Scope Nights Astronomy Weather 4+
Custom Stargazing Forecasts
Martin Dodd
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- $4.99
Screenshots
Description
March 2023 - Currently works for USA & UK only due to global weather service changes. A bug fix will be available soon. Clear Skies, Martin.
"Every amateur astronomer yearns for clear, dark skies, and this exhaustive app helps you find them."
- Sky At Night Magazine 2017
"Several astronomy-oriented weather apps are available, but Scope Nights has become my favorite… it does a fine job of summarizing the data in a clear and understandable fashion."
- Sky & Telescope Magazine 2015
"Conventional weather forecasts meet the needs of Earthly dwellers; news of cloud cover when sensible folk are asleep is hardly required. Now via this wonderful App… local forecasts for nocturnal weather… are now available."
- Astronomy Now Magazine 2012
If you’re a stargazer, astronomer or astrophotographer, analysing conventional weather forecasts for favourable night time conditions can be very time consuming, you just want to know when to plan your stargazing trip or set up your telescope. Scope Nights analyses night time weather forecast data for you and shows exactly when and where to go for the darkest and clearest skies, as well as offering customisable stargazing ratings to suit your telescope and observing habits, stargazing notifications, and a detailed light pollution map showing nearby dark sky sites and observatories. Finding clear dark skies and discovering the night sky has never been easier!
PLAN YOUR OBSERVING WITH CUSTOM STARGAZING RATINGS
• View at a glance which nights will be good for astronomy using smart weather analysis with clear stargazing ratings and animated weather icons to quickly see if it’s worth preparing your telescope or planning a stargazing trip
• Create custom stargazing ratings using observing thresholds for moon phase, wind, humidity and temperature. Choose night, evening or morning coverage to suit when you observe, the type of telescope, and the type of observing you plan to do.
• View at a glance which of your favourite Scope Sites will have the most suitable conditions
FIND DARK SKY SITES & OBSERVATORIES
• Find nearby dark sky sites with the clearest skies using a detailed light pollution map derived from the latest NASA satellite data
• Searchable lists and dark sky map showing certified dark sky places, major astronomical observatories and robotic telescopes
DETAILED ASTRONOMY FORECASTS
• Long range astronomy forecasts for any location worldwide, compare up to 10 locations up to 10 nights ahead
• Local 3-hourly forecasts for UK & USA updated hourly using the best forecast data available direct from the UK Met Office and the US NOAA National Weather Service
CUSTOM STARGAZING NOTIFICATIONS
• Receive accurate notifications of good or fair stargazing ratings based on your custom thresholds, well before sunset so you can prepare for your observing session
• App badge showing the number of sites with good observing conditions for tonight
SHARE STARGAZING FORECASTS
• Share astronomy weather reports with fellow astronomers via email, social media or print them out for your observatory
DETAILED CUSTOM ASTRONOMY FORECASTS
• Night time specific astronomy forecasts from sunset to sunrise
• Forecast coverage to suit when you observe: All Night, Evening or Morning
• Detailed colour coded forecasts:
- Moon phase percentage & altitude
- Cloud cover
- Precipitation probability
- Relative humidity
- Minimum temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit
- Wind direction
- Wind speed & gusts in Mph, Knots, Kph or Mps
• Moonrise and moonset times
• Sunrise & sunset times
• Wind speed gust sensitivity switch for those with large telescopes or in exposed locations
REQUIREMENTS
• Requires a device with iOS 9.3 or later
• Requires Internet access over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection
• Requires Location Services be enabled to automatically find local astronomy forecast
• Requires Background Services be enabled to get stargazing notifications
What’s New
Version 2.5.1
This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.
Scope Nights 2.5.1 is a maintenance release containing minor improvements and bug fixes.
Ratings and Reviews
It works but you don’t really getting a lot of value
When it was first installed, I got lots of errors about not being able to save location information. Sent a tech support request and got nothing back. The error is now gone but it doesn’t always save my location but I guess my biggest grip is you don’t really get anything that isn’t already free with other apps. It has potential, but hey seriously need to add more features for the price they charge. I guess that is why there is not a trial version.
Needs work
I use an app called “Good To Stargaze”, which is free, and for a nominal fee allows one to save 5 sites. That app is very succinct and intuitive in its forecasts and presentation. Scope Nights offers much of the same information, and has a more colorful interface, and it has some basic stability issues. When connecting to the Internet to get weather information, the app can hang. When the connection times out, it sometimes crashes out to the “Finder”. I like that you can look up known dark sky sites and observatories, and add - evidently - dozens of custom sites. However, when the app is new, it seems to store every map position you navigate to, and your current location is stored dozens of times, and you cannot add new sites because the max number has been reached. I manually deleted all of these sites, which took several minutes (needs a delete all interface), and afterward it worked as expected. Not recommended over Good To Stargaze, and it does mostly work, but has the drawbacks mentioned above.
Outdated and broken - do not buy in 2023
Save your money - don’t buy this broken app. Scope Nights received awards years ago. It was once one of the best astronomy forecast apps. However, a global forecasts update broke it over a year and a half ago and it still hasn’t been fixed.
You can still use the app for forecasts but if you save any locations as favorites, you’ll receive annoying pop ups that you need to close - for every location, every time you open the app. Even if you don’t save any favorites, this will still happen for your current location. This makes the app very annoying to use - and unusable with many favorites. The fact that the developer is charging $4.99 for this app without even a word on an update in over a year and a half is honestly messed up. I get that it’s just one guy maintaining it in his free time but this app should be free in its current state. Lack of resources doesn’t excuse poor quality.
App Privacy
The developer, Martin Dodd, has not provided details about its privacy practices and handling of data to Apple.
No Details Provided
The developer will be required to provide privacy details when they submit their next app update.
Information
- Seller
- Martin Dodd
- Size
- 127.5 MB
- Category
- Weather
- Compatibility
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- iPhone
- Requires iOS 9.3 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 9.3 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 9.3 or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Languages
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English
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © Egg Moon Studio
- Price
- $4.99
Supports
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Family Sharing
Up to six family members can use this app with Family Sharing enabled.