CelestEye support

Available controls depend on your installed version. Check the App Store for available updates.

Explore, choose, and find

Start in Tonight for a few useful targets. Sky is your observing workspace, Events helps plan calendar opportunities, and Explore contains search and reference content. My Sky brings together targets to observe, lists, offline plans, Journal, collections and earlier memories. Every observing feature is free; optional tips unlock nothing.

Set your sky

Open Observing setup from the settings control in Sky or My Sky to use current location, search an offline city, or choose a saved place. All settings & sky controls keeps the deeper controls available. Coordinates and a civil time zone are available under Advanced coordinates. A planning place may differ from where your phone actually is. The context at the top of Sky identifies the active place and whether time is live or a preview.

Map, Point, and Camera AR

Tap the named mode at the top of Sky. Map lets you drag and pinch to explore. Point follows the phone without using the camera. Camera AR places sky annotations over the rear camera on a supported iPhone. Point and Camera AR use the present time; use Map for historical and future previews.

Open a target and choose Find in sky. Map can frame the target; live pointing retains the phone’s real direction and guides you toward it. Tap the target panel to read details. Objects in view provides a selectable text list. Sky tools opens time, layers, tracking details, and appearance controls.

Explore closely, size and journeys

Choose Explore closely in an object’s details for the supported image, model or reference diagram. Drag supported models to turn them and pinch to enlarge. Reset restores the starting view; Controls keeps precise and accessible adjustments tucked away until needed. Inspection enlargement is separate from your equipment’s actual field. The captured date, place and viewing setup stay with the reference while you explore.

Supported models offer optional toolbar Play/Pause for a slow inspection orbit lasting at most 30 seconds. Touch, opening Controls, leaving the image, backgrounding or Reduce Motion stops it; it never restarts automatically. The captured date and lighting stay fixed. This is an inspection angle, not a physical spin rate or current spacecraft attitude.

Mars and Jupiter use archival surface/cloud imagery with calculated selected-date geometry and educational lighting. Jupiter’s cloud map dates from Cassini in December 2000, has approximate registration, and cannot predict present clouds or the Great Red Spot. Mars retains the source mosaic’s baked shading. Saturn remains an illustrative reference with chosen ring opening and fixed lighting. Read each view’s credits and limits.

Orbit & size shows supported calculated geometry and a separate linear reference-size comparison. Body markers are enlarged and diagram spacing is arbitrary. The Sirius A & B comparison is a dated research reference, not a prediction of the pair’s current separation. Read the source and limitation notes in each view.

Moon and Mars offer optional, user-started journeys with pause, exit and reversible steps. Distances and travel are compressed for explanation; this is not a spacecraft route. Use still steps, or enable the iPhone’s Reduce Motion setting, for a static alternative. Arriving opens the same captured object context.

The Moon and Hidden Universe

Tonight on the Moon connects selected-date illumination, named landmarks, a short optional tour and equipment framing. Change the atlas date locally to compare lighting. Finding a landmark’s position does not mean your equipment can resolve its detail. Terrain lighting remains an educational rendering; the source and precision limits stay visible in the app.

Andromeda offers a curated visible-light and infrared comparison. Move the comparison control to reveal the registered views, or use its accessible adjustment. The observations have different coverage and resolution; assigned colors explain scientific data and do not predict an eyepiece view. Observation dates, credits and sources are included.

Orion Nebula offers separate archival Hubble visible-light and Spitzer infrared views, with a short reversible static guide. Their fields differ, so switching views does not keep individual features fixed. The infrared observation date and exact filter mapping are unknown. These views remain available offline and do not change with the planning date.

Focus on the sky

Sky tools → Focus sky collapses optional controls and panels. Your mode, compact observing context, selected target, and important tracking warnings remain available. Show controls at the top restores the full controls; Night vision keeps its own Exit.

Pointing looks wrong or pauses

Check the place and time, move away from magnets, cars, and metal, and compare with a known bright star or planet. Use Align while keeping the real object on the reticle, then verify another object. One reference does not solve every orientation error. A marker near the reticle is not automatic recognition or a guarantee of accuracy.

If Guidance paused appears, use Retry or return to Map. Sensor freshness, compass quality, and manual alignment are separate. Tracking and conditions details explain the current reference and any restart. You can always return to Map and navigate manually.

