Vito Technology (http://vitotechnology.com/) has announced an upgrade to Star Walk, the augmented reality iOS app for spotting over 200,000 stars, planets, constellations, satellites and galaxies in the night sky.
The new version includes comprehensive stargazing calendar that shows all visible celestial events for your area, explains their nature and sets a reminder in iCal for ones you chose to see. Other additions include comet tracking and iridium flares.
Star Walk is a astronomy guide that shows celestial objects (stars, constellations, satellites, etc.) in the exact positions on the sky above you, providing information about them. It’s designed to help anyone even remotely interested in astronomy find their way across the sky, determine where to look for any chosen object, rewind or fast-forward time to see how celestial bodies move. It inspires curiosity about the Universe and helps understand amazing cosmic phenomena.
The new Calendar of celestial events suggests the best subjects for your observations. They are presented in a concise list starting with events of nearest past and going far into the future. Tapping on event, you can read more on what you are about to see and schedule a reminder that will automatically sync with iCal.
Another feature added by popular request is comet tracking that includes four comets: Halley, ISON, PANSTARRS, and Lemmon. Users will be able to identify the comets in the night sky, access all relevant information, and schedule a reminder for when the comets are visible. For instance, the highly anticipated ISON comet will light up the skies in November 2013. New version can help stargazers track the comet and set a reminder not to miss the main celestial event of the year.
Iridium flares are the reflections of sunlight caught by Iridium communication satellites orbiting the Earth. They happen as the satellite turns to a specific angle to the Sun and the viewer on the ground and these position can be calculated allowing Star Walk users to see the flares.
Star Walk 6.2 requires iOS 4.3 or higher and costs US$2.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies). It’s available worldwide exclusively through the Apple App Store in the Education category. Star Walk for iPad – 5 Stars Astronomy Guide 6.2 is also available for $2.99.