Astronomy apps: Is there an app that will tell me where a particular celestial body Milky Way etc. will be at any given time and it's approximate location relative to a given location...

dyximan

Is there an app that will tell me where a particular celestial body Milky Way etc. will be at any given time and it's approximate location relative to a given location say California?

Falcon Loc: Abilene, Texas

If you have an iOS device (iPhone, iPad) try Pocket Universe. The developer is John Kennedy. There seem to be several apps with nearly the same name so look for the purple icon with a telescope within a circle. I think it is free or at least relatively cheap. the developer seems to keep up with it fairly well--in other words its has not been orphaned.

delraypiper Loc: Delray Beach, FL

Star Walk is another app that is good.

dyximan

Falcon wrote:

If you have an iOS device (iPhone, iPad) try Pocket Universe. The developer is John Kennedy. There seem to be several apps with nearly the same name so look for the purple icon with a telescope within a circle. I think it is free or at least relatively cheap. the developer seems to keep up with it fairly well--in other words its has not been orphaned.

Thank you

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I also use SkyView (free) - an interesting ap that overlays star/moon/galaxy imagery and data over the image of your sky (using the iPhone/IPad camera) in real-time.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Sky View and PhotoPills are the two I use.

repleo Loc: Boston

I use Photopills too. I recently posted a MW shot that I had planned months ahead with it. Went to the exact spot and took the shot with no messing around. The MW was exactly where I expected it to be.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I use stellarium on my computer. It's a free program. You can enter your latitude and longitude and elevation and it gives you a real time animated picture of any and all celestial bodies as they would appear at your location. You can even push the real time clock forward or backward at any speed to see when items will appear or sink below the horizon at any time and date.

dyximan

Bobspez wrote:

I use stellarium on my computer. It's a free program. You can enter your latitude and longitude and elevation and it gives you a real time animated picture of any and all celestial bodies as they would appear at your location. You can even push the real time clock forward or backward at any speed to see when items will appear or sink below the horizon at any time and date.

How would I find my longitude and latitude?

dyximan

Thank you for your info how would I find my longitude and latitude for my area. Or any given area for that matter.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

dyximan wrote:

Thank you for your info how would I find my longitude and latitude for my area. Or any given area for that matter.

You can Google it with your city name. If you have a GPS, it will tell you, or many car nav systems have it as a readout option, or you can consult a maritime or aeronautical chart, or look at a globe. If none of those are available to you, post your city and state, and I’ll look it up for you (you can PM me if you’d prefer)

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

1. Go to google maps by entering the following url in your browser: https://maps.google.com/
2. In the search bar in the upper left corner enter your address, city and state.
3. Zoom into the map until you see your house on your block.
4. Bring the mouse to your back yard and left click the mouse button once to create a circular symbol on the map.
5. The symbol's latitude and longitude will be listed in a box at the bottom of the map. See attached screen shot.

dyximan wrote:

Thank you for your info how would I find my longitude and latitude for my area. Or any given area for that matter.

(Download)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

dyximan wrote:

Is there an app that will tell me where a particular celestial body Milky Way etc. will be at any given time and it's approximate location relative to a given location say California?

Yes, Sky Walk seems to be the standard recommendation for locating objects in the night sky. I had to use that when I took a night sky course a few years ago.

Have you ever used Google Earth and looked for your house? You can use Street View and see your actual house and surrounding streets at eye level.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

dyximan wrote:

How would I find my longitude and latitude?

Google maps; or take a course in using a sextant, but the first is easier. I'd like one that just tells me when it's a good time to view the Milky Way (and where).

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

TriX wrote:

I also use SkyView (free) - an interesting ap that overlays star/moon/galaxy imagery and data over the image of your sky (using the iPhone/IPad camera) in real-time.

Skyview Free will not tell you WHEN a constellation will rise, but even if you aim it at the ground it will tell you where in space the constellation is, so you can guesstimate when and where it will rise into view.