What open source star gazing apps do you recommend? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 weeks ago by yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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Preferably Android apps available through F-Droid, but feel free to recommend iOS apps, too!

On iOS, I really like Sky Guide—I don't think it's open source, but it has the right features for the casual star gazer like myself, specifically the ability to point my phone at an object (i.e., "what's that object up there") and/or search by name ("where's Jupiter right now"). After my transition to Android, I've found Sky Map, which has good feature parity with Sky Guide.

Any other open source apps like Sky Map that I haven't found yet?

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[-] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

Planisphere is alright, it's basic, but does the job. No nasties in it and works offline.

[-] yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago

I had found this app as well, but couldn't get it to point & shoot so to speak. Seems I must manually tap and drag to pan around the map. Am I just doing it wrong?

[-] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, that's my understanding. So it's more work to use than point and shoot, which would be a nice feature for someone like me who can recognize major constellations and planets, but not much else.

[-] yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I can see how the "manual" workflow might be preferable to some, so I'd say this app is a good rec nonetheless, thanks!

One thing, though—I noticed East and West are flipped on the map, and I haven't played with it enough to ascertain why that is. Is this by design?

EDIT: I guess this orientation makes sense if I orient myself facing south and looking up, in which case east would be to my left and everything inside the circle represents what is visible to me from that time and location, right?

this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2024

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