SkySafari 7 Plus vs Celestron StarSense Explorer Usage & Stats

SkySafari 7 Plus goes beyond most basic stargazing apps by providing you with a full-featured space simulator with telescope control. If you are looking to dive deeper into astronomy, start your journey with the #1 recommend app for amateur astronomers since 2009. Note that there is no discount upgrade path from SkySafari 7 Plus to SkySafari 7 Pro. Choose carefully! Here's what’s new in version 7: + Complete support for iOS 15 and iPhone 13. Version 7 brings a new and immersive stargazing experience. + Events Finder - go to the new Events section to unlock a powerful search engine that finds astronomical events visible tonight and far into the future. The finder dynamically generates a listing of moon phases, eclipses, planetary moon events, meteor showers and planetary phenomenon such as conjunctions, elongations and oppositions. + Notifications - the notifications section has been completely revamped to allow you to customize and manage which events trigger an alert notification on your device. + Telescope Support - telescope control is at the heart of SkySafari. Version 7 takes a giant leap forward by supporting ASCOM Alpaca and INDI. These next generation control protocols allow you to effortlessly connect to hundreds of compatible astronomical devices. + OneSky - allows you to see what other users are observing, in real time. This feature highlights objects in the sky chart and indicates with a number how many users are observing a particular object. + SkyCast - allows you to guide a friend or group around the night sky through their own copy of SkySafari. After initiating SkyCast, you can generate a link and conveniently share it with other SkySafari users via text message, apps or social media accounts. + Sky Tonight - jump to the new Tonight section to see what’s visible in your sky tonight. Expanded information has been designed to help plan your night and includes Moon & Sun info, calendar curations, events and the best positioned deep sky and solar system objects. + Improved Observation Tools - SkySafari is the perfect tool to help you plan, record and organize your observations. New workflows make it easier to add, search, filter and sort data. + Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets keep your favorite astro information at your fingertips. The Small Touches: + You can now edit the Jupiter GRS Longitude Value in the Settings. + Better Moon Age calculation. + New grid & reference options allow you to display Solstice and Equinox markers, Orbit Node markers for all solar system objects, and tick marks and labels for the Ecliptic, Meridian, and Equator reference lines. + Previous In-app Purchases are Now Free - this includes the H-R diagram and 3D Galaxy view. Enjoy. + Many more. If you haven't used SkySafari 7 Plus before, here's what you can do with it: + Hold your device up, and SkySafari 7 Plus will find comets, stars, constellations, planets, and more! + Simulate the night sky up to 10,000 years in the past or future! Animate meteor showers, conjunctions, eclipses, and other celestial events. + Learn the history, mythology, and science of astronomy! Browse over 1500 object descriptions and astronomical images. Stay up-to-date with the Calendar for all major sky events every day! + Control your telescope, log and plan your observations. + Night Vision – Preserve your eyesight after dark. + Orbit Mode. Leave the Earth’s surface behind, and fly through our solar system. + Time Flow – Follow the motion of sky objects as days, months, and years are compressed into a few seconds. + Advanced Search – Find objects using properties other than their name. + Much more! For even more features, and a gigantic database aimed at the most dedicated amateur or professional astronomer, check out SkySafari 7 Pro! https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

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Celestron StarSense Explorer

Unleash the power of your smartphone to take you on a guided tour of the night sky, even if you’ve never used a telescope before. STARSENSE SKY RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY This one-of-a-kind app uses patent-pending technology in combination with a Celestron StarSense Explorer telescope (sold separately) to analyze star patterns overhead to calculate the telescope’s position in real time with pinpoint accuracy. StarSense Explorer’s sky recognition technology has revolutionized the manual telescope by eliminating the confusion common among beginners and enhancing the user experience for even seasoned telescope users. Many would-be astronomers become frustrated or lose interest in their manual telescope because they don’t know where to point it to see planets, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies—the good stuff! StarSense Explorer tells you exactly which celestial objects are currently visible in the night sky and where to move your telescope to place those objects in the telescope’s eyepiece. THE NIGHT SKY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS The user-friendly planetarium interface allows you to scan the skies for objects you wish to view. You can also search for objects in the extensive database. Not sure what to observe? StarSense Explorer automatically generates a list of all the best stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and more currently visible from your location. Simply select one from the list and off you go! While you observe, you can access detailed information, images, and audio descriptions for the most popular objects. It’s a great way for the entire family to learn scientific facts, history, mythology, and more, deepening your understanding of the night sky. EASY AS 1-2-3: DOCK, LAUNCH, OBSERVE To get started, assemble your StarSense Explorer telescope and download the app. Your telescope includes a unique unlock code to access the full features of the app. Connect your phone to the telescope by placing it into the StarSense dock and launch the app. After a simple 2-step procedure to align the smartphone’s camera with the telescope, the app displays a view of the night sky and shows a bullseye on the screen to represent the telescope’s current pointing position. From here, you can select an object to view by tapping it in the planetarium view or selecting it from the Tonight’s Best observing list. Objects will vary from night to night; you may see planets like Jupiter or Saturn, nebulae like Orion, the Andromeda Galaxy, or other object types. Once you select an object, the app displays pointing arrows onscreen. These indicate where to move the telescope to find it. Follow the arrows until the bullseye appears centered on target. When the bullseye turns green, the object is visible in the telescope’s lower powered eyepiece. HOW STARSENSE EXPLORER WORKS StarSense Explorer uses image data captured by the smartphone’s camera to determine its pointing position. The app captures an image of the night sky and then matches the star patterns within the image to its internal database in a process like fingerprint matching or facial recognition. The process of extracting star pattern data in images to determine a telescope’s current pointing position is called “plate solving.” It is the same method used by professional observatories and orbiting satellites. The StarSense Explorer app is the first app ever developed that uses plate solving to determine the smartphone’s current pointing position. Other astronomy apps rely on the smartphone’s gyroscopes, accelerometers, and compass to estimate its pointing position. These methods are not accurate enough to place objects within the telescope’s field of view. StarSense Explorer technology is patent-pending. COMPATIBILITY Compatible with iPhone 6 and higher. LOCALIZATION Support for English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese and Russian.