Whether you're an amateur astronomer, or simply enjoy looking up at the night sky and gazing at the stars, then check out our list of the best stargazing apps for the iPhone.
The best stargazing apps for iPhone
12 Sep 2021, by Cherry Mae Torrevillas
Here's another free astronomy app which includes a 3D star map, planetarium, ephemeris with notifications, a sun clock, and other cool astronomy-related features. Perfect app for stargazing.
- Good 3D interface
- Very interesting features
- Search and find different stars, satellites, and missions
- Simulate the sky in any place on the globe
- Useful if you have a friend abroad
This stargazing app is an astronomy suite that redefines how you experience the night sky. With this app for stargazing you can explore the Solar System, 120,000 stars, over 200 star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and dozens of asteroids, comets, and satellites—including the ISS. SkyPortal includes everything you need to experience the night sky in an exciting new way. When connected to a compatible Celestron WiFi telescope, you can automatically point the telescope to any object in the database and view it with great detail.
- Simulate the night sky from anywhere on planet Earth, up to 100 years in the past or future.
- Control compatible Celestron WiFi telescopes with sophisticated mount modeling for quick and accurate go-to alignment.
- Animate transits, conjunctions, eclipses, and other events with SkyPortal's Time controls.
- Explore the sky with Night Vision turned on, and preserve your eyesight after dark.
- Learn the history, mythology, and science of the heavens with SkyPortal's hundreds of object descriptions.
This stargazing app for iPhone allows you to take a thrilling ride through space and visit strange new alien star systems such as multiple star systems (from binary to septenary), multiple planetary systems, circumbinary planets and disks, black holes, pulsars and magnetars. With the Galaxy map for iPhone, you can check out neighboring dwarf galaxies such as Sagittarius and the Canis Major Overdensity, stellar streams as well as internal galactic components such as a variety of nebulae, star clusters or supernovae.
- Almost 4.5 milion stars, over 4000 exoplanets, 200 circumstellar disks, 38 black holes, 11 magnetars and around 2500 pulsars in the database
- Planets are updated daily from multiple sources, without needing to update the app
- Stars extracted from SIMBAD from multiple catalogs like the European Space Agency's Hipparcos mission
- 3D representations of all-star systems and their orbits (green stars = unknown spectrum)
- Black holes in binary systems, including the famous Cygnus X-1 and the Great Annihilator
- And MUCH MORE!!!
This free app has been highly touted by a variety of online publications, as it guides you to the real-time locations of the stars and constellations as well as the moon and the sun using your iPhone's GPS.
- Utilizes the iPhone’s camera as its viewfinder
- Simply hold your phone up to achieve full functionality
- Discover the different objects in front of you
- Choose future or past dates
- See what the sky looks like at a certain time
With over eight million downloads, this free app is bringing awesome astronomy-related features to users around our planet.
- Perfect for learning more about planets
- A 3D guide for the amateur astronomer
- Learn about each planet
- Know how you can view planets in the night sky
- Rotating 3D globe
Search for planets, stars, constellations, star clusters, galaxies, and even nebulae that are observable from your location using this app, which is suitable for both beginners and advanced astronomers. StarMap 3D+ app review
- Useful for “casual” astronomers
- HD retina graphics
- Real-time astronomical positions
- 100,000 starry database
- Updated database
Learn about all the objects you see in the sky by scanning them through the built-in camera that comes with this iPhone app. Star Rover app review
- Fantastic planetarium app
- Determines your location in real-time
- Know what the Milky Way looks like
- Beautiful graphics
- Equator grids
This highly successful app will help you navigate through outer space, bringing an astronaut's experience to your fingertips. StarTracker app review
- Perfect for native iPhone functions
- Full AR functions
- Location set by GPS
- HQ graphics
- Beautiful interface
Want to determine when to schedule your stargazing meetup? There's an app for that.
- Stunning photos
- Hourly conditions
- Full detailed reports
- Complete astronomical trajectories
- 24/7 support
Not only will this app help you navigate through space but you can also use the fun Time Scroll feature to move forward or backward through time.
StarMap 3D app review
- Complete gyroscope functions
- Supports all iOS functions
- Lists all latest 98 constellations
- Detailed astronomical info
- Complete location-based service
Demystify the night sky using this app which puts the entire universe into your pocket.
- Pretty graphics
- Full “virtual” walks
- Smart pop-up info
- Gesture-based controls
- Intuitive interface
Renowned scientist and astrophysicist, Brian Cox, takes you through the wonders of the universe in this classic BBC app.
Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe app review
- Bleeding-edge graphics
- Lets you take a mindbending journey
- Interlinked scaling functions
- Excusive BBC videos
- 24/7 support
