Some simply stare at the night sky and ponder their place in the universe. Others stare at the night sky and want to know the place of other things in the universe. Starmap (iPhone), and it’s more feature rich brethren, Starmap Pro (iPhone) and Starmap HD (iPad), are for both of those types of people.
Overview
Of the many useful features of the iPhone and iPad, two important ones are the GPS and compass. When you’re using Starmap to unlock the puzzles of the night sky, it uses these features to know where you’re at, and what direction and elevation you’re looking at.
You can use Starmap as simply a reference to know what stars you’re gazing at as you sit under the night sky, by panning it up, down, left and right to see a detailed on-the-fly representation of what you’re looking at, or you can use it to learn more information about what you’re viewing, and find out when and where certain planets or constellations will be visible. With the Pro and HD versions, additional features allow you to explore the sky above in greater detail, also allowing you to set alarms, and control telescopes and cameras via the app.
Starmap has information on 350,000 stars in the basic app, 2,500,000 in Pro, and 2,900,000 in the HD version. Catalogs range from SAO Partial on basic, up to Full SAO, Tycho 2, HD, and Hipparcos on Pro and HD.
I particularly enjoy the information available from the apps. The ability to tap a planet you’re viewing and bring up an information screen is invaluable to the beginning stargazer, and seasoned astronomer alike.
One feature I particularly like on the HD version is that it uses the larger real estate of the iPad screen to display more info, even allowing you to view the Wikipedia page for the body you are viewing. This is very useful for a stargazing novice, or someone like myself who used to be an amateur astronomer back in my teens, but has let that knowledge fall into the depths of his long unused brain cells.
The basic version does have a large amount of features, however the more serious you are about this subject, the more likely you are to appreciate the added features of the iPhone “Pro” edition, and the iPad “HD” edition.
Comparison Chart
A chart showing a comparison of the features between the versions can be found below.
| Starmap | Starmap Pro | Starmap HD | |
|
Target Device
|
All iPod Touch, All iPhones |
All iPod Touch, All iPhones |
All iPads |
|
Number Of Stars
|
350,000 | 2,500,000 | 2,900,000 |
|
Catalogues
|
SAO Partial | Full SAO. Tycho 2. HD. Hipparcos | Full SAO. Tycho 2. HD. Hipparcos |
|
Double Stars
|
No | 1300 WDS Entries | 1300 WDS Entries |
|
Double Star Diagrams
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
Max Magnitude
|
10 (peaked at 8 ) | 16 (peaked at 15) | 16 (peaked at 15) |
|
Min Field of View
|
13.8 | 4’5″ | 4’5″ |
|
Number of Stars with Information
|
250 | 8900 | 8900 |
|
Number of Comets
|
None | 791 | 791 |
|
Number of Asteroids
|
50 | 470,000 | 470,000 |
| Comets and Asteroids can be updated within the application. | |||
|
Dwarf Planets
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Wikipedia Links
|
No | No | Yes |
|
Deep Sky Objects
|
110 Messier 100 Abbel Clusters |
110 Messier 7840 NGC (full) 5386 IC (full) 300 Abbel Clusters Caldwell (full) |
110 Messier 7840 NGC (full) 5386 IC (full) 300 Abbel Clusters Caldwell (full) |
|
Nebula Outlines
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Tonight’s Sky
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Compass Support
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Catalogue Search
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Web Catalogue
|
No | Yes | Yes |
| 12 Millions references from Simbad | |||
|
Night Vision
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Time Slider
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Eye Piece View
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
Optics Manager
|
No | Yes | Yes |
| Eye Pieces, Barlows, Focal Reducers, Finders, Reticles, Cameras, Telescopes | |||
|
Planet Satelites
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Twilight Views
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
Visibility Along The Year
|
No | No | Yes |
|
Featured Objects
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
Meteor Zones
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Telrad
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
GPS
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Accelerometer Control
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Map Colors
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Video out Support
|
No | No | Yes |
|
Editable Menu
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
Alarms
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
Photo Timers
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
Notes
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
Finder Arrow
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Custom locations
|
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Languages
|
French, Spanish, English, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Suomi, Portuguese. | ||
Conclusion
For the casual stargazer, or the serious astronomy buff, Starmap offers something on every level. Casual information about the night sky is quickly available, as are additional features in the Pro and HD versions that allow you to explore the sky above in even greater detail.
Starmap is a full featured, nicely laid out app, with numerous features to help you explore the fascinating world of astronomy. There are more features on the different versions than I would have time to explore if I had used them for a week, much less the time frame I had for this review. I highly recommend them to stargazers of all knowledge and skill levels.
Starmap ($11.99, link) and Starmap Pro ($18.99, link) for the iPhone, and Starmap HD for the iPad ($18.99, link) are available immediately from the App Store.
Rating: 4/5[rating:4]
Pros
- The huge amount of information available to the user
- Ease of use
- Extensive help screens
- Ability to alter the display to match your viewing conditions
Cons
- Would like to see a beginner mode, with with a step-by-step tutorial available to first time users
- The price seems high at first, but once I explored the apps, I could see the value of the work that has gone into them
