Key takeaways
- AstroNight is free to download on iPhone and iPad (iOS or iPadOS 17 or later), works offline once installed, needs no account and shows no ads.
- It does three jobs: it picks one to three targets for tonight's moon, dark hours, sky and gear, it gives starting settings for each, and it checks the frames you import.
- Its numbers come from named sources: the solar equations NOAA uses, NOAA aurora data, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory comet data and a list of about 40,000 cities for its sky darkness estimate.
- Photo analysis runs on your device, and the developer's App Store privacy label says that no data is collected.
AstroNight is a free iPhone and iPad app for astrophotography that does three jobs. It picks one to three targets that suit tonight's moon, dark hours, sky and equipment, it gives starting camera settings for each, and it measures the frames you import so that you can fix problems before the night is over. It is available now on the App Store.
Clear nights are rare, and it is a shame to waste one. Anyone who has stood in a cold field with a camera and no plan knows how quickly the hours go.
Why we made it
Every beginner arrives at the same three questions. What is worth pointing the camera at tonight? What should the settings be? And is this picture any good, or is something wrong that I could still fix? The planners, planetarium apps and weather apps that already exist answer other questions very well, and we compare them honestly in the best astrophotography apps compared. AstroNight, an independent project from Finland, was made to answer those three, calmly and in plain language, and the articles in this journal grew out of the same questions.
What AstroNight does
| Part of the app | What it does | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Tonight's plan | Works out the astronomical dark window for your date and location, the phase and brightness of the moon, and a sky darkness class | A sky that never gets dark, The Bortle scale |
| Gear profiles | Takes your phone, DSLR, mirrorless camera, tracker or telescope into account, and leaves out targets that your gear cannot frame or the moon would wash out | Your first night with a camera and a tripod |
| Target suggestions | Chooses one to three targets for the conditions, each with a plain-English reason | Choosing a target when the moon is bright |
| Starting settings | Gives starting settings for your setup, so a phone does not get aperture advice and a wide lens does not get a target it cannot frame | Star trails the easy way |
| Frame check | Measures vignetting, colour cast, gradient and sharpness from the pixels of a frame you import, on your device | Reading a test frame before you go home |
| Session log | Records target, settings, conditions and photo, and lays two sessions of the same target side by side | The Andromeda Galaxy |
| Calendar and alerts | Lists meteor showers, eclipses and comets, and sends aurora alerts based on live NOAA space weather data | Catching a meteor shower, Chasing the northern lights |
Built on real astronomy
| What | How it is worked out |
|---|---|
| Twilight and dark hours | From the same solar equations that NOAA uses |
| Moon phase | From lunar cycle calculations |
| Sky darkness class | Estimated by comparing your location with a built in list of about 40,000 cities and their populations, so it is an estimate and not a measurement |
| Aurora probability | From the Space Weather Prediction Center at NOAA |
| Comets | From orbit and brightness data of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
The app is also frank about what it cannot know. A single frame cannot always tell soft focus from star trailing, and AstroNight says so instead of guessing. The sky darkness class is an estimate, and where you know your site better than the app does, your own knowledge deserves more weight.
A good planner tells you what it knows, and just as plainly what it does not.
Private, offline and ad-free
Photo analysis runs on your device and your images never leave it. Once the app is installed it works offline, so a dark sky site without a phone signal is not a problem, although live data such as aurora forecasts naturally needs a connection when you want it. There are no ads and no required account.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Price | Free to download |
| Devices | iPhone and iPad, with iOS or iPadOS 17 or later |
| Size | About 6.5 MB |
| Language | English |
| Age rating | 4+ |
| Works offline | Yes, once installed |
| Photo analysis | On your device |
| Account | Not required |
| Ads | None |
| Data collected | None, according to the developer's App Privacy declaration |
Who it is for
AstroNight is made for everyone from the person with a phone and a tripod to the photographer with a tracker or a telescope. Beginners get explanations, and experienced shooters get the numbers.
How to get started
- Download the app. Install AstroNight from the App Store on an iPhone or iPad with iOS or iPadOS 17 or later. It is free to download.
- Describe your gear. Tell the app whether you shoot with a phone, a DSLR, a mirrorless camera, a tracker or a telescope.
- Choose your location. Pick the place where you will shoot. The app works out the dark hours for your date and estimates how dark the sky is.
- Read tonight's plan. Look at the dark window, the moon and the one to three targets suggested for your gear, each with a reason.
- Shoot with the starting settings. Use the suggested settings for your setup as a starting point and adjust from the first test frame.
- Check a frame mid-session. Import a frame and read what the app measures, while you can still change something.
- Log the session. Save the session, and when you photograph the same target again, compare the two side by side.
What AstroNight is not
AstroNight is focused on planning, starting settings and feedback. It is not a live star map with augmented reality, it does not control a telescope or a mount, and it does not forecast cloud cover. Other apps do those jobs very well, and a sensible plan for clear nights is often to use one of them alongside AstroNight, as our comparison explains.
Tell us what you think
AstroNight has only just launched, and the best improvements come from people who use it under real skies. Questions, bug reports and ideas are welcome at hello@astronight.fi, and a rating or review on the App Store helps other photographers find the app.
Frequently asked questions
Is AstroNight free?
Yes, AstroNight is free to download from the App Store. It has no ads, and it does not require an account.
Which devices does AstroNight run on?
It runs on iPhone and iPad, and it needs iOS or iPadOS 17 or later. It is a small download, about 6.5 megabytes at launch.
Does AstroNight work offline?
Yes. Once it is installed, the planning and the photo analysis work without a connection, which suits a dark sky site with no signal. Live information such as aurora forecasts needs a connection when you want to refresh it.
Does AstroNight collect my photos or my data?
Photo analysis runs on your device and your images never leave it. In its App Privacy declaration on the App Store, the developer states that the app does not collect any data.
Do I need expensive equipment to use AstroNight?
No. You tell the app whether you shoot with a phone, a DSLR, a mirrorless camera, a tracker or a telescope, and it adapts its suggestions and settings to that gear.
Is AstroNight good for beginners?
Yes. Beginners get plain-English explanations for every suggestion, and more experienced photographers get the underlying numbers. The articles in this journal explain the ideas behind it.
Sources and further reading
AstroNight is now on the App Store. The free planner and coach for astrophotography works on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, offline, with no account. Get it on the App Store.
