"Starwalk" is an iPhone Augmented Reality App aimed at Amateur Astronomers or those who have a general interest in the sky and stars. I use the app extensively, so am very familiar with its uses, advantages and disadvantages. On a recent stargazing trip with a professional astronomer, he was in fact incredibly impressed and later went on to buy the app himself.
The concept is simple. Launch the app, hold your iPhone up to the sky and using your phone's compass and tilt sensor, the screen displays an interactive sky map of the stars you are facing. As we have came to expect of technology these days, a simple pinch zooms in on the map. Scrolling across can be done manually using the finger, or by moving the phone itself to point toward the area of the sky under investigation.
One of the most useful points of this app is its ability to be fast forwarded in time. By this, I mean, pick a date and time in the future or the past and the app can automatically display the night sky as it will be or was. When we had planned the stargazing trip 2 months in advance, this feature proved incredibly useful for discovering some information about the stars we would see on the night. I have also rewound time back to the date I was born, for some true astrological nostalgia.
The app also comes with a handy "night mode" which changes all fonts from green to red. The reason being that the human eye adjusts to the dark night sky very slowly. Any lights or brightness will rapidly adjust the eye back to seeing in lighter conditions, to avoid damage to the eye. However of all the colours, the eye is least affected by the red part of the spectrum. Viewing the screen in red thus allows the user to maintain their dark adjusted eyes.
Overall, this app is well designed, full of useful features for both the curious stargazer and the full time astronomer. It's something which can be used again and again, the novelty rarely wearing off since the sky is such a dynamic, constantly changing beauty. I would give it a 9/10.
The concept is simple. Launch the app, hold your iPhone up to the sky and using your phone's compass and tilt sensor, the screen displays an interactive sky map of the stars you are facing. As we have came to expect of technology these days, a simple pinch zooms in on the map. Scrolling across can be done manually using the finger, or by moving the phone itself to point toward the area of the sky under investigation.
One of the most useful points of this app is its ability to be fast forwarded in time. By this, I mean, pick a date and time in the future or the past and the app can automatically display the night sky as it will be or was. When we had planned the stargazing trip 2 months in advance, this feature proved incredibly useful for discovering some information about the stars we would see on the night. I have also rewound time back to the date I was born, for some true astrological nostalgia.
The app also comes with a handy "night mode" which changes all fonts from green to red. The reason being that the human eye adjusts to the dark night sky very slowly. Any lights or brightness will rapidly adjust the eye back to seeing in lighter conditions, to avoid damage to the eye. However of all the colours, the eye is least affected by the red part of the spectrum. Viewing the screen in red thus allows the user to maintain their dark adjusted eyes.
Overall, this app is well designed, full of useful features for both the curious stargazer and the full time astronomer. It's something which can be used again and again, the novelty rarely wearing off since the sky is such a dynamic, constantly changing beauty. I would give it a 9/10.
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