send link to app

Scope Nights Astronomy Weather app for iPhone and iPad


4.4 ( 864 ratings )
Weather Reference
Developer: Martin Dodd
4.99 USD
Current version: 2.5.1, last update: 6 years ago
First release : 14 Aug 2012
App size: 121.25 Mb

"Every amateur astronomer yearns for clear, dark skies, and this exhaustive app helps you find them."
- Sky At Night Magazine 2017

"Several astronomy-oriented weather apps are available, but Scope Nights has become my favorite… it does a fine job of summarizing the data in a clear and understandable fashion."
- Sky & Telescope Magazine 2015

"Conventional weather forecasts meet the needs of Earthly dwellers; news of cloud cover when sensible folk are asleep is hardly required. Now via this wonderful App… local forecasts for nocturnal weather… are now available."
- Astronomy Now Magazine 2012

If you’re a stargazer, astronomer or astrophotographer, analysing conventional weather forecasts for favourable night time conditions can be very time consuming, you just want to know when to plan your stargazing trip or set up your telescope. Scope Nights analyses night time weather forecast data for you and shows exactly when and where to go for the darkest and clearest skies, as well as offering customisable stargazing ratings to suit your telescope and observing habits, stargazing notifications, and a detailed light pollution map showing nearby dark sky sites and observatories. Finding clear dark skies and discovering the night sky has never been easier!


PLAN YOUR OBSERVING WITH CUSTOM STARGAZING RATINGS

• View at a glance which nights will be good for astronomy using smart weather analysis with clear stargazing ratings and animated weather icons to quickly see if it’s worth preparing your telescope or planning a stargazing trip

• Create custom stargazing ratings using observing thresholds for moon phase, wind, humidity and temperature. Choose night, evening or morning coverage to suit when you observe, the type of telescope, and the type of observing you plan to do.

• View at a glance which of your favourite Scope Sites will have the most suitable conditions


FIND DARK SKY SITES & OBSERVATORIES

• Find nearby dark sky sites with the clearest skies using a detailed light pollution map derived from the latest NASA satellite data

• Searchable lists and dark sky map showing certified dark sky places, major astronomical observatories and robotic telescopes


DETAILED ASTRONOMY FORECASTS

• Long range astronomy forecasts for any location worldwide, compare up to 10 locations up to 10 nights ahead

• Local 3-hourly forecasts for UK & USA updated hourly using the best forecast data available direct from the UK Met Office and the US NOAA National Weather Service


CUSTOM STARGAZING NOTIFICATIONS

• Receive accurate notifications of good or fair stargazing ratings based on your custom thresholds, well before sunset so you can prepare for your observing session

• App badge showing the number of sites with good observing conditions for tonight


SHARE STARGAZING FORECASTS

• Share astronomy weather reports with fellow astronomers via email, social media or print them out for your observatory


DETAILED CUSTOM ASTRONOMY FORECASTS

• Night time specific astronomy forecasts from sunset to sunrise

• Forecast coverage to suit when you observe: All Night, Evening or Morning

• Detailed colour coded forecasts:
- Moon phase percentage & altitude
- Cloud cover
- Precipitation probability
- Relative humidity
- Minimum temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit
- Wind direction
- Wind speed & gusts in Mph, Knots, Kph or Mps

• Moonrise and moonset times

• Sunrise & sunset times

• Wind speed gust sensitivity switch for those with large telescopes or in exposed locations


REQUIREMENTS
• Requires a device with iOS 9.3 or later
• Requires Internet access over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection
• Requires Location Services be enabled to automatically find local astronomy forecast
• Requires Background Services be enabled to get stargazing notifications

Pros and cons of Scope Nights Astronomy Weather app for iPhone and iPad

Scope Nights Astronomy Weather app good for

I really love this app. Although I dont use it for scoping, but for Astrophotography, it perfectly meets my needs
Solid app. Great for the vast majority (US-UK). Hoping the developer gets around to us Canucks sometime. And mebbe explains why the Dark Sky option costs 6.99? Ouch...
Very impressed with the UI. It is my goto app for astro weather. Well worth the purchase. Will be recommending to others.
Love to stargaze and astrophotography. This app is very useful and accurately predicts good to ideal conditions. Check it several times per week.
I love this app! I have used it for a long while now and it has been accurate in planning my nights. Great job!
A very good app to help the budding astronomer determine the evenings conditions. Worth the admission fee.

Some bad moments

Seems like a cool app but the upgrades dont give you what you pay for.Lots of dark sky sites and observatories not listed. Also unable to remove sites that were added.Dont get the dark sky upgrade
When you buy this app, you do not get any of the advertised features that come with this app, such as the dark sky map, without paying a bunch of money in upgrades. In addition, you can only get the weather at one time from 2 locations without upgrades: Your present location and 1 other. Even the default weather app can beat that. Although their ratings of "good", "poor", and "fair" can be helpful, most people are capable of judging the weather forecasts meaning for astronomy themselves. In addition, it often gives incorrect forecasts that differ significantly from the National Weather Service and other apps predictions. Dont waste your money on this app. Googling the Clear Dark Sky Chart for your location is much more effective, detailed, and is also free.
Great idea, but to get all the features itll cost you! Wish I would have read the reviews before purchasing. I guess they figure amateur astronomers have money to burn. They nickel and dime you to death. Every time you click on a feature it asks for money. I mean really, should I have to pay for an upgrade to store more an two locations? That is crazy! You at least three purchases to make to get all the features they describe. By the time youre done the app ends up costing many times the initial purchase price. I wish in app purchases would go the way of the dinosaur.
When you buy an app, you think that the important features are included. But not this one. You buy the app, then its useless unless you buy each feature separately.
The app is OK, but when you want more that just the single screen of info you need to upgrade costing you almost 10 bucks by the time you get a real full piece of software.
They declared to have whether forecasts for all the locations in europe and after acquired I discovered that the service is not running in Italy!

Usually Scope Nights Astronomy Weather iOS app used & searched for

skymap, star gazing, dark sky, stargazing app, astronomy app, dark sky app, night sky lite, dark sky weather app, dark sky weather, space weather app, weather scope, scope nights astronomy weather, and other. So, download free Scope Nights Astronomy Weather .ipa to run this nice iOS application on iPhone and iPad.