Camera AR

Allow camera access when you choose Camera AR. If denied, enable Camera for CelestEye in iPhone Settings, or use Point/Map. After interruption, wait for orientation to settle and check alignment against a known object. If Camera not ready appears after startup, use Retry or switch to Map. The startup check begins after camera permission, so it does not rush your permission decision. Sky tools → Layers and appearance adjusts overlay intensity; it changes annotations, not camera exposure or alignment.

Live Camera AR does not record or upload images. Optional saved-horizon capture is a separate, deliberate workflow described below. Camera AR does not identify stars from photographs or increase camera sensitivity. Calculated labels can appear even when an object is too faint for the camera to capture.

Tonight and useful time

Each target has a reason to look, an expected viewing method, a useful-time strip, and Find in sky. Strips use the same local observing session so you can compare intervals. The session runs noon to noon and can span midnight. Next-date and time-zone labels distinguish overnight and daylight-saving changes.

Open a target’s When section for its altitude curve, useful intervals, and optional sky path. Preview a time by using the chart or its menu; Now returns to the present. Windows use sampled geometry, darkness, and estimated Moon interference. They are not a cloud forecast. Highest altitude is not always the useful viewing time.

Optional forecasts are enabled in observing settings. Select a cloud-cover hour to read conditions and astronomical darkness or Moon milestones. A target-specific observing window explains its recommendation when sufficient forecast and geometry support one. Unknown periods stay unknown; a clear-looking chart is not a guarantee of visibility.

Show my night offers a short outing outline with a start time, a few targets and an optional time budget. Open its guided preview for recognition cues, pause, next, exit and a connection to finding the target in Sky. Keep the full-night timeline available when you want more detail. Using a selected forecast hour is a deliberate preview, separate from the live sky.

Events and reminders

Open the Events tab and choose your observing place for local viewing windows. Event details show times in sequence and can highlight a radiant or Sun/Moon location in Sky. Radiant outlines are locators; meteors cross a much wider sky. Terrain and weather are not included.

Choose Remind me to request one local notification. Check iPhone notification and Focus settings if alerts are quiet. A reminder keeps its original place and absolute time when you change places. Open its event to review and deliberately update or remove the plan. An ended notification opens explained reference context rather than pretending the event is still current.

Less on screen

Sky tools → Layers and appearance controls figure/name layers and label detail. Guide stars and estimated naked-eye visibility have separate controls. Focus sky hides secondary controls until you choose Show controls; it does not hide the active time/place or a tracking problem. An optional arrival haptic gives one gentle cue near the reticle.

Night vision and accessibility

Turn on Night vision in Observing settings → Night vision. It reduces bright colors and dims app-owned screens. It changes neither camera sensitivity nor tracking quality. Tap Exit at the top of Sky to leave Night vision. System keyboards, permission alerts, and external pages may remain bright.

Use iPhone text-size, contrast, reduced-transparency, and reduced-motion settings as needed. Objects in view and the chart’s interval menu provide alternatives to visual aiming and dragging. Scientific facts and full reference text remain available through the inspector’s disclosures.

Offline use and local data

The packaged catalog, sky calculations, offline cities/saved places, planning, and manual navigation work offline. Apple city searches, optional NASA/JPL reference searches, and support purchases need connectivity. Saved targets are not automatically marked Seen. Clear Recent or a deliberately captured tracking snapshot in settings; exporting a snapshot is optional.

Journal and observing plans

Open a target and choose Record observation, then Saw it, Not sure or Couldn’t find it. Review the actual date, place, viewing method and equipment, add an optional note, and save deliberately. A time preview starts the record at now so you can confirm what really happened. You can edit a saved entry, undo a new record or recover a recently removed entry. Exploring, finding or saving a target never claims you saw it.

Use Add to list in a target’s details to keep ambitions together. My Sky → Offline plans retains a night’s place, equipment and viewing windows. Live changes do not rewrite a saved plan. Compare observations revisits your own notes and setups.

Earlier memories and optional photos

My Sky → Remember an earlier event lets you record an eclipse, aurora, comet or another earlier experience with only the date precision you remember. These remain retrospective self-reports, separate from in-event receipts. An eclipse phase stays explicit: seeing a partial phase does not establish totality. Event memories brings together repeat reports without a completion target.

