Technologies

Try these stargazing apps to spot constellations and more.

These astronomical maps will help you spot planets, stars and constellations in the night sky.

Stargazing with a friend or partner is a relaxing nighttime activity. But if you’re wanting to relax under dark skies and look at the stars, how will you know where to look? Or what you’re seeing? If you want to check out the celestial bodies and star clusters visible in a clear night sky, you should consider downloading a stargazing app. The best stargazing apps can give you a better map of the sky and more details about what you’re seeing.

My husband and I are far enough out in the country to see stars, but we haven’t completely escaped the city’s light pollution. Every so often before we turn in for the night, we’ll step out onto the back porch if the sky is clear, and look up. We’ve seen a shockingly bright Venus, the ISS streak by and a few shooting stars — thanks in part to help from some astronomy apps. If you want to take a look at some of the best stargazing app options, read on. These apps should help you spot planets, stars and constellations — and some of them have a free version.

Read more: Best Weather Apps of 2023

Google Sky/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Google Sky

See at Google Sky

Google Sky lets you explore the reaches of space through the «eyes» of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Digitized Sky Survey. You can explore the wealth of information available free on mobile or desktop.

Click through the tray at the bottom of the screen to learn more about the solar system, constellations, galaxies and nebulae, views of the universe in X-ray, ultraviolet and infrared. You can also use sliding bars to see drawings of the sky by Giovanni Maria Cassini.

Plus, find where the planets are in the sky at a given time by typing the name of a planet in the search box.

SkySafari/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

SkySafari

See at SkySafari

The SkySafari astronomy app, which starts at $2 on iOS and free on Android, lets you hold your phone to the sky to identify planets, constellations, stars and satellites. You can also use the app to see what the sky might’ve looked like thousands of years ago, or what it will look like in the future.

Simulate past meteor showers, approaching comets and celestial events, like eclipses. SkySafari also has a constellation illustration overlay feature in case you can’t quite visualize the lion or bear that everyone else claims to see. The app also offers history, mythology and science information to accompany the images.

If you’re not sure where to get started, you can tap Tonight’s Best in the app to check out which object in the sky you could get the best look at.

StarTracker/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Star Tracker

See at Star Tracker

The Star Tracker app works on iOS (lite) and Android to show you 88 constellations, over 8,000 and deep-sky objects, and the sun, moon and planets, all in real time. The app uses a 3D compass in AR mode that indicates the position of objects you’ve searched for. Think of it as a mobile planetarium.

To enhance constellations, Star Tracker has a graphics feature for the 12 zodiac signs and six famous deep-sky objects.

The app is free, but there’s a full version with more features for $3 and a no ads version for $1. In addition, Star Tracker Pro offers a Time Machine feature and night mode.

Screenshot/CNET

International Space Station

See at ISS Detector

The International Space Station (ISS) app, available free on iOS and Android, doesn’t technically show you stars, but you can check out planets and the ISS itself. The app tracks where the in-space laboratory is currently located above the world at any given time.

Once you plug in your location — the only permission the app asks for — it can tell you how often you can expect to see the ISS in the sky. For example, residents of Louisville, Kentucky will typically be able to see the ISS between about 7:57 p.m. and 9:37 p.m. each night for about 30 seconds to a minute and a half. It’s a fleeting window — the ISS is traveling at about 17,100 miles per hour.

The app also keeps track of how long until the ISS will pass over your location again, and how long it’ll be visible. On average, it looks like the ISS is visible in a given area one to two times per day over the course of a week.

Skyview/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Skyview

See at Skyview

The Skyview app is $3 on iOS and $2 on Android, but both platforms have a free lite version. To use Skyview, just point your device at the sky and you can get started identifying galaxies, stars, constellations, planets — even the International Space Station. The app has night mode and an AR feature, so you can use it comfortably any time.

The app’s Sky Path’s feature lets you track objects in space to see exact locations at any date and time. In addition, Skyview has a time travel option to observe what the sky looked like in the past and might look like in the future.

NASA/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

NASA

See at NASA

No at-home space adventure is complete without the free official NASA app, which you can download for iOS or Android. Although technically you can’t use the app for stargazing in the same vein as some of the others on this list, you can still get up close and personal with space.

