# NearLight — Telescope, Space & Relativity > 3D space simulator for exploring star systems and calculating relativistic travel times. (iPhone/iPad app by Marc Bachmann.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nearlight/id6766338717 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Marc Bachmann](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896278158) - Category: Education, Entertainment - Price: $3.99 - Rating: 5.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings · 7 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 17 · 240 MB - Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany) - Released: 2026-05-11 - Data updated: 2026-08-23 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nearlight/id6766338717/reviews.md ## What is NearLight? NearLight is a 3D space simulator that spans the whole journey of an astronomy fan: from a real telescope under tonight's sky to a relativistic starship and the edge of a black hole. Explore the Solar System on exact orbits, fly through 1,000 light-years of real stars, and see with your own eyes what the Lorentz factor does to time. Is your favorite sci-fi movie physically right? Check it. YOUR NIGHT SKY, TONIGHT Step onto a field on Earth and look up: the real sky for your location and moment: by GPS or from an offline catalog of 34,000 cities. Six telescopes stand ready, from a 70 mm beginner refractor to a 12-inch truss Dobsonian, with eight eyepieces, a Barlow, Moon and nebula filters (UHC, OIII), every instrument with its true magnification, field of view, image orientation and brightness. The full Messier catalog is in the sky: over 40 objects as real as astrophotographs at their exact positions and sizes, every object rebuilt from reference photos, 341,000 Tycho-2 stars deep in the field. Light pollution (Bortle scale), atmospheric seeing, twinkling, horizon extinction, even moonlight washing the galaxies out of the eyepiece, this sky behaves like the real one. A Redlight mode protects your dark adaptation. Wind the clock to August 12, 2026 and stand in Iceland or Spain: the total solar eclipse happens with true geometry, corona included. "Tonight's Sky" builds your observing plan, the "Top Objects now" wheel rolls absolute beginners to the ten best sights of the moment and all the Messier objects wait to be discovered, for good. THE SOLAR SYSTEM The Sun, all 8 planets and their major moons on ephemeris-true orbits, validated against JPL data: moon transits and shadow events at the correct times, Saturn's ring shadow, true axial tilts. Classical Spaceflight flies real missions: departure burn, coast, flip, capture burn into orbit, including Voyager-class gravity assists past Jupiter. INTERSTELLAR Search and inspect 8,000+ real stars with names, distances, stellar data, exoplanet hosts and their neighbors within 10 light-years. Plan relativistic journeys in Constant-c or Constant-g mode with acceleration, coast and braking phases. Compare Onboard Travel Time (OTT) with Earth Travel Time (ETT), read the length-contracted distance, peak speed and the energy bill (Joule, TWh, PWh or "Sun-output time"). Ride along in three cameras and near light speed the cockpit shows real relativistic optics: star aberration, Doppler colour shift and beaming. THE WHOLE MILKY WAY Pull back until the galaxy fits on screen: 100,000 light-years across, four spiral arms, the barred core: shaped from the NASA/JPL photograph down to the dust lanes and the red glow of its star-forming regions, with up to 450,000 stars drawn at once. Sol sits where it really does, 27,000 light-years out on its thin local arm. Pick any point and a route runs there from home, telling you the distance, the region you are aiming at: bulge, inner disk, rim and whether you are heading coreward or out. Then fly it, with the same relativistic clocks: a trip to the galactic centre costs a few decades on board and 27,000 years on Earth. BLACK HOLES 70+ known black holes from TON 618 to fictional Gargantua, rendered with a scientific Kerr ray tracer. Change mass and spin, sink toward the event horizon or the innermost orbit, and watch two clocks drift apart: one hour here, seven years on Earth, the Interstellar scenario, on your own screen. 