★ ✦ ☾ ✧ ☆ ♡︎ ⋆ ✶

✧･ﾟ: * pointed at the sky with love * :･ﾟ✧

✦✧⋆

Astrolabe

ア ス ト ロ ラ ー ベ

a planetarium that lives in your pocket ♥︎

WORK IN PROGRESS · NOT RELEASED YET · NAME NOT EVEN FINAL
✦ real ephemeris math ✦ ☆ under construction ☆ ☾ moon-accurate ☽ ♡ 27 nebulae, hand-baked ♡ do not trust the compass ✧ 109k stars in 3d ✧
try it: constellations in 3d DEMO_01.EXE ✦⋆

constellations aren't real: they're a line-of-sight illusion. these are the actual stars at their actual distances (real HYG catalog data, same as the app). drag to orbit and watch the familiar shape fall apart into deep space.

constellation_lab.exe · tiny web version

drag to orbit · pinch or scroll to zoom · the real thing runs on-device with every constellation ♥︎

try it: the galaxy map DEMO_02.EXE ✧♡

a tiny taste of the app's free-fly mode: the 7,000 brightest stars around the sun, each at its true 3D position, with a stylized milky way behind them (the real app renders ~109k in Metal, plus nebulae baked from telescope photos… and the black hole). zoom all the way out: that little pink ring is home.

galaxy_map.exe · tiny web version

drag to orbit · scroll or pinch to zoom · hover a bright star to name it · stars are real, the spiral is art, same rule as the app

try it: bend spacetime DEMO_03.EXE ✦⋆

the app's flagship set piece is Sgr A*, the galaxy's central black hole. fly close and it gravitationally lenses the whole rendered galaxy behind it (on the phone this is a real Schwarzschild geodesic march, on the GPU). this toy does the pocket version: the classic weak-field lens equation, live, on the same real stars, looking toward the actual galactic centre. watch stars split into double images and smear into an einstein ring as they pass behind it.

gravity_lens.exe · tiny web version

move your cursor (or drag) and the hole follows · scroll or pinch to feed it ♥︎ · in the app you can fall in. here you're safe

try it: a nebula, point by point DEMO_04.EXE ✧♡

the app's nebulae aren't textures: each one is baked from a real telescope photo into ~60,000 particles (the photo never ships, only the points). here are 7,000 of them, with the same trick the app uses: face-on you see the photograph, orbit and it becomes a volume.

nebula_loom.exe · tiny web version

drag to orbit · scroll or pinch to zoom · source photos are public-domain / CC-BY telescope images, credited in the app

what is it? README.TXT ✦☾

an iOS app i'm building. you raise your phone toward the sky and it shows you what's actually there: every star, planet, the sun and the moon, computed for your exact spot on earth at this exact second, with real astronomical math. tap anything and it tells you everything it knows.

it has a sister app, ecliptica ☾: same engine, same real sky, a different way of reading it.

the rule i'm building it by: accurate, deep, and beautiful, in that order of difficulty and the reverse order of why i started.

what it does (so far) FEATURES.LOG ✧♡
  • sky mode: hold your phone up; ~8,900 naked-eye stars, constellation lines, the sun & moon, all pinned to the real sky. tap a star to identify it. pinch to zoom. there's even a time scrubber to run the sky forward and back.
  • galaxy map: leave earth and free-fly through ~109,000 real stars at their true 3D positions, past nebulae baked from actual telescope photos, all rendered in Metal. fly far enough in and you'll find Sgr A*, the galaxy's black hole, with real gravitational lensing. (you can fall in. i'm not telling you what happens.)
  • exoplanets: fly to a star, see its actual known planets from the NASA archive, orbits and all.
  • tonight: what's up right now from where you're standing: moon phase, visible planets, meteor showers, upcoming events.
  • constellations in 3D: rotate a constellation and watch the familiar flat shape fall apart into stars hundreds of light-years deep. my favourite little truth in the app.
  • looking for the astrology? that's the sister app: ecliptica, with natal charts, transits & a glowing celestial sphere on this same engine.
  • widgets, onboarding, settings planned: spec'd and waiting their turn.
status WIP.LOG ⋆✦

this one is very much a work in progress: it runs on my phone and nowhere else yet. no app store, no testflight, not even a final name (「astrolabe」 is taken, tragically). it gets a little closer to the sky every week.

elysia@pink: ~/Developer/Astrolabe · zsh

elysia@pink:~/Developer/Astrolabe $ ./status --check ✦

✓ astronomy engine  · unit-tested against the textbooks

✓ AR sky view  · verified against the actual sky

✓ galaxy map + black hole  · metal renderer, lensing and all

✓ sister app: ecliptica  · the same sky, read her way ♡

… polish, settings, onboarding  · in progress

✗ a name  · send help

✗ app store release  · someday ♡

elysia@pink:~/Developer/Astrolabe $

SWIFT 6 SWIFTUI + METAL HYG ★ CATALOG MEEUS MATH iOS ONLY (FOR NOW) 100% HOMEMADE
✦ more little things ✦ ☾ ecliptica · the sky's other half ☽ tsuki · journal ♪ kanade · scrobbles ✚ piru · stay safe
← back to main page ♡

the stars will be here when it's done ♥︎