CelestialGuide vs NightSkyLog

Celestial Guide is an interactive database of information about stars and planets. Its basic interface is a map of the sky as seen from any point on Earth at any point in time. The user can manually choose the time and location, or the iPhone's or iPad's GPS and clock can be used to select the current time and location. If the device is pointed at the sky, the map on the screen will be presented corresponding to the actual view in that direction. The star database includes stars brighter than magnitude 9. The user can select the minimum visible magnitude, which allows the map to conform to the stars which are visible to the user based on local viewing conditions. CelestialGuide presents accurate locations of planets and comets, including rendering of eclipses, transits and occultations that are visible from the selected location. CelestialGuide also has a database of Messier Objects. CelestialGuide also includes a Virtual Orrery, displaying the relative position of the planets and comets at any point in time.

NightSkyLog is the observing journal that lives at the eyepiece: every session with its site and sky, every object you bag, the gear you used, and the life lists that prove it happened. Start a session and grade the night the way astronomers actually do: seeing from boiling to excellent, transparency from murky to crystal, the Bortle class of your site, and the temperature. NightSkyLog computes the moon phase and illumination for the night on its own, and files sessions by observing night, so a 1 AM entry still belongs to the evening it started. The whole hunt ships in the box. All 110 Messier objects with their types, constellations, magnitudes, best months, and one-line field notes. The Moon and seven planets with what to look for on each. And 28 classic double stars, Albireo to Izar, with separations and colors. Log an object during a session and the matching checklist ticks itself off, with the date you first bagged it. The Tonight screen reads your log and the calendar: it suggests bright objects well placed this month that are still missing from your life list, shows tonight's moon, and charts your observing year: objects per month, your best night, and the kinds of objects you hunt most. Every object log carries the view through the eyepiece: which eyepiece, the magnification, a rating out of five, notes, and a sketch or photo straight from your library. Gear gets its own shelf: telescopes, eyepieces, binoculars, Barlows, and filters, with notes and how many nights each has worked. Enter focal lengths once and NightSkyLog computes magnification, exit pupil, and true field for every telescope and eyepiece pair, plus the useful ceiling for your aperture. WHAT YOU GET - Session log with seeing, transparency, Bortle class, temperature, and computed moon phase - Built-in catalog: 110 Messier objects, the Moon and 7 planets, 28 classic double stars - Life lists that check themselves off as you log, with first-bagged dates - Tonight's targets: seasonal suggestions drawn from your own gaps - Object logs with eyepiece, magnification, rating, notes, and sketch or photo - Gear shelf with magnification, exit pupil, and true field math - Session report PDF export - Sky quality reference: Bortle, seeing, and transparency scales in plain words - Syncs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud FREE AND LIFETIME Free covers a real start: 5 observing sessions, full object logging with sketches, the complete Messier checklist, and your gear shelf. Lifetime is a single purchase that unlocks unlimited sessions, the planet and double star life lists, and the session report PDF, forever. No subscription. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account of ours and no tracking. Your log lives on your device and in your private iCloud, which we cannot read. Settings has a Delete All My Data control that erases everything from your device and your iCloud. PRICING NightSkyLog Pro is a one time Lifetime purchase, not a subscription. The current price is shown in the app and on this page before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/