Astronomy: what are the best apps for observing the sky and stars?

What can we observe this summer?

July and August are exceptional months for phenomena visible in the sky. Planets, stars and showers of shooting stars, here are the events of the summer:

• July 20: The Moon passes near Regulus and Venus.
• July 28: Piscis Austrinid meteor shower.
• August 13: Peak of the Perseid meteor shower.
• August 27: Saturn will be more visible than the rest of the year.
• August 31: The Full Moon will be a Super Moon, the brightest of the year.

To observe all this, here are the applications to download urgently on your smartphone.

Star Walk 2

Essential, Star Walk 2 is a simple and intuitive application, perfect for observing a starry night. It comes with a geolocation of your position as well as a gyroscope function, in order to more easily understand the elements present in the sky. The application allows you to follow a whole lot of information live: planets, nebulae, stars, galaxies…

Star Walk 2 is available on Android, in free version with advertisements or payingfor €3.49.

Light Pollution Map

Seeing the stars well requires a clear sky and little or no light pollution. To find areas with ideal viewing conditions, the Light Pollution Map app is perfect. It gives access to a colored map, with a palette indicating the spaces most polluted by artificial light as well as those most spared. Well, obviously, you are more likely to find your happiness in the Pyrenees than in Paris.

Light Pollution Map is available for free on browser.

GlobeViewer Moon

If you don’t have a telescope, distant stargazing can be a little frustrating. But here too, your smartphone comes to the rescue! With Moon Globe, you can access an interactive 3D model of the Moon, to explore its craters, sites of past space missions and other special features. A perfect app to understand the face of the Moon in the sky!

GlobeViewer Moon is a free application, available on Android.

Bonus: ISS Detector

A last one before we go ? ISS Detector is a rather interesting app for space exploration fans. With this app, you can easily locate the International Space Station as well as a myriad of Earth-orbiting satellites, like SpaceX’s Starlinks. It is even possible to activate an alarm so as not to miss their passage above your head.

To download ISS Detector for free, it goes on the Play Store.