Review of the Skyview App

The stars fascinate me from my earliest memories of camping and star gazing with my Dad. In college, I was lucky enough to be the teaching assistant for the Astronomy class. My main job was to set up and put up equipment. As this was dozens of years ago, my memory of the star names and constellations has dwindled in time to my sorrow. My grandchildren ask, and I would only know the big dipper and a few more common constellations. I remember my Dad saying how amazing the stars would be if they only came out once every 100 years, and we get to see them every night.

Recently, I traveled with family members to the Carolina Coast. On the beach, after dinner, we could see a planet. We were still determining which one it was, so my Uncle opened an app and said - Mars. I was surprised to get an identification that quickly. I gained a new obsession. The App is fantastic.

My Uncle often uses the Lite set-up, a free app version. I splurged for the pro edition, $1.99, with no in-app purchases. The disclaimer states that the user experience varies with different smart devices; however, I saw little difference between his iPhone's free version Lite and my IOS Samsung version, professional edition.

The SkyView App identifies all celestial bodies at any time in the past, present, or future. Are you curious to see what the sky looked like the night you were born? SkyView App will show you.

Detailed information on planets, stars, our moon, constellations, satellites, the International Space Station, and rocket bodies are easy to find. SkyView gives full details, such as the name, distance from the Earth, radius, and coordinates. I have identified many satellites in my backyard by pointing my phone camera at the slowly moving blinking dot across the dark sky.

The trajectory of the objects in space is easy to follow with a thin dotted line on the screen. It is easy to download. There is an Augmented Reality mode for a more realistic experience. I like to put my finger over the camera and see what is below the horizon. I can see what my friends in Asia are seeing. Outside, the App builds the constellations around the stars I see. I have a telescope, but I will stick with my SkyView App for my stargazing. The beauty of it is on cold nights or rainy days; I can still stargaze to my heart’s content at my convenience.

Recently, we were all agog about the planetary alignment. We could see the alignment of some of the planets with our naked eyes. The rest were below the horizon, out of sight. One thing I love about the SkyView app is that it shows me what is below the horizon. That is how I was able to make the picture with this story. I uploaded two screenshots using the Augmented Reality feature—one above and one below the horizon- into CANVA software. I combined the two to create this picture.