Here is a list of 5 free astronomy apps for iPhone which let you travel and explore the universe directly from your iPhone at anytime you want.
Astronomy has always been quite fascinating subject for everyone. Even after hundreds of years of study and advancement in technology, the universe is still a mysterious thing for all the scientists and genius’s of different fields. These scientists get to explore the universe almost each and every day but as a normal person, its not an easy thing to explore the universe considering the expensive apparatus required for the purpose. But, if you have an iPhone then you can explore the universe from anywhere that too free of cost. I am presenting you with a list of 5 free astronomy apps for iPhone which will not only help in travelling the universe’s each corner but you can also explore them to know every detail related to the universe and the objects residing there.
1. Planets:
The first astronomy app for iPhone is Planets. This app has 4 main sections: Sky 2D, Sky 3D, Visibility, and Globe. The Sky 2D gives a flat view of the universe while Sky 3D provides you with the planetarium view of the universe. In Sky 3D, you can rotate the view to any angle using your fingers and use pinch & zoom to have a better look at any object. The 3D view also has an option called Visible. This option lets you select the type of view you want to have: Gamma Ray, X-Ray, Visible, Hydrogen ɑ, Infrared, Microwave, and Radio.
Apart from this, the Visibility option lets you check the time interval for which any particular planet is visible to unaided eyes. You can also tap on any planet to know more details about it. The last section Globe lets you interact with planet Earth just like you do with a real globe. You can rotate it and also pinch and zoom.
2. Distant Suns (Lite): Comet Lovejoy edition:
The second astronomy app for iPhone is Distant Suns (Lite): Comet Lovejoy edition. This app is one of the best apps for exploring each and every aspect of the universe as it has a database of thousands of galaxies, nebulas, and stars. It also lets you interact with the universe in 3D manner with all the gesture controls like pinch and zoom, rotating, etc. This app is developed with main focus on Comet Lovejoy and due to this reason, it constantly displays the distance of Comet Lovejoy from both the Earth and Sun.
The app has an option called Pick. Its an icon which you can use to pick any object in the Universe for getting detailed info about it. The app has specific categories for helping you to find the object you are looking for: Moon, Sun, Planets, Constellations, Comet, Orbit, and, SETI. One unique feature of the app is that it displays the latest news related to astronomy branch in form of headlines. You can tap on them to read the full story.
Get Distant Suns (Lite): Comet Lovejoy edition here.
3. Star Chart:
Star Chart is the third astronomy app in the list. Just when you will launch the app, you will see the blue colored universe on your iPhone’s screen which will give you an amazing feeling. You can interact with the universe just like the above mentioned apps. One great feature of the app is that when you will flick on the screen to explore different parts of the universe, the app automatically highlights the important objects present at that particular part. This way you will never miss any of the important objects like planet, constellation, etc.
You can choose what you want to see in the universe from the Display Settings. You can enable/disable any part or object of universe like: Atmosphere, Orbit Line, Lens Effects, Lines, Images, Stars, Planets, Constellations, etc.
4. SkyORB:
The fourth astronomy app in the list is SkyORB. It provides you with different view angles for exploring the universe. You can pick from Telescopic view, planetarium view, orbital view, etc. The unique feature of the app is that it also lets you choose the time of the day at which you want to explore the universe. For example, if the time at your location is 5 PM but you want to know how does the universe looks when its 9 PM or 9 AM, then you can do so directly with this without even waiting for that particular time.
5. Exoplanet:
The final app in this list is Exoplanet. The app has following main sections: Database, Milky Way, Exoplanet News, Correlation Diagram. The Database section has a very wide collection of all the objects of the Universe which you can surf either by going through each name or using the search bar. You can tap on any name to know more about it and to see its planetarium view. The Milky Way is the option which lets you explore each aspect of Milky Way. Using this feature, you can see that our planet Earth is just a tiny object when compared to whole galaxy. While you are exploring the Milky Way, the app also displays the distance travelled by you if you would have been travelling in reality.
The Correlation Diagram lets you choose the aspects which you want to see in the astronomical view while exploring the universe.
These were the 5 free astronomy apps for iPhone in this list. You can try them out to start exploring the universe directly on your iPhone without even spending a penny. Don’t forget to share the name of the app which you liked the most.
