Last night, around the backyard campfire with my wife and kids, I was able to see the planet Saturn for the first time!!! Actually, it was likely not the first, but the first time I knowingly saw it in the sky.
How was that possible? A very cleverly designed iPhone app called SkyGuide.
It only costs about three dollars if you buy it on Apple, but using your phone’s GPS coordinates, location, and time of day, you literally can tip your phone in the direction of certain stars or planets, and see a well laid out picture representation of constellations, star names, planet names, and even comets!
I’m a big fan of making sure kids don’t have too much technology time. Maybe it’s left over from my own parents not wanting me to “rot my brain” in front of the old box TV sets from when I was young. If that was the case, the technology we have would be qualified as a level for biohazard to today’s younger generation. But certain technology is acceptable especially if it captures the imagination of young hearts and minds if done in moderation.
My family and I were able to visibly find stars related to famous constellations such as you see in the pictures here. The app has some handy features to, such as playing surreal, space like background music to add depth and character to the experience.
Even certain constellations may not be visible during the day at this time of year, but with the app you can find them and find out the names of the stars that make up the constellations. You can even tip the app towards the ground and see the constellations and other Space bodies that are visible on the other side of the earth at this time!
For astronomers that have a really good telescope, like the one that I’m trying to win from Celestron I’ve mentioned, you may want not want your night vision to be messed up.
SkyGuide can be put into “night vision” mode, which is the same as everything else but all the shoes are in a red color to remove flash effects from your eyes.
The best feature of all is that virtual star wiki. The name of any visible star the EC can be clicked on with your finger to get information on what type of star it is, it’s name, and other scientific facts such as mass, luminosity, and so forth.
I don’t know how this app stacks up against other similar ones, but all I can say is that I was definitely impressed, and you will too.
Later tonight, my kids and I will go back out and have an extended stargazing session, taking the small telescope that I got several years ago, setting it up, and seeing if I can see Saturn and Titan closer.
I had seen it in the sky before, but did not know that it was Saturn until I got this app.
I invite anyone who loves stargazing to also get this app and use it in your quest to know more about our galaxy.
For The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, I’m Gimmick Commander Ben Faltinowski! 🙂
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