- CategoryEducation
- First releasedApril 1, 2010
- Versions3 archived
- Installable3 of 3
- AvailabilityStill on the App Store
- SellerFirst Light
- Bundle IDcom.distantsuns.distantsunsipad
RequirementsCompatible with iPhone and iPod touch. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.
Something off?
Report an issueDistant Suns: The night sky, reimagined.
2013 finalist in the Family category of TabTimes' best tablet app contest;
"I am putting together some mobile astronomy apps for our local "Sky's the Limit" Observatory in Twentynine Palms, CA. I have been searching for something as good as, or better than, Distant Suns. Short answer: I have not found it yet. ...nothing portrays the night sky as well as Distant Suns.
Distant Suns has been your personal guide to the cosmos since 1985. First on the desktop, now right in your hands. While others play games, you can travel to the stars.
Award-winning Distant Suns has the reputation of both having one of the most realistic displays of the night sky, while being one of the easiest to use astronomy apps for casual sky watchers as well as serious astronomers.
•Named in the "100 Essential Apps" by iLounge •Featured on NPR's MarketPlace
Features include:
•No Internet required. Just a sense of wonder. •View from the Earth or out in the solar system •Simply aim and gaze. •Over 18 million pinpoint stars scintillating like diamond dust in the palm of your hand (18 mil? Yup.) •Integrated with NASA's Night Sky Network space events in your area (US only at present) •What's Up? Gives a quick one snapshot overview of the evening's sky •Realistic ghostly band of the Milky Way •Stories behind each constellation •Viewpoint Lock keeps any object centered •Current weather patterns on the earth, updated daily •Change the look of the stars •Galaxies, nebula and star clusters •Hubble Space Telescope images •All 8 planets (or 9 for you purists) •GPS aware •Special color mode preserves your night vision. •Touch the sky to reveal hidden data for each object •Planetary data and information
First Light is a proud member of Moms with Apps, a collaborative group of family-friendly developers with family-friendly apps.
Twitter: @distantsuns Support: www.distantsuns.com
Archived Reviews
8 of 25I have owned Distant Suns apps for many, many years. It used to be really awesome. In recent years I have had several problems with Distant Suns Max (Now Distant Suns 5, I guess). I have tried to contact the developer but never gotten a reply. Now it won’t even open on my iPad. It just crashes. I tried deleting the app and re-downloading; no change. I need to find another astronomy app. IPad Pro 10.5 inch, iPadOS 14.5.1
Updated August, 2018 The last couple weeks Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars have all been in the sky, but Mars has been rising after Venus has been setting (depending on you views of the horizon). I suspected that they may soon converge... Annnnnd thanks to Distant Sun’s “What’Up?” Feature I just scrolled into the future, at 7pm, into September and October and see that mid-September should provide some nights when I/we all can photograph all four planets in the sky. This “What’s Up?” is one awesome feature!!! Thank you, Distant Suns!!!!!! :) Original review: I have had the free version for years. I hesitated on paying because I was not sure that it contained some features. Please know that Distant Suns Max DOES contain 1) position awareness... The screen moves to where you are pointing 2) it can draw the images of the constellations for you (per setting/preference) 3) when you look through the floor/ground it shows you the southern sky 4) it does have a red screen image, to help preserve your night eye sensitivity 5) it will also jump to show you the sky on a date/time you select God bless you, Distant Suns development team! Keep looking up!
I purchased this to replace an 12 year old iphone app, kind of sorry in the app’s performance. I’m staring at the 1st quarter moon one hour before sun set but this app can’t seem to find the moon. 60+years amateur astronomer with Iphone 14+ running IOS 18.2 and some basic knowledge of the sky. I give it a polite 2 star rating. Update My iphone received an up date and the app started to work as intended. If the text was more readable for senior eyes I would rate higher.
I bought Distant Suns 10 or so years ago and it was awesome. Since then it has gone a bit down hill. Now when launching you don’t immediately get the live sky view, from what I can tell, and when you do go the the live view, it crashes when adjusting preferences... such a shame as it was the BEST star app and the compass and gyro features made it unbelievable for showing people what’s in the sky. Such a shame.
I’m 70 and have a very difficult time seeing the instructions and displays in the latest version. Not enough contrast between the display and the controls which makes it very hard to use.
Heard about this app from a friend and bought it immediately. I can only get it to work on my iPhone four. Will not work with my iPhone 11 🤷🏻♀️
I've had this app for years and I love it!! Best app ever!!!
Love this ap, but just installed update and immediately found bug. Ios 13.4.1 on iphone 11pro setting stars preference results in immediate crash. Can’t find any support link so posting this as a review.
Period reviews recovered from Apple's customer-review feeds via the Wayback Machine.