Star Gazer’s Dream: Google SkyMap Android App
I’ve always been fascinated by stars, planets, and outer space in general. If it weren’t for the fact that Astronomy entailed way more math than I would have expected, perhaps I would even have majored in it in college.
If you are even slightly interested in the night sky you’re likely to find Google’s Sky Map App for Android pretty sweet. SkyMap will allow you to find planets stars, planets, and constellations, but allow you to identify the celestial bodies you are looking at in the night sky.
To find the app, just search the marketplace for Google Sky Map. When you find it, click Install.
Take note of the resources that the application has access to and click OK if you’ll cool with it.
The first time you open the App you’ll need to press Accept to the EULA.
There are two “modes.” Automatic mode allows you to just point your phone at the sky like you were taking a picture and the sky will be displayed on your screen.
It will display names of the stars, planets, and constellations.
The sky will appear black at night and it will be blue during the day.
Tap on the screen to pop-up options you can turn on or off.
In thew example below, you can see that I have labelled the different option that can be turned on and off. I have theConstellations turned off.
You can also switch to Manual mode. This will allow you to scroll around the screen by flicking the screen with your finger. to find different star, planets, or constellations.Tap the screen once to bring up the icon at the lower right corner, and then tap this icon to switch back and forth from Automatic to Manual mode.
By selecting the Menu button on the phone, you can bring up additional options.
Night mode switches the screen to all red and black for easy night viewing.
The Gallery gives you images of Nebulae, galaxies, and such.
Tap on any of the gallery picture to bring up more detail.
Really, really a cool app if you are into astronomy. You can find in the Android Market (Google SkyMap) Check out more details direct from Google SkyMap site.
Category: Android
