StarTeller vs Telescope Log

Introducing StarTeller for iOS: your personal guide to the night sky, built for astrophotographers who refuse to miss a shot. StarTeller takes the guesswork out of planning your next imaging session. With a catalog of over 15,000 deep-sky objects at your fingertips, you'll know exactly when each target rises, peaks, and sets, down to the minute, so you can make every clear night count. Whether you're chasing faint nebulae, distant galaxies, or glittering star clusters, StarTeller tells you the best night to image each object from your exact location. See how long each target will be above the horizon, check its coordinates, and preview reference images, all before you ever step outside. Built as a planning companion for your telescope rig, StarTeller helps you build a session plan around what the sky is actually offering tonight. No more scrolling forums or cross-referencing almanacs. Just open the app, pick your targets, and know exactly when to shoot them. All visibility calculations run on your device with precise astronomical math, no internet required. Reference images load online, or download them in Settings for offline use. No AI-generated answers, just deterministic astronomy math that works anywhere, including dark sites with no signal. StarTeller Features: - 15,000+ deep-sky objects across the Messier, NGC, IC, SH2, Barnard, Caldwell, Lynds, Melotte, and other catalogs - Full visibility data for every object: rise, peak, and set times, altitude arc, observing duration, nights visible per year from your location, magnitude, angular size, and coordinates in J2000 or JNow - Real reference photos for every target, so you know what you're aiming at before you set up - Search by object name, catalog ID (e.g. M42, NGC 6992), or constellation; filter and sort by type, catalog, altitude, size, and best date - Interactive sky map for any location and date, with constellation lines, star names, object paths, and an altitude grid - Altitude timeline: scrub through the night and watch any object's arc update in real time, on any night past or future - Telescope framing: save your scope and camera (focal length, reducer or Barlow, sensor size, or a direct field of view) and see exactly how a target frames up before you shoot - Custom horizon: trace your real skyline through the camera and StarTeller factors your trees and rooftops into every visibility calculation - Astronomical darkness: civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight, plus the exact dark window for tonight - Moon planning: phase, illumination, moonrise and moonset, angular size, and the next new and full moon dates - All seven planets tracked in real time, with rise, set, and peak times from your location - Set and save unlimited locations easily by using GPS, map pin, or manual coordinate entry, and keep your targets in a dedicated favorites view - AR sky mode: point your phone at the sky to align the map with the real night above you - Night vision red mode to preserve your dark adaptation in the field - Core planning works fully offline; optional image downloads for complete offline use Free includes the complete Messier catalog (110 objects) and access to all app features. Upgrade to StarTeller Pro to unlock all 15,000+ objects across NGC, IC, SH2, Barnard, Caldwell, Lynds, Melotte, and additional catalogs. Whether you're a seasoned astrophotographer or just getting started with your first telescope, StarTeller puts the entire night sky on your schedule. The sky is waiting. Show up ready.

Stargazing planner and telescope observing log for amateur astronomers. Know what is worth observing tonight with your telescope, your eyepieces and your sky. Then log it in seconds in a true red night mode. Works offline. No account, no ads. Pay once, no subscription. Open Darksite on a clear evening and it lays out your night like an almanac page: your dark window, the moon's schedule, the cloud outlook, and a shortlist of targets picked for your gear. Every pick explains itself in plain words: "M13: peaks 11:24 pm at 68 degrees, fits your 24 mm eyepiece, moon well out of the way, on your Herschel 400 list." No mystery scores. No thousand-object dumps. Then it runs the session. Queue your targets, work through them at the eyepiece in a genuine red field mode (every screen night-vision safe, down to a custom red keyboard), and capture each observation in seconds: hold the button, say what you saw. Date, time, site, gear, magnification and field of view fill themselves in. And it keeps your observing life. Every session searchable by object, eyepiece, sky quality or site. Messier, Herschel 400 and Lunar certificate programs track themselves as you log, with validated, coordinator-ready export packages when you are ready to submit. BUILT FOR OBSERVERS • Tonight, for your telescope: gear-aware target picks with the reasoning spelled out • Session queue: plan the night, reorder by transit, carry unfinished targets forward • A real observing log: seeing and transparency scales, sketches, voice notes, photos • Gear locker: scopes, eyepieces, filters, Barlows; true field of view, magnification and exit pupil computed for every combination • Life-lists: Messier, Herschel 400, Lunar; watch the certificates fill in • Red field mode: near-black and red everywhere, brightness floored, no white flashes • Sky events: ISS passes, meteor showers, aurora outlook, cloud and conditions YOURS, PROPERLY • Private by design: no account, no ads, no tracking. Your log lives on your device • Works fully offline: the catalog, the math and your log never need a signal • Your data is never hostage: CSV and JSON export and import, backup and restore, free, always • Pay once for Pro. No subscription. Ever. Darksite is not a planetarium. It is the missing half of the hobby: the planner and the logbook, done properly. It works alongside the sky-map app you already own.