Top 15 Pocket Universe: Virtual Sky Astronomy Alternative and Similar Softwares | Mar 2024

Pocket Universe was the first iPhone astronomy app to support the built-in compass, and it was also the first to add a true augmented reality view using the iPhones built-in camera! Use the camera view in the evening or morning sky to overlay the labelled view over the real sky (Note: the iPhone camera is not sensitive enough to show stars or planets).

Simply hold up your iPhone 3GS in front of you, and the view will be exactly what you see - but with names and information at your fingertips. Move the iPhone around to see the view change in real-time. As previous iPhone models and on the iPod Touch do not have a compass, the up/down movement is automatic, but you will need to drag the display left/right yourself.

1. Star Walk (series)

Star Walk (series) Indispensable for amateurs and professionals, as well as for kids who are eager to learn, Star Walk will guide you through the night sky in style. Star Walk is your personal planetarium that can answer all of your curiosities about the sky! For anyone who is interested in stargazing, amateurs......

2. GoSkyWatch Planetarium

GoSkyWatch Planetarium Displays the sky view at the correct orientation when held at any angle not just landscape or portrait. Simple operation, no buttons to press or modes to select, just point to the sky to start exploring. Unique rotation scheme enables touchless navigation even for the iPod touch and earlier iPhones......

3. Starmap

Starmap Starmap is an intelligent sky navigation tool, written by a professional of the field.Hold the device in your line of vision and discover the map smoothly scanning the sky as you move.Starmap can be extended at will by downloading new functions. It offers many astronomical courses in the form of......

4. Distant Suns (series)

Distant Suns (series) Distant Suns astronomy app is an award-winning hand-held planetarium with over 25 years of development, offering you the new way to look at the sky from on the Earth to off. Sporting over 130,000 stars, all 8 (or is it 9?) planets, the sun and moon, constellations, galaxies, nebula and......

5. Star Rover

Star Rover Star Rover is the fantastic planetarium for your smart phone. Just hold up your phone and Star Rover will tell you exactly what you are pointing at.Star Rover determines your location automatically. You'll see the stars, moon, planets, constellations in their proper place from your current location. As you move......

6. SkyORB

SkyORB SkyORB is more than a simple star map, it's a collection of 7 tools including a 3D star map, 3D planetarium, ephemeris, search engine, sun clock, point to sky, weather, and more.Key features:• Allows you to fine tune your observation location from the database of by entering longitude and latitude......

7. StarMap 3D

StarMap 3D StarMap 3D Plus is the portable star atlas for beginners or advanced astronomers. Use StarMap 3D Plus to find the planets, stars, constellations, star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae visible to you based on your location and time. StarMap 3D will even use the compass to automatically align the map!......

8. Stellarium

Stellarium Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.......

9. Luminos

Luminos Luminos is an all-in-one astronomy app that goes beyond simple stargazing. It combines millions of celestial objects into a beautifully-rendered space simulation that will amaze you. Our enthusiastic customers range from hobbyists to professional astronomers, and everyone in between. And now, Luminos features the largest catalog available on mobile, with......

10. Google Sky Map

Google Sky Map Sky Map (formerly the Google Sky Map) turns your Android-powered mobile phone into a window on the night sky. Figure out what you're looking at:Point your phone at the sky, and Sky Map will show the stars, planets, constellations, and more to help you identify the celestial objects in view.......

11. Aciqra

Aciqra Aciqra (uh-SEE-kruh) is a free and open source virtual sky map and planetarium which tracks and displays astronomical bodies including planets, nebulae and stars to an accuracy of a fraction of a degree for thousands of years into both the future and the past. It's software that generates a virtual......

12. WinStars

WinStars WinStars uses the latest 3D technology to show the objects of our solar system in a realistic manner. Thus, it is possible to move from one planet to another, to follow a space probe on its long voyage or to observe a celestial event from a place to which you......

13. SkySafari

SkySafari SkySafari is a powerful planetarium that fits in your pocket. It puts thousands of stars and planets at your fingertips. It lets you find objects in the sky using your device's built-in compass and accelerometer. It includes hundreds of astronomical images, and contains encyclopedic descriptions of the constellations, stars and......

14. Planisphere

Planisphere Planisphere is an astronomy application that lets you use pinch and finger gestures to manipulate a map of the sky. As you zoom in finer detail comes into view. You can double tap on objects to get......

15. Gaia Sky

Gaia Sky The Gaia Sky is a real-time, 3D, astronomy visualisation software that runs on Windows, Linux and OS X. It is developed in the framework of ESA's Gaia mission to chart about 1 billion stars of our Galaxy in the Gaia group of the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ZAH, Universität Heidelberg).Main Features- Free......