Star gazing app

[RBM]

A while back at an out door function  a guy over heard us trying to recognize various stars or planets. He pulled out his fone and pointed it to stars in question and named them one after the other. Sounds to good to be true...well yes, for me and most others. He stated it cost just $5 for the app in Hong Kong.

Well something came up today and reminded me of this evening, so did a simple google search and low and behold its true...

 

Wonder how many others were aware of this.

[MikeSwede]

Aware I was, tried it I never did. Now, with you reminding me, I will.

This is one of those apps you want stucked away in your phone until you need it. Need? Well, it will entertain, it will clear out any UFO vs satellites or space stations, and it will most of all, get you to think of things far beyond daily routines.

[BrettGC]

I use Starwalk, big download but free.  Point it at the sky and it will tell you what you're looking at. 

[MikeSwede]

7 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

I use Starwalk, big download but free.  Point it at the sky and it will tell you what you're looking at. 

Will try it out, good idea to test fun apps out.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

Google has one for Android, free (Google Sky? maybe).  I used it on my Motorola in the US, on my MyPhone over here, but not on my Samsung. As expensive as that darn thing was, it does not have an internal compass?  So the star maps don't work. GPS uses network guessing for location?  Very disappointed. 

[MikeSwede]

1 hour ago, MikeSwede said:

Will try it out, good idea to test fun apps out.

100mb to download, that is quite a block of data. Lots of people complaining over a bug in last update, lets see how it handles on my phone.

[MikeSwede]

21 minutes ago, Tukaram (Tim) said:

[…]but not on my Samsung. As expensive as that darn thing was, it does not have an internal compass?  So the star maps don't work. GPS uses network guessing for location?  Very disappointed. 

Good pointer, and a reason, I think, for some complaints over that other app too. I am surprised so many phones lack compass and favour gps. As a sailor, I stress that the opposite + dead reckoning is what brings me home safely.

[RBM]

10 hours ago, MikeSwede said:

Good pointer, and a reason, I think, for some complaints over that other app too. I am surprised so many phones lack compass and favour gps. As a sailor, I stress that the opposite + dead reckoning is what brings me home safely.

Excuse what probably appears to be stupid question but....Does one need to have the compass and GPS in fone?  My Samsung has just GPS

[MikeSwede]

No, you do not need any of those two, they are extra functions. If you have a GPS, it can determine its position globally, not only where you are, but on what altitude and what speed you move at too. If you stand still, it will have a bit of trouble telling which way you are looking. This is where a compass becomes useful, it tells the app where you are looking (or rather, where the phone is pointed).

If you have both of those, plus a gyro-sensor inside, the phone can quickly decide if it is tilted (gyro), how it is held (compass) and what you can see from there (gps).

Edited May 11, 2016 by MikeSwede
Early

[Tukaram (Tim)]

2 hours ago, RBM said:

Excuse what probably appears to be stupid question but....Does one need to have the compass and GPS in fone?  My Samsung has just GPS

 

The problem with not having the compass is the phone can tell (with GPS) where you are - but not where you are pointing the phone.  For the star apps to work, the app needs to know what part of the sky you are pointing at.  On my new phone (Samsung) the app turns on but cannot tell me what star I am looking at, because it does not have a compass.