Hi Subbu, For some reason your original post requesting accessible amateur astronomy apps for the iPhone still hasn't shown up in my Inbox, although I've read Anna's reply, where she mentions both the NASA app and SkySafari Lite. I'm cc'ing a copy of this response to the Macvisionaries list, so I can find it easily again with their archive search facility. I'll point you to my detailed post describing SkySafari Lite's use with VoiceOver in the Macvisionaries secondary Mail Archive. The current version of this basic app is named SkySafari 3, following a major version update in May. (And I'll also mention for Mac computer users that there are also versions of SkySafari for Mac OS X available in the Mac App Store.)
SkySafari 3 comes with a catalog of 120,000 stars, and 220 of the best known nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters. There's also extensive background information about these targets from space missions and Hubble Space Telescope in the form of descriptive articles. The app is also available in the SkySafari 3 Plus and SkySafari 3 Pro versions. Basically, most of this app is directly accessible with VoiceOver, and the only part that you really can't use are the map representations displaying star charts on the screen -- the catalog information is all fine. The articles contain embedded images that expand to enlarged views if double tapped. You'll be able to identify these by the link image names, but if you double tap one of these by mistake, just double tap again in the center of your screen to leave the expanded image view and return to the article and your regular navigation. Here's the link to the earlier post giving a more detailed exploration of the app: iOS Astronomy Apps [was Re: Sun and Moon position?] http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroups.com/msg44355.html The Developer is Southern Stars, and their web site is: http://www.southernstars.com/ If you are a dedicated amateur astronomer, you will probably want the SkySafari 3 Plus version, which has a more extended catalog of stars, galaxies, asteroids, and solar system objects, and which can even performed wired or wireless control of telescopes through an additional adapter that can be purchased and plugged into the dock connector at the base of your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. (Check the developer's web site for details about the supported telescope models.) This means that size of the app is also larger -- regular version is about 52 MB, but the Plus version with a catalog of 2.5 million stars and 31,000 deep space objects is about 180 MB, and the Pro version with 15.3 million stars, 740,000 galaxies, over 550,000 solar system objects including every comet ever discovered, takes up nearly half a GB, which is almost as much space as some GPS apps. Personally, I would wait 5 days and check whether they drop the app prices for the occasion of the Leonid meteor shower (November 17, 2011). They often discount the three app versions for specific events, and the basic app that lists for $2.99 may even go free at that time. A couple of other free apps to check: * Variable Stars (free) by Diatom Software LLC http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/variable-stars/id405791918?mt=8 • AstroClock (free) by Diatom Software LLC http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/astroclock/id408289011?mt=8 Variable Stars is a mobile catalog of over 183,000 variable star positions and information about their properties. Embedded images for articles only have the name descriptions, so pictures and plots won't be usable, but all the tabular data and basic catalogs, along with most article content, are all accessible with VoiceOver -- that's most of the app. AstroClock is a clock tool for Amateur astronomers. It continuously updates fields for local time, Greenwich Mean Time, Local Sidereal Time, and Julian Date, so in order to read these entries with VoiceOver, you want to move your finger up from the Home button and double tap the "Pause" button near the bottom of the screen before flicking to the time entries. You can also access this button by doing a four finger tap at the bottom of the screen to move to the last element (this is the button for "Settings" in the bottom right corner of the screen -- VoiceOver announces this as "Gear, button"), and then flick left to the date, and then flick left again to the "Pause" button. I find it easiest to just move my finger up from the "Home" button at the bottom until I hear "Pause, button" and double tap. Then you can do a two-finger flick up to read all the time fields. The "Pause" button turns into a "Resume" button once double tapped, so just double tap this again if you want to start time running again, and double tap the "Pause, button" when you want to stop things to read off the time. Here are the links to the SkySafari 3 apps in the regular, plus, and pro versions, along with current prices: • SkySafari 3 ($2.99) by Southern Skies: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skysafari-3/id437108143?mt=8 • SkySafari 3 Plus ($14.99) by Southern Skies: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skysafari-3-plus/id437111155?mt=8 • SkySafari 3 Pro ($39.99) by Southern Skies: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skysafari-3-pro/id437112382?mt=8 SkySafari was the MacWorld 2010 Best of Show Winner. The original post about SkySafari was sparked by a question by Gabriel Battaglia looking for accessible apps that would report the position of the Sun and Moon. The earlier exchanges referenced the Sun Seeker Lite app as one such example: • Sun Seeker Lite (free) by ozPDA: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sun-seeker-lite/id351836585?mt=8 Here's the link to the NASA app that Anna mentioned: • NASA App (free) by NASA http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nasa-app/id334325516?mt=8 Also, if you're a space program buff as well as an astronomy buff, NASA released a lot of sound from historic spaceflight missions to use as ringtones. The best ones, in my opinion, are from the Apollo and Mercury heading, followed by the ones under the Shuttle and Space Station links. The one for "Houston, we have a problem" seems popular, but the sound quality isn't that good for a ringtone. You can find them at: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/sounds Note that there are links to both MP3 and M4R versions of sound clips. The MP3 clips can be previewed and played in your browser, or on your iOS device, but will not work as ring tones. The M4R clips are the versions you need to work as iPhone ringtones, but cannot be played to preview them. But these are the file versions that should be downloaded if you want these as ringtones for your iPhone. There are Ringtone Directions at the bottom of the page for retrieving these for Android, iPhone, and Other smartphones. HTH. Cheers, Esther HTH. Cheers, Esther On Nov 12, 2011, at 09:55, Woody Anna Dresner wrote: > Hi, > > I've heard good things about Sky Safari and Sky Safari Lite. I haven't used > them, though, so don't know for sure. The NASA app includes good info about > what's going on regarding space and such, as well as easy access to NASA TV. > > Best, > Anna > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Nov 12, 2011, at 4:26 AM, subramani Lakshminarayanan > <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hello to all: >> >> Looking for an accessible amateur astronomy app that gives the star, >> constallation and other positions. I am an astronomy fan and am >> struggling to find any decent solution to pursue my hobby. Appreciate >> any help. >> >> Subbu >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
