Star Walk Vs. SkyView Vs. Star Chart…Which App Is Best For A Child Who Wants To Be An Astronomer? Vote Now!

Photo from Star Walk

One of the greatest merits of astronomy applications is that they can turn a smartphone into a fantastic telescope. Star Walk, SkyView and Star Chart are the most popular apps for performing this type of magic.

They are all realistic, convenient, affordable – and in the top 10 in the astronomy app store in the U.S.

Star Walk is special because it has been ranked first for a long time. However, if your kids love stars but you don’t have the budget for an expensive telescope, any of these applications may very well serve your purpose. We’ve listed the main features of each (according to their designers) below.

SMATOOS wants to know what you think! Which of these three apps is the best for kids? Vote for your favorite and we’ll see which app is the true star!

◆  Star Walk 

Photo from Star Walk

•  Main Features

-       Augmented Reality for iPhone 4 and 4th gen iPod Touch

-       Star Spotter: real time motion tracking tells you what stars are above you in the sky

-       Satellites Tracking: never miss ISS flying over your head again

-       Time Machine: see what the sky looks like at any moment in the past or future

-       Picture of the Day: stunning pictures from deep space

-       Night Mode: preserve your dark vision to see more stars

-       Search: wondering where Jupiter is right now? Arrow will guide you to it

-       Big Screen: connect a second display to view the sky on a big screen

+  AirPrint, Moon Phases, Info, View from any location, TelRad, Sharing, Bookmarks, and more!

◆  SkyView

Photo from Sky View

•  Main Features

-       SkyPaths: Select the Sun, Moon, or a planet and see its path through the sky for a 24-hour period.

-       Change the Date and Time: Travel to the future or the past and see the sky on different dates and times! Use SkyView to see how the planets will align on interesting dates such as December 21st, 2012!

-       Amazing 3D Graphics: Surround yourself with beautiful 3D graphics of the Sun, Moon, planets, stars, constellations and satellites as you point the camera to the sky.

-       Stars and Constellations: Stargazing has never been so easy! Just aim and tap the screen to identify hundreds of stars! Find your favorite constellations as they fade in and out of the camera view

◆  Star Chart

Photo from Star Chart

•  Main Features

-       Just point and view. No need to scroll around the screen to find out what you are looking at.

-       Alternatively, look around the sky using finger gestures – perfect for armchair astronomers!

-       Supports dynamic device orientation viewing. Allows you to view the night sky whilst holding your iPhone/iPad at any angle.

-       Accurately depicts all the visible stars of the northern and southern hemispheres – a total of over 5000 stars!

-       Display all the planets of the solar system, plus the sun and the moon.

-       Displays all 88 constellations, with constellation imagery based on the beautiful artwork by 15^th century astronomer Johannes Hevelius.

-       Include the complete Messier catalogue of exotic deep sky objects.

-       Tap on anything in the sky and get the facts on what you are looking at, including distance and brightness.

-       Very powerful zoom function, lets you view the sky in extra detail, using intuitive finger gestures.

-       Fully configurable. Star Chart displays only the sky objects that you are interested in.

-       Allows you to view the sky underneath the horizon (unlike other more expensive applications). So now you can see whether the sun is, even at night!

-       Manually set your location to find out what the sky looks like from anywhere in the world.

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By Steve JO
Steve JO has a degree in Economics and a strong interest in education. He believes that SmartLearning has the potential to connect people around the world and to create entirely new ways of learning.