Check out a photo library with thousands of images constantly being updated and watch live NASA TV. In addition, the app has on-demand videos from around the agency and live streaming from the High-Definition Earth Viewing experiment on the ISS.

The app also keeps you in the know about NASA missions, launch information, upcoming sightings, news and tweets from the agency.

Star Walk 2/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Star Walk 2

See at Star Walk 2

Star Walk 2, $3 for iOS and free for Android with in-app purchases, uses your phone’s sensors and GPS to show you a map of the night sky in real time, pinpointing the location of stars, planets, constellations, comets, the ISS and satellites.

Like SkySafari, you can tap Visible Tonight if you’re not sure where to start. The feature will tell you all upcoming astronomical events and celestial objects visible for your location. The What’s New section will also keep you posted on upcoming events. You can also view the astronomy calendar or tap the clock-face icon to select any date and time and watch the sky of different periods.

Spectacular ISS shots of cities at night (pictures)

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 14, #948

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 14 #948.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The blue category, not the purple one today, expects you to find hidden words in four of the words given in the grid. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: That’s not going anywhere.

Green group hint: End user or customer.

Blue group hint: Ask a meteorologist.

Purple group hint: Not noisy.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Fixed.

Green group: Receiver of goods or services.

Blue group: Starting with weather conditions.

Purple group: Silent ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is fixed. The four answers are fast, firm, secure and tight.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is receiver of goods or services. The four answers are account, client, consumer and user.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is starting with weather conditions. The four answers are frosty (frost), mistletoe (mist), rainmaker (rain) and snowman (snow).

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is silent ____. The four answers are auction, movie, partner and treatment.

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Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Jan. 14, #1670

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Jan. 14, No. 1,670.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a tough one, with a letter that is rarely used and which I just never guess. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has three vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with A.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with D.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can mean to keep away from something or someone.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is AVOID.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Jan. 13, No. 1669 was GUMBO.

Recent Wordle answers

Jan. 9, No. 1665: EIGHT

Jan. 10, No. 1666: MANIC

Jan. 11, No. 1667: QUARK

Jan. 12, No. 1668: TRIAL

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Technologies

Apple Launches Creator Studio Package as $13 a Month Subscription

Mac users can still buy the apps individually, but subscribers get access to Final Cut Pro and other Studio tools.

Apple is bundling its pro filmmaking and audio tools including Final Cut Pro with its productivity apps Keynote, Pages and Numbers into a subscription software suite called Apple Creator Studio.

The package, which includes apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone, includes Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and the whiteboard app Freeform. Creator Studio will be available starting Jan. 28 at a cost of $13 per month or $129 per year, or $3 per month or $30 per year for students and educators. Mac users will still have the option to purchase software like Final Cut Pro for a one-time free. The current price for Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store is $300.

While apps such as Keynote and Pages are already free on Apple platforms, it appears that new versions of those apps will receive access to beta features that will roll out first to Creator Studio subscribers. The announcement by Apple alludes to «new AI features and premium content» in some of the apps it otherwise makes available to use for free.

What the Creator Studio bundle comes with

The star of the show in Creator Studio is Final Cut Pro, the video editing software that will now include Transcript Search on both Mac and iPad. There is also a new Beat Detection feature Apple says uses an AI model to analyze a music track and display a beat grid, making it easier to cut video to music rhythms. The software also will include a new Montage Maker on iPad for quick social video creation.

Motion, the 2D and 3D graphics tool, and Compressor also integrate with Final Cut Pro. Apple touted Motion’s Magnetic Mask feature for isolating objects or people without the need for a green screen.

Logic Pro has new features for musicians, including a Synth Player addition to AI Session Players. Chord ID, a new AI feature, can create chord progressions from audio or MIDI recordings. A new Sound Library will have hundreds of royalty-free clips, samples and loops.

A revamped MainStage app gives subscribers access to instrument, voice-professing and guitar rig tools. Pixelmator Pro arrives with new tools and filters, and there will be an iPad version in addition to the Mac tool.

Freeform in the Creator Studio package will add premium content, including curated photos, graphics and illustrations. It will also get new AI features that include image creation.