Popular Astronomy App Supports Astronomers Without Borders

Scorpius-Portrait-iPad.jpg

[caption id="attachment_91633" align="aligncenter" width="384" caption="he constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius (highlited) as mythical figures, near the center of the Milky Way. Credit: Southern Stars.com"]

[/caption] You can support a great organization,

Astronomers Without Borders

, by purchasing a popular astronomy app for Apple and Mac devices. SkySafari 3 is a "revolutionary" app that can completely cover your observing/educational needs. During a special promotion that is available until December 8, 40% of proceeds from all SkySafari sales will be donated to Astronomers Without Borders to support their global programs. Some significant discounts are also being offered, so you can get a great price and help build AWB's worldwide astronomy community at the same time.

You've probably heard of some of AWB's project, such as The World at Night, Global Astronomy Month, and 100 Hours of Astronomy. AWB nobly works to foster understanding and goodwill across national and cultural boundaries by creating relationships through the universal appeal of astronomy. They provide and share resources, information and inspiration.

With all the great work they are doing, AWB needs some help to continue their outreach. "Interest and demand have really outstripped our start-up, volunteer, grass-roots organization," AWB President Mike Simmons told Universe Today. "So we're starting a fund-raising campaign that we hope will get us over the hump so we can keep up with all the opportunities there are."

If you are considering getting an astronomy app for yourself or someone else for the holidays, consider SkySafari 3, the latest version of this popular app – and you can support AWB at the same time. But

hurry

– this offer ends on

Dec. 8, 2011

.

You can also

support AWB

even if you don't need an app.

More info:

Sky and Telescope magazine

has named SkySafari 3 a Hot Products for 2012.

SkySafari 3

  • $2.99, 50 MB. 120K stars, no telescope control.

The basic version of SkySafari 3 shows you 120,000 stars, plus 220 of the best-known star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies in the sky. It displays the Solar System's major planets and moons using NASA spacecraft imagery, and includes the best-known 20 asteroids and comets.

SkySafari 3 Plus

  • $14.99, 181 MB, 2.5M stars, telescope control.

SkySafari 3 Plus adds a hugely expanded database - and wired or wireless telescope control - to our basic version. It shows you 2.5 million stars, and 31,000 deep sky objects - including the entire NGC/IC catalog. It includes over 4,000 asteroids, comets, and satellites with updateable orbits. And it can point your GoTo or "Push-To" telescope anywhere in the sky, using your iPhone/iPad/iPod's built-in WiFi, and our SkyFi or SkyWire serial accessories.

SkySafari 3 Pro

  • $59.99, 418 MB, 15M stars, telescope control.

The all-new SkySafari 3 Pro has the largest database of any astronomy app, period. It contains everything in SkySafari 3 Plus - but also includes over 15.3 million stars from the Hubble Guide Star catalog, plus 740,000 galaxies down to 18th magnitude, and over 550,000 solar system objects - including every comet and asteroid ever discovered. Yet it runs just as fast and smoothly as our $3 basic version.

See the Astronomy Without Borders Website for purchasing information, and the

Southern Stars website

for more product information.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com