skydial

Every star app knows where the stars are. Most get you pointing at the wrong bit of sky, because a phone compass can be off by 10° or more. SkyDial fixes the pointing. ALIGN ON ONE STAR Aim at any bright star, confirm which one it is, and SkyDial works out your phone's compass error and corrects it. After that it follows your movement with the gyroscope, and it reminds you to re-align every ten minutes or so. The sky lines up with the real one. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Point your phone and see labelled stars, constellations, planets, the Moon and the Sun • Tap anything to identify it: name, catalogue number, magnitude, distance, spectral type and colour, and when it rises and sets tonight • Find mode: search for any object and follow the on-screen guide until it's centred • Time scrub: drag forward or back to watch the sky turn and the planets move • Tonight: a list view of the Moon phase and what's up, for indoors or cloudy nights • Constellation lines, labels and official IAU boundaries, each with a toggle • Star colours from real colour data: Rigel is blue, Betelgeuse is orange • Light pollution setting: choose your Bortle class and see only the stars your sky lets through • Night vision mode: a red display that keeps your eyes adapted, dimmed automatically after dusk • Optional camera view behind the sky map GUIDED TOURS Short tours through the sky: the colours of stars, how far away they really are, planets that aren't stars, stars that change, and the Nakshatra. HONEST ABOUT THE COMPASS If something nearby is bending the compass, such as a car, a magnetic case or a metal railing, SkyDial tells you and helps you fix it with Align, instead of quietly showing the wrong sky. SAFE AROUND THE SUN SkyDial warns you before you point at the Sun. Never look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope without proper solar filters. PRIVATE Your location is used on your device to work out what's overhead. You can also type a city instead of using GPS. Needs a phone with a gyroscope and accelerometer. A magnetometer is used for initial heading. A RIGPA Tech app.