Why is this individual project exciting the astronomy community?

To observe the starry sky, it is often not enough to point the telescope at the sky and hope. If you really want to put something in front of your lens, you can use useful apps. They show, for example, when the stars should be visible, what turbulent weather conditions are expected, and how the telescope should be positioned.

The new and free star app also has many of these functions. Under the name “Astro appDeveloper “sshh12” initially released the app in a beta version with basic functionality. Reddit The response from stargazers has already been overwhelming.

What makes Astro so exciting?

In the app you first have to enter your location with latitude and longitude. This allows Astro to determine your location relative to celestial bodies. On the home page, the app shows you all the things you can – theoretically – see in the coming hours.

You can use the “Altitude Chart” to see how high planets, nebulae and galaxies are in the sky at certain times. You can also use the “3D View” to determine the compass direction and thus align your telescope.

Especially interesting for aspiring stargazers: Using the search function at the top right, you can not only search for objects, but also view community lists. These include all the star systems, red giants, or the most popular celestial bodies in the Reddit group “r/astrophotography”.

The lists are useful even if you don't have professional equipment. The “Naked Eye” list shows you celestial objects that you can see with the naked eye as well.

What happens next with the Astro app?

In the future, sshh12 plans to make further improvements to the one-person project. These include high-resolution weather forecasts, offline support, and a gallery where users can share their observation recordings. The latter feature in particular could also be hidden behind a paywall to cover server costs.

Also interesting: in the plans, “sshh12” talks about a function with which you can display what the celestial body you are looking at should look like on your telescope. To do this, you will have to specify the focal length and model of your telescope. In conjunction with the location and weather conditions, the Astro app can show you whether the celestial body is visible or whether you should choose another day for it.

Thanks to the great feedback from the community, many new ideas have emerged in a very short time that could further improve Astro. This is exactly what makes the project so exciting. These ideas could eventually make Astro a comprehensive solution for amateur astronomers.