planetarium for your iPhone and iPad devices. With this app, you can quickly identify stars, planets, galaxies, and constellations on the sky. Want to find the International Space Station? No problem, the Night Sky app covers you. Want to photograph our galaxy with your Beginner Milky Way Photography Gear and you need to find the core? No problem at all. The best trait? It’s free.

Cassiopeia and Andromeda in Night Sky iOS app screenshot — Cassiopeia and Andromeda in Night Sky iOS app.

Neptune planet info in Night Sky iOS app screenshot — Get detailed information about the Solar System members.

Sky conditions in Night Sky iOS app screenshot — Get detailed stargazing conditions in your location. Clouds, temperature, moon phase, wind, day length, and many more.

Milky Way, Scorpius, and Saturn in Night Sky iOS app screnshot — Milky Way, Scorpius, and Saturn found with the Night Sky iOS app.

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9. Scope Nights Astronomy Weather

We can’t talk about astronomy apps for the iPhone and not to mention this one. If you want to plan your weekly stargazing sessions, Scope Nights is THE app for you.

Astronomy and astrophotography weekly conditions forecast in Scope Nights Astronomy Weather iOS app screenshot — Scope Night gives you a detailed weekly weather forecast for your location, including temperature, cloudiness, Moon phase, and Sunset and Sunrise time.

Dark sky sites list in Scope Nights Astronomy Weather iOS app screenshot — Get a comprehensive list of nearby dark sky places, including both site’s common name and coordinates.

Nearby observatories list in Scope Nights Astronomy Weather iOS app screenshot — Check the closest observatories to your location.

Light pollution map in Scope Nights Astronomy Weather iOS app screenshot — Check the light pollution levels in your area and find dark sky spots.

8. Stellarium Mobile Sky Map

One of the oldest planetary software is now available for iOS. One of the most popular astronomy apps for iPhone, Stellarium will show you a realistic view of the night sky, just like what you see with a naked eye (but you can tune some values to your preferences).

Natural view of the Milky Way in the Stellarium iOS app screenshot — Natural (Bortle scale class 1) view of the Milky Way in the Stellarium iOS app.

Milky Way core and Moon in Stellarium iOS app screenshot — Tuned view of the Milky Way core in Stellarium iOS app. Useful when you want to photograph the Milky Way, but you are unable to see it (every time in light-polluted areas).

NGC 6530 info in Stellarium iOS app screenshot — Detailed view of some object, NGC 6530 in this example. Coordinates are useful for telescope observations; magnitude is an essential factor for astrophotography and calculating the right exposure time.

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7. Star Walk 2

Another excellent planetarium app for your Apple device.

Orion constellation in Star Walk 2 iOS app screenshot — Discover the night sky with ease. Star Walk 2 will show you stars, constellations, nebulas, galaxies, satellites, and many more.

Ursa Major general information in Star Walk 2 iOS app screenshot — Want to know something about the specific object on the night sky? Just tap on it and read.

Ursa Major figures in Star Walk 2 iOS app screenshot — All astronomy data you need is here. Right ascension, declination, azimuth, altitude, magnitude, and many more.

6. PolarAlign

If you own an equatorial mount, this is one of the most essential astronomy apps for iPhone for you. With Polar Align iOS app you will quickly polar align your telescope.

Polar aligning with PolarAlign iOS app screenshot — Instantly check the North Pole position in the PolarAlign iOS app. Set up your equatorial mount polar alignment in a few seconds. The app will automatically check your location with GPS.

Reticle choosing in Polar Align iOS app screenshot — Choose from a variety of available mount types, including Astro-Physics, Sky Watcher, Takahashi, and more.

5. Redshift Pro

Another great iOS planetarium software with some cool extras.

Gemini constellation in Redshift Pro Astronomy iOS app screenshot — Quickly find constellations you want. No need to Google them, just tap one on the on the list.

Cone nebula info in Redshift Pro Astronomy iOS app screenshot — Tap on any celestial body and get specific astronomical info.

Astrophotography targets list in Redshift Pro Astronomy iOS app screenshot — The best feature for every beginner astrophotographer – a list with most attractive astrophotography targets. Choose one, tap, and the app will tell you where on the sky it is located. Perfect if you don’t know where the most beautiful nebulas, galaxies, and stars clusters are on the night sky.

Trifid nebula in Redshift Pro Astronomy iOS app screenshot — All vital astrophotography targets are here. Nebulas, galaxies, star clusters, double stars, constellations, and many more.

3D flight in Redshift Pro Astronomy iOS app screenshot — Bored with Earth? Take an interactive 3D flight to some other celestial body in our galaxy.

Discover astronomy in Redshift Pro Astronomy iOS app — Discover a range of astronomical topics right inside the app. The Solar System, The Sun, The Moon, solar eclipses, flashlights in the sky, and many, many more.

4. SkyView Lite

SkyView Lite is the best free planetary app available on the App Store and one of the best astronomy apps for iPhone overall. Recently this app helped me to find The Blood Moon at July 2018 Lunar Eclipse.

Milky Way center in SkyView iOS app screenshot — The Milky Way core view in the app. Locating astronomy objects using SkyView Lite app is very easy.

Finding Pleiades star cluster in SkyView iOS app screenshot — If you don’t know where to look for at the sky for a specific object, type it into a search bar, and the app will navigate you to the location. Ultra-handy.