6-DoF navigation: rotate, pinch-zoom, pan on every axis Auto rotation, labels, chase and cockpit cams, one-tap Reset View Ambient space music and living nightscape sounds. Native on Mac, iPad and iPhone. English and German, fully localized including VoiceOver Fully offline: no account, no tracking, and your location never leaves your device. ## Key features - 3D space exploration - Relativistic physics calculations - Time dilation visualization - Black hole exploration - Star system inspection - Interstellar travel planning - Multiple camera views ## Recent user reviews (7 of 7) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nearlight/id6766338717/reviews.md ### 4/5 — Very sophisticated and helpful support from the developer *2026-08-10* Issue I had with the app running on an old iPad were quickly resolved. It was quite fun using the telescope mode which does a good job of showing how objects look through eyepieces. Made me want to go out and use my real scope! **Developer response:** At least thanks for telling me. Already have a hotfix in place in 1.7.0 for old devices. Awaiting approval, out shortly. Sorry for this. ### 4/5 — Initial Impressions *2026-07-27* I liked the tool but thought the overall description and instructions could be developed further. Include some examples of how it can be used. Otherwise I like the graphics, sound etc. I did think it would be fun to be able to zoom in on solar system planets to enhance their available detail, eg there’s a lot of detail that could be added to a zoomed-in Mars **Developer response:** Version 1.7 will introduce a Getting Started Guide that explains the UI and features in more detail. The textures can still be improved, at least on Mac. Noted. Thank you. ### 4/5 — This app is good but one thing… *2026-07-17* This app is good, but needs updates more often, and it needs to have a universe map. A Universe Map but not a night sky. **Developer response:** Thank you! I‘ll keep updating as frequent as possible. Promise. Universe is the last big step which is on the roadmap. But incredibly hard to design. But I’m on it. ### 5/5 — Great *2026-06-13* A great app that isn't limited to the solar system. It's great fun just letting your imagination run wild. ### 5/5 — My Google Earth for Space *2026-06-11* I'm not an astronomer, but I just love "playing" with this app, and it never ceases to amaze me because I simply can't imagine these vast scales. The app runs very smoothly and stably. Most of all, I love the interactive 3D view of the Milky Way and the black hole. ### 5/5 — Nearlight Rez. *2026-06-10* NearLight is an outstanding app for anyone interested in space exploration, relativity, and realistic science fiction. Its combination of engaging visuals, scientific accuracy, and interactive simulations makes it one of the most compelling applications in this field. For astronomy and physics enthusiasts, it comes highly recommended **Developer response:** Can people work without texting AI today? :) Thank you very much nonethless SpaceConq, appreciate it strongly! ### 5/5 — Cool one *2026-05-31* Thought it’s more like a game but it’s hardcore physics behind it. Love it so far! **Developer response:** Since it´s physics based, gamification wasn´t really on my mind :) Thank you! ## Frequently asked questions about NearLight ### What is NearLight? NearLight is a 3D space simulator that allows you to explore nearby star systems, visualize interstellar distances, and calculate travel times using both classic and relativistic physics. It's designed for astronomy fans, sci-fi lovers, and physics enthusiasts. ### What kind of physics does NearLight use? NearLight utilizes both classic physics and relativistic physics, including concepts like time dilation and the Lorentz factor. You can see how space travel changes when relativity is considered, especially near massive objects like black holes. ### Can I explore our Solar System in NearLight? Yes, NearLight features a Kepler-accurate 3D scene of our Solar System, including the Sun, all 8 planets, and 8 major moons on real JPL orbits. It also includes a day/night Earth, Saturn's rings, and a textured sky. ### How many stars can I explore in NearLight? NearLight allows you to explore over 8,000 real stars within 1,000 light-years of your location. You can search and inspect these stars, including their known names, distances, and stellar data. ### Does NearLight have ads? No, NearLight does not contain advertisements. It is a paid application with no ads to disrupt your exploration experience. ### What devices does NearLight support? NearLight is supported on Mac, iPhone, and iPad devices, allowing for exploration across multiple Apple platforms. ### How often is NearLight updated? The latest version of NearLight is 1.5.5, and it was last updated on June 25, 2026. This indicates a relatively active development cycle for the application. ### What is the price of NearLight? NearLight is available for a one-time purchase of $1.99. This grants you access to all its features without any additional in-app purchases or subscriptions. