''Star Walk'' is an educational

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

application developed by

Vito Technology Vito Technology, Inc. is an American-German mobile software development company, best known for the educational application ''Star Walk'' for iOS, which has had more than 5 million downloads since its release in 2009. History The company is based ...

which allows users to explore celestial objects in real time through the screen of their devices. The application has been presented within the mobile software market since 2001 and is available for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

. Since its release, ''Star Walk'' has been downloaded by over 10 million users worldwide. ''Star Walk'' aims to help

amateurs, students and professionals to locate and identify over 200,000

stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellatio ...

and

satellites A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotop ...

in the night sky and provide detailed information about them.

Functionality

The application helps to determine the exact position of celestial objects in the sky above, calculated in real-time based on the position of the user. It also includes extra information on

star clusters Star clusters are large groups of stars. Two main types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of ten thousand to millions of old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters are more loosely clus ...

meteor showers A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at ex ...

, iridium flares,

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

and

nebulae A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...

as well as the current position of

dwarf planets A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit of the Sun, smaller than any of the eight classical planets but still a world in its own right. The prototypical dwarf planet is Pluto. The interest of dwarf planets to pl ...

comets A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

and man-made

. ''Star Walk'' utilizes a single-screen dashboard, which shows users when the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

(and other planets which may be visible) rises and sets at a particular location, along with the current moon phase, elevation angle, and day length. In addition to this quick identification feature, ''Star Walk'' supports the addition of calendar entries which notify the user of celestial events. The application is also equipped with a time machine feature, which allows users to rewind or fast-forward time to explore the map of the night sky in the past and future. ''Star Walk'' uses the iOS device camera for the

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory Modality (human–computer interaction), modalities, including visual, Hearing, auditory, hap ...

feature, combining the image data from the camera with the star map to give the user a real-time view of

celestial objects An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are often use ...

Star Walk 2

''Star Walk 2'' is an update of the original ''Star Walk'' astronomy application. This new version offers a re-designed interface with a variety of camera modes: free roam, manual/scrolling, and augmented reality. The augmented reality view also remains as a holdover from the original app. In order to explore the night sky objects, the user can orient the device toward the sky so that the application activates the camera and the charted objects can be seen appearing superimposed on live sky objects through use of augmented reality. Users can scroll a list of objects visible on any night and from any location on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

. Tapping on an object name displays pop-ups that give users information on the object, a Wikipedia link for more details, and a 3D option (if available). The Star Walk 2 application has new features such as a "What's New" feed of the latest astronomy news.

Release Timeline

''Star Walk'' was launched on November 8, 2008 for the iPhone and the

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...

. A version for the

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operati ...

was released on March 4, 2010. ''Star Walk'' for Android was released on January 9, 2014. ''Star Walk 2'' for iOS was released on August 21, 2014. A version of ''Star Walk 2'' for Android devices premiered on March 11, 2015. As of July 31, 2018, ''Star Walk'' became free for all iOS devices.

Reception

In addition to its commercial success, ''Star Walk'' has been well received by

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

. At

WWDC The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in t ...

2010, ''Star Walk'' won an

Apple Design Award The Apple Design Awards (ADAs) is an event hosted by Apple Inc. at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The purpose of the event is to recognize the best and most innovative Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a fa ...

for the iPad version. In 2012, it won Parents’ Choice Gold Award in the "Mobile Apps" category, Academics' Choice Award, and

World Summit Award The World Summit Awards (WSA) is an awards system that selects and promotes local digital innovation to improve society. WSA is an international platform focused on broadcasting cutting-edge examples of how Information and Communications Techno ...

in "Entertainment and Lifestyle" category.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Star WalkStar Walk 2 (official website)App Store – Star Walk – Explore the SkyApp Store – Star Walk HD – Night Sky ViewApp Store – Star Walk 2 – Night Sky MapApp Store – Star Walk 2 Ads+: Sky Map ARGoogle Play – Star Walk – Night Sky Guide: Planets and Stars MapGoogle Play – Star Walk 2 – Sky Guide: View Stars Day and NightGoogle Play – Star Walk 2 Free – Identify Stars in the Night Sky
Astronomy education IOS software Android (operating system) software