Cool iPhone space-watching apps
By Michael Cooney,
Network World |
Jul 7, 2011 1:00 AM
PT
NASA, space shuttle launch, star gazing, space weather lead package of cool iPhone apps
As Apple today brags that it hit the 15 billion mark for total app downloads from its iTunes App Store, we take a look at a group of apps that helped drive those numbers: space and star watching. Here we find apps that will let you get to know everything from NASA's space shuttle crews and history to how space weather can impact you and the world.
More on space:
NASA: Commercial space projects heating up
The Go Atlantis app will let you track the final mission of the venerable space shuttle. The app will also let you know when and where to look up at night to see the shuttle and the International Space Station pass overhead.
This NASA app lets you see all of the astronauts that have flown on shuttle missions. You can sort by name and mission. The "Suit Me Up" feature allows you to become a Space Shuttle astronaut.
The Hubble space telescope was in the news this week for snapping its millionth image of space. It took the historic picture of the planet HAT-P-7b, a gas giant planet larger than Jupiter orbiting a star hotter than our sun. HAT-P-7b, also known as Kepler 2b, has been studied by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler observatory after it was discovered by ground-based observations. This app, HubbleSite, takes you to the online home of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and invites you to help choose the world's most popular Hubble images.
The Star Walk -- 5 Stars Astronomy Guide
The Star Walk -- 5 Stars Astronomy Guide s a cool app that pretty much lets you find any star, planet or satellite by pointing your iPhone at the sky.
Transient Events tracks how galaxy brightness can vary and shows comets as the move across the sky. The app lets users set the types of events it will download from the SkyAlert database, which pulls in up-to-date data from a variety of telescopes.
With all of the attention the sun and its solar flares have gotten this year, space weather in general has become a hot topic, so to speak. The NASA Space Weather app provides access to space environment information from the sun to the earth, giving users a look at complex physical processes as they evolve, and how these processes affect the near-earth space environment. Enormous explosions of gas and charged particles from the sun, known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs, can be viewed on the NASA Space Weather app minutes after an eruption has been observed from satellites like the joint European Space Agency and NASA mission Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, as well as NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA says.
Space Images from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will let you see all manner of space images. JPL says its Space Images iPhone app hosts hundreds of images taken by spacecraft studying Mars, Saturn, our solar system and beyond. Find it by typing "JPL Space Images" into the App Store search bar.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is also behind Go StarGaze, an iPhone app that connects you to astronomy clubs and their stargazing events. According to JPL, users can search for events in their current location or find out what's happening across the United States.
NASA's 3D Sun lets users spin the sphere by flicking it and zoom in by pinching the screen. Real-time images used to construct the three-dimensional sphere are beamed to Earth by the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), a pair of spacecraft with a combined view of 87% of the solar surface.
Go for a ride on the moon with NASA's virtual Lunar Electric Rover. The app shows a photo gallery and information about the futuristic concept-vehicle. The game lets users pilot the moon buggy and support the activities of a functioning Lunar Outpost, NASA states.
The app lets users find out when and where their favorite solar system objects will be viewable from their location. It provides information on rise/set times, current location in the sky and viewing tips.
The NASA app lets you track all things NASA, from upcoming missions to the latest satellite images.
Soho Viewer is an application that lets users download the latest images taken by NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
The LookUp app will tell users when to look up for satellites in the night sky. According to the Orbiting Frog company the app covers pretty much anywhere in the world and predicts transits for the International Space Station, Hubble, Envisat and Genesis 1 and 2.
Want to know what's happening on Mars? The Phoenix Mars Mission app will give you a Mars weather report. Users can also grab iPhone images of Mars taken from NASA's Mars Odyssey satellite.
More on space:
NASA: Commercial space projects heating up
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