NearLight

Look up through a telescope, right where you're standing. The Earth view's new telescope mode lets you observe the real night sky the way an amateur astronomer does: • Planets and moons are now clickable sky targets: pick them, or any star or Messier object, from the new Planets / Stars / Messier list, and the view slews straight to it. • EQ Tracking holds your target centred as the sky rotates, like an equatorial mount. • Manual focus: switch Autofocus off and rack the focus wheel by hand to find the perfect sharp point, every eyepiece change nudges it out, just like the real thing. • Redlight night-vision mode washes the whole app deep red to protect your dark-adapted eyes. • Zoom now reaches 20×, so you can inspect Andromeda and the Messier clusters without an eyepiece. Solar System: real mission physics. • Gravity-assist routes are rebuilt the way NASA plots them: two transfer arcs meeting at Jupiter, bending around the correct side, with live flyby telemetry (approach speed, required bend, periapsis radius). • Better launch windows: the planner tells you when no real slingshot exists and scans 14 years ahead for the next one. • Planet positions now use JPL ephemerides, matching the real sky across centuries. Also in this update • Andromeda now sits the right way up. • Smoother, faster performance and a quicker first load of the Earth view. • Fixes for an iPhone crash and the telescope view in landscape. Clear skies!