3 Awesome Stargazing Apps in 2022

Identifying night sky objects is a difficult task. If you know what you're looking for, you can easily see celestial objects like planets, nebulas, and galaxies with your naked eye. Because the night sky is a constantly changing display, specific tools are required to track the celestial bodies. You can gain a better understanding of the universe if you can identify night sky objects.

Objects visible by naked in the night sky and their appearance

While some stars are dim but there are some brightest objects in the night sky that are easily visible to the naked eye.

Here is the list of the objects and their appearances which you can easily identify in the night sky.

1. Mercury - twinkles, and flashes a bright yellow color.

2. Venus - appears as a bright silver color star.

3. Mars - appears reddish orange.

4. Jupiter - Throughout the night, it glows white. 

5. Saturn - looks like a planet with a yellowish-white hue.

6. Orion nebula - appears in pink color in the Orion constellation.

7. Andromeda Galaxy - It appears as a white smudge in the sky when the sky is clear.

8. Pleiades - It appears as a bunch of stars.

and much more

How to track celestial objects

To track celestial objects, you can use stargazing Apps for locating and mapping galaxies, stars, and planets from almost any location on Earth. Stargazing apps use the GPS on your smartphone to locate constellations and deep-space objects no matter where you are. When combined with the best telescopes or binoculars, the stargazing apps are an extremely useful tool.

Best free stargazing apps for tracking stars, constellations and much more

Here is the list of top free stargazing apps.

1. Stellarium 

Stellarium app is the mobile version of the popular open-source desktop application. The sky you see on your phone will be very similar to the real sky above you. You can find and label your favorite constellations and planets, as well as track satellites as they move across the sky. More features, such as telescope control, are available with a paid subscription.

Download - Stellarium

2. Sky walk 2

The Star Walk 2 uses your phone's camera to view the sky, and it overlays constellations and planets in the direction you're facing. You can track the movement of planets and there is a soothing audio track playing in the background which elevates your experience. If you purchase the ad-free version, you can see objects like the International Space Station and Starlink satellites. There is no telescope control in the app.

Download - Starwalk 2

Skyview lite

Skyview app has an interactive star map that recognizes night-sky options and constellations, displaying their paths when they cross the center of the screen, but you must be very precise in your positioning to obtain the necessary information. The free version contains fewer details about stars and constellations than the paid version. You can upgrade to get additional star packs, satellites, and even a music package. The telescope integration is limited with this app.

Download - Skyview lite