Astronomy app
An astronomy app for real photos of space.
Picastro is the astronomy app where amateur astronomers and imagers share real, full-resolution photographs of the night sky — and explain exactly how each one was captured.
What kind of astronomy app is Picastro?
Most astronomy apps point your phone at the sky and label the stars. Picastro does something different: it is the community side of the hobby. You see genuine images taken by real people that night, the equipment and settings behind them, and the conversations around them. Use a sky-map app to find a target — then come here to see what it actually looks like through a telescope, and to share your own attempt.
What you'll see in the app
Deep sky
Nebulae, galaxies and star clusters imaged over hours of integration — not artist impressions.
The Moon
Lunar terminator detail, craters and full-disc mosaics from imagers of every level.
Planets
Jupiter's belts, Saturn's rings and Mars, captured from back gardens with modest gear.
The Sun
White light and hydrogen-alpha solar imaging, including prominences and sunspot groups.
Browse a sample in the Picastro astrophotography gallery, or read the guides on the Photonica astronomy blog.
How it fits alongside a stargazing or sky-map app
Planetarium and stargazing apps are good at one job: telling you what is above you and when. Picastro answers the next question — what that object actually looks like when someone photographs it, and what it takes to get there.
Plan the session with your sky map. Then use Picastro to check real results on the same target, see which telescope, camera and filters produced them, and share your own frame when it's processed. If you are new to imaging, the StarCards and SetUps features are effectively a free curriculum written by people doing it every clear night.
Free to download and browse
Picastro runs on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets, with a desktop web uploader. The free Curiosity tier has no time limit and needs no card details — see the pricing page for what the paid tiers add, or the FAQs for the details.
See what the night sky really looks like
Free on iPhone, iPad and Android. Browse thousands of real astronomy images.
Get the app