CLUSTER DESKTOP-NIGHT-PLANETARIUM · 23 ENTRIES · EARLIEST ENTRY 2011-03-04
Astronomy sky charting apps
This cluster spans planetarium, stargazing, and observation-planning tools that render or identify the night sky, covering desktop, terminal, mobile, and AR form factors. Its dated history is thin—only 10 entries before the index start, scattered from 2011-03 to 2026-06 with no clear trend—so its shape cannot be reliably read. Traction leaders are KStars, Smart Radio Telescope, and Sky Map, each with 0 stars.
Entry timeline
ENTRY TIMELINE
Each bar is the month a member carries, which is a creation date where the source published one and a crawl date otherwise. Nothing in the index was found before 11 August 2026, and coverage broadened sharply on 14–15 August, so a bar from then on reports how much we found that month, not how much was built; an earlier bar reports how far back a member's own source dated it — not how long we have been watching.
Members by activity
Activity signals, not revenue.
Build origin · 3 hand-coded · 17 unlabelled
Operator · 2 hobby · 3 commercial · 1 enterprise · 13 open source · 1 unlabelled
Two labels per entry, never collapsed into one: how it was built, and who stands behind it. Counted over the 20 listed below. Unlabelled means nothing has decided yet — not that the answer is small.
- 01AstroClock0★1 moliveopen sourceAstronomy clock app that shows the current sky above a chosen location, with the Sun as hour hand and rotating constellations.
- 02KStars0★12 dayslivehand-codedopen sourceDesktop astronomy simulation that plots the night sky with stars, planets, and deep-sky objects, offering observation planning and astrophotography.
- 03astrio-app0★4 dayslivehobbyMobile app that displays an interactive star map and planet positions, supporting ten languages.
- 04Smart Radio Telescope0★10 daysliveopen sourceCompanion app that controls a self-built radio telescope mount over local WiFi and lets users point the dish using celestial coordinates.
- 05Sky Map0★10 daysliveopen sourceApp that turns a phone into a virtual night sky, identifying stars, planets, constellations and other celestial objects in real time.
- 06MA Astronomy0★2 moliveopen sourceAugmented reality app that helps users identify planets, stars, and constellations in the night sky.
- 07Stellarium Mobile - Star Map0★1 molivecommercialPlanetarium app that displays a realistic night sky, allowing users to identify stars, constellations, and celestial objects by pointing their device.
- 08Sky Guide0★2 moliveenterpriseAstronomy app that identifies stars, planets, and constellations when pointed at the sky, with time-travel controls and satellite tracking.
- 09Stellarium0★3 molivehand-codedopen sourceA desktop planetarium that renders realistic starry skies and enables exploration of celestial objects.
- 10Sky Tonight - Stargazing Guide0★3 molivecommercialStargazing app that identifies celestial objects in real time, shows sky maps, and provides augmented reality views and astronomical event alerts.
- 11Planisphere0★1 yrabandonedliveopen sourceMobile app that displays an interactive star chart showing stars, constellations, and planets for a chosen time and location.
- 12skywindow0★3 mo—Mobile app that helps amateur astronomers plan observations by predicting which celestial objects are visible from their location and horizon.
- 13astroterm-bin0★6 mostaleliveopen sourceTerminal planetarium that renders an interactive map of stars and constellations.
- 14PicPlanner0★9 mostaleliveopen sourceDesktop app that calculates sun, moon, and milky way positions to help photographers plan shoot times and locations.
- 15skyterm0★9 mostaleliveopen sourceTerminal-based astronomy application that provides sky charts, celestial object information, and observation tools.
- 16T CrB Detector0★9 mostaleliveopen sourceMobile app that notifies stargazers when the star T Coronae Borealis explodes and shows its current magnitude.
- 17SkyView® Lite0★1 yrabandonedlivecommercialStargazing app that identifies stars, constellations, and satellites by pointing a device at the sky.
- 18luna-blog-app0★1 yrabandonedlivehobbyBlog app for creating, editing, and browsing posts about astronomy topics like stars and galaxies.
- 19kstars0★unknownliveopen sourceDesktop astronomy application that simulates the night sky from any location and time, offering observation planning, calculations, and telescope control tools.
- 20Stellarium0★unknownlivehand-codedopen sourceDesktop planetarium application that renders realistic real-time night skies with stars, planets, and nebulae, letting users explore astronomy from multiple cultural perspectives.
Ranked by traction, highest first, and paged 20 at a time — this is a window on the cluster, never the whole of it. Ties are broken by a stable id so a product cannot appear on two pages or fall between them. Browse every cluster.