StarSense Explorer 2.0.1.2

Unleash the power of your smartphone to take you on a guided tour of the night sky, even if you’ve never used a telescope before.

STARSENSE SKY RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY

This unique app utilizes patent-pending technology along with a Celestron StarSense Explorer telescope (available separately) to analyze star patterns in the sky overhead. It calculates the telescope’s position in real time with remarkable precision.

StarSense Explorer’s sky recognition technology has transformed traditional telescopes by eliminating common beginner confusion and enhancing the user experience for seasoned telescope users. Many aspiring astronomers can become disheartened or lose interest in their manual telescopes due to uncertainty about where to point them to observe planets, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies—the most intriguing celestial bodies. StarSense Explorer precisely guides users to the current visible celestial objects in the night sky and instructs them on where to position their telescopes for viewing through the eyepiece.

THE NIGHT SKY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

The user-friendly planetarium interface empowers you to explore the heavens for desired objects. You can also search the extensive database for specific items.

If you’re unsure what celestial wonders to observe, StarSense Explorer automatically generates a list of the best stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae, and more that are visible from your location. Simply select one from the list and start your astronomical journey!

While observing, you can access comprehensive information, images, and audio descriptions for the most popular cosmic entities. It offers a fantastic opportunity for every member of the family to delve into scientific facts, history, mythology, and more, deepening their appreciation of the night sky.

EASY AS 1-2-3: DOCK, LAUNCH, OBSERVE

To begin, assemble your StarSense Explorer telescope and download the app. Each telescope includes a unique unlock code for full app feature access. Connect your phone to the telescope by placing it in the StarSense dock and launch the app.

After a straightforward two-step process to align your smartphone’s camera with the telescope, the app showcases a view of the night sky displaying a bullseye on-screen representing the telescope’s current positioning. From there, you can select an object for observation by tapping it in planetarium view or choosing from Tonight’s Best observation list. The selection of objects will vary nightly; you might spot planets like Jupiter or Saturn, nebulae like Orion, or galaxies such as Andromeda.

When an object is selected, on-screen pointing arrows direct you on where to navigate your telescope. Follow these indicators until the bullseye appears centered on target. Once it turns green, that object will be visible through the telescope’s lower-powered eyepiece.

HOW STARSENSE EXPLORER WORKS

StarSense Explorer utilizes image data captured by your smartphone’s camera to establish its pointing position. The app captures an image of the night sky and matches star patterns within this image to its internal database employing a process similar to fingerprint matching or facial recognition.

The extraction of star pattern data from images to determine the current pointing position of a telescope is referred to as “plate solving.” This method mirrors what professional observatories and orbiting satellites use.

The StarSense Explorer app stands out as the first application ever devised using plate solving to ascertain your smartphone’s pointing position accurately. Other astronomy apps depend on gyroscopes, accelerometers, and compasses within smartphones to estimate pointing positions—a method lacking precision when aligning objects inside a telescope’s view.

The patent-pending StarSense Explorer technology delivers unmatched accuracy.

COMPATIBILITY

• Most smartphones produced after 2016 running Android 7.1.2 and higher are supported. For detailed Android compatibility details, visit celestron.com/SSE.
• StarSense Explorer offers localization support for French, Italian, German, and Spanish languages.