Astrophotography app
The astrophotography app built for real images.
Picastro is a dedicated astrophotography app for sharing deep sky, lunar, solar and planetary images at full resolution — free on iPhone, iPad and Android.
What makes it an astrophotography app, not a photo app
General social apps re-compress every upload, strip the detail out of faint nebulosity and show your work to an audience that scrolls past it. Picastro was built by an astrophotographer for one subject only: the night sky. Images stay at full resolution up to 120 MB, capture details travel with the image, and the people looking at it understand what they are seeing.
What the app gives astrophotographers
Full resolution, no compression
Upload JPEGs up to 120 MB and 72 MP. Nothing is re-encoded on the way in, so hours of stacking and stretching survive the upload.
StarCards keep the technical detail
Every image carries a structured card: target, telescope, camera, mount, filters, integration time and processing notes.
SetUps make gear discoverable
Publish the rig behind your images so other imagers can see exactly what produced the result — and ask about it.
Plate solving on your uploads
Images can be plate solved so the field, framing and target are identified rather than guessed at.
ImageProtect as standard
In-app screenshotting and screen recording are disabled, so your captures aren't lifted and reposted elsewhere.
An audience that knows the subject
StarCamps group imagers by experience and equipment, so feedback comes from people shooting similar targets with similar kit.
Full detail on every feature is on the Picastro features page, and you can see the results in the astrophotography gallery.
Who the app is for
Beginners shooting the Moon with a smartphone on a tripod, or a first star tracker. Browsing StarCards is the fastest way to learn what settings and integration time a target actually needs.
Intermediate imagers moving into deep-sky work with a DSLR or a small refractor, who want honest feedback rather than likes.
Experienced imagers running mono CMOS rigs and narrowband filters, who need their processing to survive the upload and their images to stay protected.
Astrophotography app vs. general social apps
| Picastro | General social app | |
|---|---|---|
| Upload size | Up to 120 MB / 72 MP | Re-compressed on upload |
| Capture data | StarCards with gear and integration | Stripped from the file |
| Audience | Astrophotographers and astronomers | General feed, algorithm-led |
| Image protection | Screenshotting disabled in app | None |
Start sharing your night sky images
Free to download, free to browse. No sign-up needed to look around.
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