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.7.0 — 2026-08-10 NEW IN 1.7.0 • Start Guide: an interactive tour of all five views, for newcomers and pros (Mac & iPad) • NearLight now speaks French • Revised Optics: Newtonians show coma, the achromat refractors wear their violet fringe, bright planets dazzle the eye — and Mercury's day side finally shines • Calibrated under a real night sky: object brightness per Bortle class, the eyepiece background now carries the light-pollution glow, and the field stop is pitch black • Red light mode in both observing views and the app remembers red light across restarts • Audio mute is beeing saved across restarts • Smoother sky transitions, the view reaches the zenith, and the target readout no longer flickers between close objects • New filter sounds, a Jeep at the Rocky Mountains site, twilight colors on the Moon's shadow side • Easier on the battery: GPS takes a single fix and the renderer rests when you do FIXED • Startup crash on older iPads (4 GB devices) ### 1.6.8 — 2026-08-06 SIX TELESCOPES - From Beginner to Pro • New: 305/1500 truss-tube Dobsonian. the 12-inch light bucket for deep sky • New: 203/2032 Schmidt-Cassegrain, a folded tube with ~1.7× more magnification and the mirrored image of the real thing • New: two beginner scopes, a 70/500 refractor and a 130/650 Newtonian • Eyepieces are now limited by the tube's field stop, and every telescope type shows its correct image orientation "TOP OBJECTS NOW" - For Beginners A golden rolling wheel at the left edge lists the ten best sights of this very moment: the Moon, the planets and the best-placed Messier objects. Spin it like a picker wheel, let it snap, and the camera slews there. Can be turned off; your choice is remembered. MOONLIGHT EATS DEEP SKY The Moon now brightens the sky around itself: a cool wash to the naked eye, and at the eyepiece the reason a galaxy vanishes on a moonlit night, driven by phase, altitude and separation, just like outside. ALSO NEW • Venus very bright through the eyepiece, the way she really does • A tent with a warm lantern camps beside the field • The telescope info explains the Barlow and the filters; one filter thread, as in real life IMPROVED & FIXED • German is now complete, including VoiceOver and every tooltip • iPhone: much lighter on memory, smooth scrolling in the lower window, and the audio window folds itself away after use • Faster launch; low-RAM iPads no longer keep every visited tab in memory • Stability: rare crashes from the 3D render thread eliminated • Wind turbine finally spins the right way ### 1.6.4 — 2026-07-23 Total solar eclipses you can see live Just in time for the total solar eclipse of 12 August 2026 over Iceland and Spain: pick your location, wind the clock to the event, and totality happens exactly where and when it really will. The Sun's glare gives way to a living corona, and the crickets fall silent until the light returns. Real geometry throughout: A spot just outside the path shows only a partial, and annular eclipses stay ring-shaped. It rests on a precise lunar theory (validated against NASA/JPL to ~1.5 minutes) and full modelling of the observer's lunar parallax. For best view, chose Zaragoza, Spain. Total Eclipse begins around 20:25! Also new: • Choose your location by GPS or from 34,000 cities with local time • Two telescope types: 102/1000 refractor and a new 203/1200 Dobsonian • 341,000 real stars in the eyepiece, gently fading in for the naked eye too • Planets at their true telescope size • Truer Human Eye View, a more realistic finder, seamless night ambience, music on launch ### 1.6.3 — 2026-07-17 Update 1.6.3: • A real sense of scale: the Earth view now zooms 4× deeper, with all objects recalibrated against real astrophotography — galaxies resolve into separate eyepiece fields, and Jupiter and Saturn appear at their true telescope size • 15 new Messier photo objects — 43 in total • True full-screen on iPhone and iPad • New Center button re-centres your selected sky target • Journeys to moons now report real travel times, hidden scenes no longer drain the battery • Fully offline — the app requests no network access at all ### 1.6.2 — 2026-07-16 New in 1.6.2 - 3 additional Saturn moons: Rhea, Iapetus and Enceladus, with correct position. - Correct axial tilt for Saturn, Mars and Neptune: rings and moons now follow the real tilted equatorial plane. Moon positions, phases and periods are calibrated against JPL Horizons. - Mars now has the correct surface rotation, and Neptune carries Triton on its real inclined retrograde orbit. - Venus, Jupiter and Saturn now shine as bright points in wide-angle view, just like in the real sky. - Atmospheric extinction near the horizon: the Moon, planets and deep-sky objects become dimmer and redder close to the horizon. - Right-click toggles the telescope on Mac. Improved - Eyepieces now dim extended objects realistically: a short eyepiece, such as 3.2 mm, is about 10× darker than a long eyepiece, such as 24 mm, for nebulae, galaxies, planets and the Moon. Fixed - Approach to tilted moons now lands on the actual orbit instead of the ecliptic shadow, with coplanar arrival. - Planets now sit correctly on their own orbit lines. Neptune in particular was visibly offset. - Calmer eyepiece image, with banding removed from the vignette and seeing filter. - iPad calendar: time wheels now scroll properly, with the clock paused while the picker is open. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-23.*