By Daniel Culver

Tired of squinting at unfamiliar constellations and wishing you knew what that bright streak across the sky actually is? Ditch the guesswork and unlock the secrets of the cosmos with the power of your smartphone! Whether you\’re an iPhone enthusiast or an Android devotee, there\’s a universe of stargazing apps out there designed to transform your backyard into a personal planetarium. Dive into our curated list of hidden gems and rediscover the magic of looking up, ready to identify celestial wonders with ease.

The Best Free Stargazing App For Android

With the SkEye stargazing app, you get an amazing user experience for Android phones for free. The following features below make stargazing much easier for you:

• Vast Celestial Database: Explore stars, planets, nebulae, galaxies, and more.
• Targeted Exploration: Search for specific objects by name or browse by type – stars, planets, nebulas, etc.
• Real-Time Sky Overlay: Point your phone, identify what you see.
• Absolutely Free

Although there is a paid ‘Pro’ version, the amount of objects available in the free version is quite vast. The nice thing about the targeted exploration is that once you select the object you would like to identify, the app tells you if you are close or far from seeing the object in your phone with a green, yellow or red indicator in the sky overlay.

I use this app almost exclusively when I’m trying to look at a specific object in my telescope. I simply search for the object I want to view, guide my phone by hand until the indicator circle is green and then line up the spotting scope on my telescope to match where my phone has found it, and I’m there!

Definitely download SkyEye and turn your phone into a powerful cosmic companion.

The Best Free Stargazing App For iPhone

The Nightsky app is a great choice if you are looking for free stargazing apps for iPhone. It really emphasizes ease of use and is a great app for beginners. The features that make this app a worthy choice are:

• Simple interface: Quickly find the stars and constellations you\’re looking for with a clear and uncluttered interface.
• Tonight\’s highlights: See a curated list of the most visible celestial objects for your current location and time.
• AR mode: Explore the sky in real-time with the AR overlay.
• Constellation stories: Learn about the myths and legends behind the constellations.

There are in-app purchases, but the above features come standard with the app straight from the App Store.If you have an iPhone and want a very easy-to-use app with the baseline features you want to get started, give Nightsky a try!

Best Free App for Astronomy and Space Travel News

If you’re interested in the latest breakthroughs in space exploration and various astronomical discoveries, look no further than the NASA mobile app. This app has an absolute wealth of information  in the form of podcasts, videos and updates on upcoming missions.

It also has a feature to track the location of the International Space Station. It will even calculate the next time (to the second!) the Space Station will fly over your current area. 

The Best App For Stargazing Events

There are so many things to see in the night sky, sometimes choosing one is quite a feat! You can leverage a few different mobile apps to narrow down what you would like to view and when. The following apps will help you save time by giving you key details about the moon, planets and stars that you can view in the universe.

Which App Is Best To Know The Moon’s Phases?

For the moon’s phases, check out The Moon Phase Calendar app. It will give you current and upcoming phases of the moon that may interest you to consider for your viewing schedule. Since the moon is so easy to spot, it is often the quickest and easiest choice for beginners. 

What Is The Best Paid Mobile App For Stargazing Events?

Though a bit more on the pricey side for a mobile app ($9.99 in the Google Play Store), SkySafari 7 Plus is an excellent tool for tracking upcoming stargazing events. It has a calendar for all kinds of events from meteor showers, asteroids, planetary transits, etc.

Even though SkySafari is fantastic to use as a sky map and for facilitating other stargazing activities, the mind-bogglingly huge database of astronomical phenomena alone makes it worth the price.

Lastly, for tracking the moons of Saturn and Jupiter, Sky and Telescope has apps for mobile Apple devices: Saturnmoons and Jupitermoons, respectively. They aren’t free, but they do provide precise locations of Saturn and Jupiter’s satellites at any moment in time. 

The Best Paid Stargazing App For Android And iPhone

While SkySafari 7 Plus undoubtedly shines as a celestial event maestro, there\’s another contender in the stargazing app arena that competes with it in many aspects: Stellarium Mobile.

Stellarium is a powerful, open-source tool that grants you unrivaled access to locations of celestial objects. The following are a list of awesome features:

• Enormous database – search over a million stars, hundreds of thousands of galaxies and nebulae, and even detailed simulations of planets and moons
• Vibrant community – Active forum of users and space enthusiasts
• 3D Sky Map
• Celestial events calendar (with paid version)

Stellarium even lets you choose from a list of different sky cultures. From the default Western to Norse to even Tongan/Polynesian! Give Stellarium a try if you want a good all-around app for Android or iPhone. Even the non-paid version has plenty of great features to get started gazing!

So open Stellarium Mobile\’s free skies and explore a million stars, or let one of the other aforementioned apps be your guided tour through cosmic events. Whichever app sparks your curiosity, download your celestial companion and unlock the magic of the night sky!