Luminos Pro updates offered in Version 11 have been announced by the publisher, Wobbleworks. Available on iOS, it offers an all-in-one mobile astronomy app, with a wide range of features for star gazing, observing with a telescope, and exploring the galaxy in 3D. Luminos Pro has vast databases of nearly every type of object and uses them to give custom recommendations for making the most of your time under the sky.
The star databases have been updated with the addition of Gaia DR3, ATNF Pulsars, and the General Catalog of Variable Stars (GCVS), enriching the view of the stars with more accurate and comprehensive data. Free users can access the 5 million brightest Gaia DR3 stars and the Pulsar catalog, while paid users can access 250 million Gaia DR3 stars, plus variable stars and double star systems and detailed data pages.
Weather forecast data has been added to the Tonight menu, with highlights for especially favorable viewing windows for tonight and the upcoming week, making it even easier to get the most out of your time under the stars. Weather forecast information is available to subscribers and All-Access Pass holders.
Also in this update are new iOS desktop widgets for the Moon and planets that provide phase information, magnitude, and altitude, plus a Sun widget with live images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. There are also two specialized planet widgets, one for Jupiter and one for Saturn, which show their moon arrangements and Saturn’s ring tilt. These widgets can be used on the iOS desktop or lock screen, and best of all, the desktop widgets are free for all users.
Other new features include settings to disable various animations in the app, time-stepping controls including second, minute, and sidereal day, and a limiting magnitude estimate for your telescope in the equipment calculator.
As the publisher notes, “In addition to the new features, the databases for exoplanets and Washington Double Star catalog have been updated, and searching is more responsive and accurate with improved results. This update also addresses several bugs and other flaws, including displaying comet appearance times correctly in the Tonight panel, improving the readability of object labels in the sky view, displaying spacecraft paths more precisely during high-motion events such as perihelion, providing useful feedback regarding telescope connection failures, adding missing translations, and perhaps most importantly, the altitude charts and tonight’s best displays now show the upcoming day after 6:00 in the morning instead of having to wait until noon.”
With the Luminos Pro updates users continue to receive easy access to planets and moons, bright star lists, meteor shower charts, 5,000 years of solar and lunar eclipses, constellation details, and if you want to know what or where something in the sky is you just raise your device and motion tracking will identify or locate your target.
Telescope users will appreciate Luminos Pro’s telescope control and equipment management. They can connect to many brands of computer-controlled telescopes for easy pointing directly from Luminos Pro and use the equipment calculator to help choose optimal combinations for your observations. Select a camera and use an accurately scaled overlay on the sky view to calculate the ideal centering and rotation for framing your astrophotography targets.
Luminos Pro also provides an excellent educational experience as it allows users to travel in 3D to see stars in an alien sky, then experience the scale of space with a seamless 3D flight back home. Luminos Pro makes it fun to explore the planets and moons of the solar system with 100-megapixel maps and complete surface feature databases from the USGS. Users can also explore exoplanets and their star systems, or ride along with a spacecraft like Voyager 1 throughout its journey or see what the Pleiades looks like when you spin it around in 3D.
Luminos Pro is offered with three subscription options. All subscriptions start with a free month and can be cancelled at any time, even during the free month.
You can learn more about the Luminos Pro Updates here.
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