Journal and memory editors can attach a photo you choose through Apple’s picker. CelestEye prepares a small copy without original location or capture metadata; your original stays in Photos. The copy stays with the entry, including personal archives and private iCloud sync if enabled. Choose Remove photo from this draft and save the edit to remove the entry’s copy. Earlier exports remain independent copies. A photo never verifies a sighting or earns an award.

Private iCloud sync and recovery

Private sync is optional. Enabling it stores supported personal records, including notes and attached photo copies, in your Apple account’s private iCloud database. Turning it off keeps the local records and leaves the existing cloud copy in place; removal from iCloud is a separate deliberate action. Recents, phone alignment, diagnostics, horizon outlines and images do not sync. Export a personal archive before a deliberate import or replacement, and keep that archive private because it can contain notes and place snapshots.

Observing companion and flyovers

Open the observing companion from a supported night outline or flyover. Choose an in-app session or allow a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Availability depends on iPhone settings and iOS. Find can require unlocking, checking the active place and time, and realigning the phone. Next advances the session without recording a sighting.

Sessions last at most four hours. Use End in CelestEye or the Live Activity to stop. Countdown times follow real timestamps; pausing an interface does not pause the sky. Stale references need review, and the companion does not continuously refresh weather or sensors in the background. Private place coordinates and Journal details are excluded from system content; see the privacy policy for local-context cleanup.

For a supported satellite pass, rehearse its calculated path before trying Now. Now follows calculated positions, not actual detection. Expired or unusable orbital data cannot establish a current pass. A viewing segment can end in Earth’s shadow or because of other calculation limits, rather than at horizon rise or set. Check the displayed explanation and source age.

Widgets and Shortcuts

Add CelestEye from the iPhone widget gallery. Widgets use a prepared local forecast; iOS controls when they refresh, so check the displayed update time and reopen the app when it is old. A hidden place name is intentional unless you enable its display. Widget links and Shortcuts open the relevant app context; they do not bypass permissions or guarantee a current forecast.

Aurora, weather and orbital predictions

Aurora uses a global NOAA model with its original issue and validity times. An expired or unavailable model is not a current forecast. Cloud and local sky conditions may be unknown. A model, a clear map or a satellite prediction cannot guarantee visibility. Satellite predictions depend on orbital data freshness; use the displayed source and update information before planning a sighting.

Nearby observing places

Open Nearby places from a supported target, a selected forecast hour or a planning-night target. Confirm the displayed starting coordinate, arrival and maximum drive. Changing these draft inputs preserves your home observing place. Compare explicitly checks public official access information and asks Apple Maps for automobile routes; an internet connection is required.

Initial curated coverage is limited to the designated Kemil parking lot at Indiana Dunes National Park. Many starting points will have no covered destination. A darker regional skyglow estimate alone is insufficient: the chosen target and setup must benefit at the arrival time, a supported route must fit your limit, and current official access checks must pass. A stronger second option may be unavailable. Starting-place guidance remains available when checks fail.

Read the source links, verification time, entry-pass requirements, walking and accessibility notes before deciding. Unknown weather, local lamps, obstructions and parking availability remain unknown. A recommendation does not guarantee personal safety or future access; respect posted closures and recheck before leaving. An allowed parking-lot visit does not authorize closed trails, beach access, camping or reserved activities. Changed, expired or unavailable official information withholds a destination. Compare again after an expiry; repeated failed checks have a one-minute retry interval.

Use this place & preview deliberately adopts the destination with its target, time and viewing setup. It never records a sighting. Open official parking in Maps opens the identified lot for route review. If your observing setup changes while browsing, reopen the comparison to keep its context consistent.

Saved horizons

Horizon setup is optional. Opening or canceling a scan does not save a new personal place. Saving a reviewed horizon also retains its original selectable place, which can participate in optional private sync. The outline and optional panorama stay local, are excluded from personal archives and device backups, and disappear when the app is deleted. Delete the panorama separately to keep its outline. Applying an outline requires confirming the same standing position and approximate camera height; a matching city or GPS location alone cannot establish that viewpoint.

Optional guidance cues

Spoken and haptic guidance are optional aids. Their availability depends on your device and system settings. Silence them in the app controls when needed, and keep checking the real sky and tracking status. A cue does not certify an object’s identity or accurate alignment.

Solar viewing

Never look directly at the Sun or through unfiltered binoculars or telescopes. CelestEye is not a solar-viewing filter. Use suitable solar observing equipment and guidance.

Contact

Email chriswelch3254@gmail.com for support or privacy questions.