HOW TO
Find your zodiac sign with Night Sky
Night Sky
Stargazing Guide to the Sky
A longtime favourite among astronomy buffs, Night Sky lets you see which stars, constellations and planetary bodies are overhead simply by pointing your iPhone or iPad toward the heavens.
Night Sky can also find the constellation tied to your astrological sign – or, if the constellation is below the horizon, tell you when it will rise. There are three easy ways to do that:
Search
Just tap the magnifying glass in the top right corner.
Set up a Siri shortcut
Once you do, saying a phrase like, “Hey Siri, where is Virgo?” will seek your sign in the cosmos.
Set up a My Sky alert
Night Sky will send animated push notifications when your constellation is about to rise over the horizon.
Once you locate yours, you can view it in the app as a slick ‘glass constellation’, which overlays the stars with a drawing of their associated mythological image. Moving and spinning your iPhone also lets you see the placement of each component star in space.
“It’s a really cool way to see where the stars are relative to each other,” says Andy Weekes, whose development company, iCandi Apps, released Night Sky in 2011.
Want more? Try exploring the constellation in augmented reality (AR), bringing the unfathomably distant cosmic structure right into your kitchen. With the AR Sky Blending feature, you can even fuse Night Sky’s annotated map with the actual sky.
The feature Space Travel allows you to move through time to view star maps from the future and the past. This is handy if, for instance, you want to see where your constellation was in space when you arrived on Earth.
For a little more insight on how to find your own particular constellation, and what it means, read on.
Aries: The Ram is one of the oldest recognised constellations in the heavens – but it’s a smaller one, so it’s easiest to find by searching its name in the app.
Taurus: The Bull can be located by tracing the line of Orion’s belt until you reach a bright V-shaped cluster of stars. That’s right, Orion has spent billions of years locked in a celestial bullfight.
Gemini: The constellation known as the Twins can be found by projecting a diagonal line from the Big Dipper’s handle straight through the ‘cup’ – it’ll run into Castor, one of Gemini’s two bright twin stars.
Cancer: The Crab is the dimmest of the zodiac constellations – it’s best to search by name to let the app find its upside-down Y shape for you.
Leo: The legendary Lion is the bravest of all zodiac signs. It’s also one of the easiest to see. Find the Big Dipper and draw an imaginary line between the bowl’s outer stars. The top star points to the North Star, the bottom star to Leo.
Virgo: To find Virgo, follow the curve of the handle of the Big Dipper to the bright star Arcturus. Then extend that line to Virgo’s brightest star, named Spica. Virgos have tremendous attention to detail, so this should be fairly easy.
Libra: It’s easier to find Virgo first – Libra is the slightly lopsided diamond just next to it. Fun fact: Libra is the only zodiac sign that doesn’t symbolise a living creature.
Scorpio: For Scorpios, life is all about experiencing and expressing authentic emotions, even if they’re not always pretty. Find it in the sky by searching for a shape that looks like a fish hook, or a scorpion’s tail.
Sagittarius: The philosopher of the zodiac is supposed to be a centaur, but it looks more like a teapot. Find it directly to the left of Scorpio.
Capricorn: The Goat is hardworking, practical and sometimes stubborn. Similarly, its constellation is stubbornly hard to find – best to search for it by name in the app. Or add a Siri shortcut like, “Hey Siri, find my cosmic goat.”
Aquarius: This is the sign of the water bearer, one who brings hope and relief. As such, Aquarians are often visionary, dreamy souls who are deeply interested in making the world a better (and less thirsty) place. The constellation is pretty dim though, so let the app handle the star-spotting by setting up a My Sky alert.
Pisces: Represented by the iconic pair of fish, the final zodiac sign is said to bring together all those who came before. This is another dim one; set up a My Sky alert to know when it’s viewable.