Sattelites in SkyView Lite iOS app screenshot — Are you looking for some satellite? No problem, SkyView Lite will show you exact position. Want to know the precise place of the specific celestial body at the future time? The app got you covered.

Orion constellation in SkyView iOS app screenshot — Mighty Orion the Hunter. Finding it with the app is super-easy.

Red night mode in SkyView Lite iOS app screenshot — Red night mode is convenient when you want to preserve your night vision (eyes adaptation).

3. PhotoPills

PhotoPills is a set of small apps designed to help you with different astrophotography tasks.

PhotoPills iOS app photo planner screenshot — Plan your night shots like a pro. Choose your spot and instantly know where and when the Moon and the Milky Way will be.

PhotoPills iOS app night augmented reality function screenshot — Point your iOS device into your desired photo frame and see where the Milky Way is, and where the Milky Way will be. Just scroll the time with your finger.

PhotoPills iOS app spot stars exposure calculator screenshot — You cannot stop the Earth’s rotation around its axis to correctly expose your astrophoto. But you can calculate the maximum exposure time to avoid star trails. Just give PhotoPills your camera and lens model and the app will tell you the exact parameters for your pin-point-stars photo.

PhotoPills iOS app star trails calculator screenshot — Stop guessing the right time for your star-trailing images. PhotoPills will tell you the exact exposure time for your desired lines on the sky.

PhotoPills iOS app astrophotography widget screenshot — You don’t even have to open the app to get the essential daily astronomy and astrophotography info: sunrise and sunset, golden hour, Moon phase, astronomical time, and the galactic center visibility.

2. Observer Pro

No complete list of best astronomy apps for iPhone can exist without this one. Observer Pro is the ultimate astronomy observations and astrophotography planner iOS app.

Favorites list sorted by transit in Observer Pro Astronomy Planner iOS app screenshot — The core and best feature of the app – the customizable list of objects that you are interested in. Just look at your list and quickly find out what galaxy or nebula you can see and photograph today.

Trifid Nebula visibility in Observer Pro Astronomy Planner iOS app screenshot — Get detailed info about your chosen object visibility. 24 hour, month, and year cover. Plan your future astrophotography sessions with ease.

Astronomy objects catalogs in Observer Pro Astronomy Planner iOS app screenshot — Browse astronomy objects by different catalogs. Messier, Caldwell, Herschel, NGC, and IC. If you don’t know your object number, just type its common name (“Andromeda” instead of “M31”).

Favorites list sorted by size in Observer Pro Astronomy Planner iOS app screenshot — You can sort your favorites list by different factors. The most useful for beginners is by size (the bigger size of the object on the sky is, the easier it will be to photograph) and by magnitude (the brighter the nebula, the shorter exposures you need).

Orion Nebula detailed info in Observer Pro Astronomy Planner iOS app screenshot — All the technical information you need are in the app. Visibility, transit time, coordinates (right ascension and declination), magnitude, object size, and more.

Andromeda galaxy in Observer Pro Astronomy Planner iOS app screenshot — You want to get and preserve your night vision under the night sky. The app, of course, provides a night mode.

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1. SkySafari 6 Pro

Apple offers many astronomy apps for iPhone. But Number One can be only one. SkySafari 6 Pro is the most advanced planetarium software for iOS. I use it every day for my astrophotography sessions, both on my iPhone and on my MacBook.

Constellations in SkySafari iOS app screenshot — Sky Safari is **the** planetary app for iPhone and iPad. Find out with ease what’s on the night sky tonight.

Tonight's best astrophotography objects in SkySafari iOS app — Get a detailed list of tonight’s best astro objects to observe and photograph – stars, galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters.

Pinwheel Galaxy info in SkySafari iOS app screenshot — Get detailed information about your favorite astrophotography targets.

Red night mode in SkySafari iOS app screenshot — Using Sky Safari as your planetary app will preserve your night vision. No broken stargazing session anymore because of lack of proper software function.

Best Deep Sky Objects in SkySafari iOS app screenshot — New to astronomy and astrophotography? Sky Safari will show you the best deep sky objects to see and photograph.

Orion in SkySafari iOS app screenshot — All your favorite constellations and DSOs are here.

If you had looked for best astronomy apps for the iPhone, I hope you found what you want!

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Comments

Brian F
January 17, 2019 at 11:01 pm
How do you not have Sky Guide on here!? It’s far superior and a better UI than Night Sky, Star Walk 2, Redshift Pro, and SkyView Lite.
Aaron Day
March 17, 2020 at 3:35 pm
What about Stellar Tour? It’s the most comprehensive astronomy app out there, covering all scales of astronomy with 100s of images. It has a beautiful AR stargazing experience with millions of stars, as well as the cosmic web and cosmic microwave background in AR. It’s one of the only apps out there created by an astrophysicist with expert knowledge of astronomy.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stellar-tour/id1197929178

Astronomy Apps For iPhone – 10 Best Picks for 2020

10. Night Sky

9. Scope Nights Astronomy Weather

8. Stellarium Mobile Sky Map

7. Star Walk 2

6. PolarAlign

5. Redshift Pro

4. SkyView Lite

3. PhotoPills

2. Observer Pro

1. SkySafari 6 Pro

Related

10. Night Sky

9. Scope Nights Astronomy Weather

8. Stellarium Mobile Sky Map

7. Star Walk 2

6. PolarAlign

5. Redshift Pro

4. SkyView Lite

3. PhotoPills

2. Observer Pro

1. SkySafari 6 Pro

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