Sextant Navigation vs AstroNav SkyDial

Sextant Navigation is a celestial navigation primer for sailors, students, and maritime enthusiasts who want to understand the ancient art of finding position by the stars. The app covers the complete foundation of celestial navigation in three focused sections: STARS — Browse 15 of the most important navigation stars used by mariners across the centuries, including Polaris, Sirius, Vega, Arcturus, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, Antares, Spica, Fomalhaut, Deneb, Canopus, and Acrux. Each entry shows the star's constellation, apparent magnitude, and detailed notes on its navigation role — from Polaris as a direct latitude indicator in the Northern Hemisphere to Canopus and Acrux for Southern Hemisphere position work. TOOLS — Learn how the four essential instruments of celestial navigation work: the sextant (measuring altitude above the horizon), the chronometer (providing accurate GMT for longitude), the Nautical Almanac (tabulating body positions for every hour of the year), and the plotting sheet (graphing lines of position to find the fix). Each entry explains both the theory and the practical steps of use. PRACTICE — Work through six realistic sight-reduction problems, each with a named star, an observed altitude, a DR position, a step-by-step reduction showing index error, dip, refraction, GHA, declination, assumed position, computed altitude, and intercept, and a final position fix statement. Problems include a Polaris latitude shot, evening twilight fixes on Sirius and Vega, a dawn fix on Arcturus, a Southern Hemisphere Canopus sight, and a classic three-star fix using Rigel, Sirius, and Betelgeuse. Everything works completely offline. No account required, no ads, no tracking.

Track the sun, moon moving above you in real time with solar and moon rise / set. AstroNav keeps track of planetary movement as the day progresses, highlighting the sun, moon, planets, and zodiac constellations. Drawn as a single living dial, AstroNav shows that "now" is always a moment under the stars. PLAY THROUGH THE DAY Tap play and watch your day unfold — the sun climbs and sets, the moon rises, the light shifts hour by hour, each event lighting up as it passes. Or slide through a 48-hour window and jump to any date to see where the sun, moon, and planets will be. The dial, the light, and the sky move with you. WHEN TO LOOK UP The events feed knows when the sky is worth stepping outside for — the clear, dark, moonless windows best for stargazing, alongside full moons, meteor showers, conjunctions, equinoxes, and more. No alerts, no nagging; it's simply there when you open it. INTERACTIVE SKY DIAL Quickly identify celestial bodies overhead based on your current time and estimated position. Prepare your star sights before twilight. Privacy Policy: https://timespaceatlas.com/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/