If you're an astrophotographer, you'll be interested in Night Sky 11's focus, noise reduction and ISO adjustment that are included, although they do make the interface appear quite cluttered. The AR Grand Orrery function also overlays a whole solar system map onto a surface of your choosing and lets you interact with it. When you invest in Night Sky +, you have access to the full 1.7 billion star library, which is restricted in the free version. The premium version does set itself apart from the free one through a variety of different features. Night Sky 11 also lets you set notifications for things like the best times to look for the International Space Station (ISS) which we thought was handy. The app has an AR star map, and you can simply point your device to the heavens wherever you are to reveal the constellations, galaxies and other objects in the night sky. That said, it is usable on anything from a Mac PC to an Apple watch. It's an aesthetically-pleasing, easy-to-use app with one big caveat: it only works on Apple devices. Night Sky 11 is a relatively new stargazing app, but don't let that deter you. Download PhotoPills for iOS and Android.

However, some of the other apps in this guide might prove to be simpler and cheaper options for beginners or more casual users. The PhotoPills app is perfect for serious astrophotographers who want to plan their shots carefully in advance and can take full advantage of its wealth of specialist features. In our review, we also tested out the Visibility GC feature and were able to use this to take some stunning photos of the Milky Way's galactic core. When you're out in the field shooting on location, the AR and Night AR modes even allow you to overlay the paths of the sun and the moon on the sky in front of you. The app's ability to trace the path of upcoming events like lunar and solar eclipses across a world map enables you to plan the perfect location and timing for your shots well in advance. The Planner feature shows you the exact sightline, azimuth and altitude for the sun and the moon. It especially excels at helping you to capture great shots of events in the night sky behind a specific landmark, which you can then share with the wider PhotoPills community.īecause it has so many functionalities, PhotoPills takes some time to fully get the hang of. In addition to this, it can suggest an appropriate lens to use and calculate the optimal exposure and depth of field settings for your target object. It scored top marks in our PhotoPills app review and will be particularly appealing to astrophotographers since it helps you to work out the date, time and the best shooting spot to capture your chosen celestial event. PhotoPills is a sophisticated stargazing app, calculator, map and celestial almanac rolled into one.

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