Day 25 – The Serendipity of the Stars and Surface RT

30 Days with a Surface RT for Teachers 

Teaching and Learning with a Windows 8 Tablet

A couple of nights ago I was out gazing at the stars trying to catch a glimpse of the annual Perseid Meteor shower that puts on a celestial show this time of year.

I have long been a star-watcher and the Perseid event got me to thinking about if there were any apps on the Surface RT I could use to help me navigate around the night sky. Turns out there is!

 

I downloaded the free Star Chart app on the Surface RT from the Windows Store. Most apps I install take only 30 to 60 seconds on the RT but this one was different and took about 20 minutes to install. Turns out the Universe is a big place and the database requires approximately 500MB of space (pardon the pun).

The Perseid Meteor viewing was a bust for me as the clouds rolled in during the peak viewing hours between Midnight and 3am but I had the Star Chart app to keep me company. 

One of the best features of this app is a night-time mode that turns the Surface RT screen all red. This keeps your pupils from dilating from a bright screen and lets you keep as dark of viewing experience as possible to see the stars clearly.

 

With Star Chart you basically have an entire Astronomy course with just this one app!

There is also an explore view that lets you navigate around the Universe with pre-made tours of the Solar System. Pinch and zoom works well and the graphics are astonishing. There is even a simulated Celestial Sphere you can put into motion to see how the stars rise and set on the horizon.

Star Chart has categories for Planets, Stars, Constellations, Messiers, Satellites, and Comets, but the Satellites and Comets cost extra as an upgrade.

 

This is a pretty amazing app and should be enough to keep any Astronomy fan busy for quite some time.

Until next time...
Keep on Learning,

Tom Grissom, PhD

Follow me on Twitter @tomgrissom

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