Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Fun New App: MoonWalking

Screenshot from the Moonwalking app.

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Ever wish you could have been a fly on the wall of the Eagle lunar module (figuratively speaking, of course) and watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take their first steps on the Moon in 1969? A fun new app called MoonWalking allows you to bring Tranquility Base down to Earth to watch history unfold in front of you. Using your iPhone or iPad as an interactive magic window into history, you can watch all the action, and even take pictures of the events with your iPhone. MoonWalking is an augmented-reality app that recreates Tranquility Base in your backyard or neighborhood park.

You can learn more about MoonWalking here, and you can download it from iTunes for only $.99. But Universe Today has codes to give away to the first two people who leave a comment to get the app for free. Remember, this is for iPhones and iPads only.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Contest: Win a Copy of ‘Sidereal Clock’ iPhone App

A view of the Sidereal Clock iPhone app.

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You know you’ve always wanted your own sidereal clock. Now, here’s your chance. We’re giving away 10 access codes for the new Sideral Clock astronomy iPhone app. Just send an email to us with “Sidereal Clock” in the subject line and Fraser will choose five winners at random.

Sidereal time is a time-keeping system astronomers use to keep track of the direction to point their telescopes to view a given star in the night sky. A a sidereal day is the time scale that is based on the Earth’s rate of rotation measured relative to the fixed stars. All observatories have a Sidereal Clock, and you can find sidereal time on the Internet, but you don’t always have access to the internet while observing. If you have an iPhone you can now install “SiderealClock” application and carry it with you everywhere you go.

This app uses iPhone geopositioning, and the application displays the current time (LMT), Greenwich time (GMT), your local Sideral Time (LST) and also the Julian Day. SideralClock is a real time clock and runs in any iPhone with geopositioning system and iOS 4.2 or higher.

Find more informations about this application at Apple iTunes Store The app is available in English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese.

Thanks to designer Fabio Rendelucci for providing the app codes for this contest!

Note: this contest replaces an earlier one that was canceled, in case you feel like you are experiencing deja vu.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Win ‘Star Walk’ and ‘Solar Walk’ Astronomy Apps

I’ve had a couple of people excitedly show me the Star Walk astronomy app on their iPhones and ipads, and it really is great. You can hold your device up to the sky and it will show you a sky map of your exact position. Move your device around the sky, and it moves with you. It is a very high quality, dynamic and realistic stargazing guide, which — if you are a beginning or experienced astronomer — makes skywatching easy for everybody! There is also a “Solar Walk” app — which has very cool 3D images, so grab your 3D glasses to fully enjoy. See more about this app below.
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