Celestron SkyPortal

Name: Celestron SkyPortal
Rating: 3.6 (338 reviews)
Author: Celestron, LLC

Education

Free · Designed for iPad

338 Ratings
Ages

4+
Years
Category

Education
Developer

Celestron, LLC
Language

EN
+ 6 More
Size

468.4
MB

Celestron’s newest planetarium app is an astronomy suite that redefines how you experience the night sky. Explore the Solar System, 120,000 stars, over 200 star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and dozens of asteroids, comets, and satellites—including the ISS. SkyPortal includes everything you need to experience the night sky in an exciting new way. When connected to a compatible Celestron WiFi telescope, you can automatically point the telescope to any object in the database and view it with great detail. Planetarium Features Simulate the night sky and plan your observing session with a custom list of tonight’s best objects based on your exact time and location. Look ahead to see when Jupiter’s Great Red Spot will be visible, animate transits, eclipses, and other celestial events. View hundreds of photos or listen to more than four hours of audio narration to enhance your stargazing experience. •Simulate the night sky from anywhere on planet Earth, up to 100 years in the past or future. •Compass Mode (with compatible devices): Hold your device up to the sky for a real-time synchronized display of celestial objects – from star names, constellations, planets, to nebulae and galaxies. •Control compatible Celestron WiFi telescopes with sophisticated mount modeling for quick and accurate go-to alignment. •Animate transits, conjunctions, eclipses, and other events with SkyPortal's Time controls. •Explore the sky with Night Vision turned on, and preserve your eyesight after dark. •Learn the history, mythology, and science of the heavens with SkyPortal's hundreds of object descriptions. •Browse hundreds of astronomical photographs and NASA spacecraft images •Access over 4 hours of audio commentary to guide you through the best celestial objects. Computerized Telescope Control Pair your device to your compatible Celestron WiFi telescope, align with Celestron’s patented SkyAlign™ technology, and you’re ready to explore! Identify objects instantly. Tap any object and your telescope automatically centers it in the eyepiece. SkyPortal’s telescope alignment incorporates advanced mount modeling, providing better pointing accuracy than other telescope systems which rely on a dedicated computer.

Ratings & Reviews

3.6

out of 5

338 Ratings

App is simplistic perfection
04/12/2023

Jm the Duke
I was introduced to sky portal when I got a celestron go to telescope a short time ago and it’s become my primary astronomy app since it easy to use, contains a through library of visible objects in the night sky of the northern hemisphere and with the compass mode gives you a rough view of the sky you are looking at in real time, my only recommendations for anyone using this app would be to use it on a iPad or tablet over a smartphone as the arrow keys used to slew a telescope and the crosshairs used to target an object can be tricky to use on the smaller screen. It would be nice if there were more satellites and objects listed maybe that’s what Sky Safari Pro is for and I may upgrade one day but at the moment Sky Portal meets the means for my backyard astronomical observations. App is 4 stars
App is simplistic perfection
04/12/2023

Jm the Duke

I was introduced to sky portal when I got a celestron go to telescope a short time ago and it’s become my primary astronomy app since it easy to use, contains a through library of visible objects in the night sky of the northern hemisphere and with the compass mode gives you a rough view of the sky you are looking at in real time, my only recommendations for anyone using this app would be to use it on a iPad or tablet over a smartphone as the arrow keys used to slew a telescope and the crosshairs used to target an object can be tricky to use on the smaller screen. It would be nice if there were more satellites and objects listed maybe that’s what Sky Safari Pro is for and I may upgrade one day but at the moment Sky Portal meets the means for my backyard astronomical observations. App is 4 stars
Great App
07/08/2020

Ghostfleet2020
I use this app with my Celestron 11” Edge HD and the CGX mount. I also utilize the Star Sense camera with it for alignment and it works beautifully. The only issues I have are the Celestron focus control is very sensitive and very confusing and almost impossible to use and updates to the app to include data for new comets are very slow to occur for example the latest new comet Neowise has been visible for a while now and it is not listed in SKy Portal but has been in the Sky Safari app for quite some time now.
Great App
07/08/2020

Ghostfleet2020

I use this app with my Celestron 11” Edge HD and the CGX mount. I also utilize the Star Sense camera with it for alignment and it works beautifully. The only issues I have are the Celestron focus control is very sensitive and very confusing and almost impossible to use and updates to the app to include data for new comets are very slow to occur for example the latest new comet Neowise has been visible for a while now and it is not listed in SKy Portal but has been in the Sky Safari app for quite some time now.
Great app for learning and controlling telescope. One improvement.
03/14/2021

virtualMtd
I love this app however I have one suggestion for improvement: When using the audio guides in the Info section, let the audio playback continue to work when the screen locks or auto locks. Many people have their phones set to auto lock after as little as 30 seconds and when this happens any audio playback currently in progress instantly shuts off when the phone locks. Only unlocking the phone will instantly resume playback. Seems like that improvement should be possible based on many other apps out there being able to play audio while the phone is locked. Thank you!
Great app for learning and controlling telescope. One improvement.
03/14/2021

virtualMtd

I love this app however I have one suggestion for improvement: When using the audio guides in the Info section, let the audio playback continue to work when the screen locks or auto locks. Many people have their phones set to auto lock after as little as 30 seconds and when this happens any audio playback currently in progress instantly shuts off when the phone locks. Only unlocking the phone will instantly resume playback. Seems like that improvement should be possible based on many other apps out there being able to play audio while the phone is locked. Thank you!
Works, but not as I want it to
09/14/2019

JOIN Cat-O-Rama
I finally got my first celestron 6se telescope that is one of the Best purchases I’ve bought. With that, I also bought the WiFi module that connects to SkyPortal. For about five months I was trying to align the app to my telescope. The app estimates where your telescope is pointing for extra accuracy, but for an odd reason, my pointer on the app is nowhere close to where the telescope is actually pointing. Though this is a minor problem one may say, but because the pointer on the app is so inaccurate, whenever I try aligning, the second star always says that there was an error. The error was that the app says that the alignment for, say Jupiter, is impossible in that location. If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated.
Works, but not as I want it to
09/14/2019

JOIN Cat-O-Rama

I finally got my first celestron 6se telescope that is one of the Best purchases I’ve bought. With that, I also bought the WiFi module that connects to SkyPortal. For about five months I was trying to align the app to my telescope. The app estimates where your telescope is pointing for extra accuracy, but for an odd reason, my pointer on the app is nowhere close to where the telescope is actually pointing. Though this is a minor problem one may say, but because the pointer on the app is so inaccurate, whenever I try aligning, the second star always says that there was an error. The error was that the app says that the alignment for, say Jupiter, is impossible in that location. If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated.