ATLAS Tonight's Sky

ATLAS answers one question: what is actually worth imaging from your backyard tonight? Tell it where you are, and it scores every deep sky object above your horizon by weighing the six factors that decide whether a target is worth the night: altitude, separation from the moon, moon illumination, sky brightness at your site, how long it stays inside your imaging window, and where it sits in its season. You get a ranked answer in seconds, instead of an hour across three apps and a weather site. WHAT IS INSIDE Tonight's Best A ranked list of targets scored for your location, your date and the forecast. Open any object to see its altitude curve, transit time, angular size, magnitude, and a plain reading of why it scored the way it did. An interactive 3D sky Messier, NGC, IC, Caldwell and Sharpless on a dome you can spin, zoom and scrub through time, forward or back by years. Search any designation or common name, fly to it, and see when it is highest. Conditions Hourly cloud cover and temperature for your exact coordinates, plus moon phase, moonrise and moonset, and every stage of twilight. Gear aware framing Enter your telescope and camera and ATLAS frames each target the way your rig will see it, so you know before you slew whether it fills the sensor or disappears in it. PLAN A YEAR AHEAD The imaging planner answers the question that decides a project: when can I shoot this, and for how long. Pick a target and ATLAS works out every night of the next twelve months from your location, your horizon and your gear: which nights are worth it, how many usable hours each one gives you, and which months carry the season. It is sky geometry, not a forecast. POINT AT THE SKY Raise your phone and the map follows it, with your camera's view behind it if you want the real horizon. Nothing to set up: ATLAS finds north when Point mode opens and then follows the phone, so the map holds steady even near a building or a steel railing. If it ever looks off, center the Moon and tap it, and it corrects. BUILT FROM A LIGHT POLLUTED ROOFTOP ATLAS was built by an astrophotographer in Chicago who has put over 750 hours of integration on deep sky objects from a Bortle 9 rooftop. The scoring is tuned for exactly that: real skies, real obstructions, a real moon in the way, not a perfect night at 8,000 feet. You do not need dark skies or expensive gear to do serious astrophotography. You do need to spend your clear nights on the right target. That is what this is for. FREE, AND STILL FREE ATLAS is free to use, with no account required. Tonight's best targets, the 3D sky and dome, Point mode, conditions and search all stay free, and there are no ads and no full screen upsell screens. Astronomer is an optional subscription for planning ahead and going deeper: the twelve month imaging planner, Universe view, the fainter NGC, IC and Sharpless objects, the advanced filters, and the framing tools for rotation and mosaics. It lives in one place in the menu, and nothing asks you twice. DATA AND CREDITS Star data from the HYG Database v3.8 (CC BY-SA 2.5), compiled by David Nash. Deep sky data from OpenNGC v2024.02 (CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled by Mattia Verga. Solar system positions, twilight and moon phase from astronomy-engine. Weather from Open-Meteo. Place names from OpenStreetMap and Nominatim. Made by M102 Astro. m102astro.com ATLAS Astronomer is an auto-renewing subscription. Monthly: $3.99 per month. Yearly: $29.99 per year. New subscribers pay $19.99 for the first year. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://atlas.m102astro.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://atlas.m102astro.com/privacy