Shooting stars 2017, the apps to know where and when to look at the sky

To enjoy the shooting stars at their best, we can use our smartphones to help us: here are the best apps on the App Store and Play Store

On the night of San Lorenzo everyone turns their noses up to see the shooting stars. To observe them at their best, it is advisable to turn off all light sources, including smartphones. But to find out where and when to see them we can rely on some applications.

During the vacations a romantic evening in the moonlight can not miss, and nothing is better than a shooting star to make a wish. Of course, in many vacation resorts and in some tourist cities finding a place, dimly lit, where to enjoy the shower of light of shooting stars is not easy. Fortunately there are some applications that can give us a hand. One of them is Google Sky Map, very useful to locate the various constellations. Just search for the name of the Polar Bear or the Big Dipper, for example, and the phone will use the camera to show you where to look to find them.

Star Map

Another application to get to know the night sky is Star Map. It works similarly to Google Sky Map: just search for a particular constellation and the app, using GPS and a 3D map, will show it to you. You can also scan the sky from another part of the Earth than your own and discover your own zodiac sign.

Solar Walk

Solar Walk is the recommended app for those who want to stay up to date on the closest and most visible astronomical phenomena. In addition, you can use augmented reality and geolocation to walk from one part of the galaxy to another.

Pocket Universe

Pocket Universe is the guide to discovering the stars for those who own an iPhone or iPad. It has a database of over 10,000 stars and 88 constellations. It has a function that allows you to discover the astronomical phenomena that are happening above us.

Mobily Astronomy

This app includes a detailed map of the constellations: each star and each planet can be clicked to receive information and small curiosities. With Mobily Astronomy we can also get news about meteorites, lunar eclipses or asteroids.

Star Walk

If we have a Cupertino device, including the Apple Watch, Star Walk is one of the apps to have. It is an easy and intuitive star guide. It includes a complete representation of the stars, constellations and planets with moon phases, accompanied by high-resolution photographs and captions taken directly from Wikipedia. There is also a function that allows us to travel through time to see what happened in the past on the planets and stars. Star Walk isn't free though, it costs €2.99.