Are you struggling to find the comets in the evening sky? There are daily comet trackers on my feed each day this month, but even with sky charts and maps of the night sky, it’s hard to beat the best stargazing and astronomy apps.
These apps use the date and time, the GPS, compass and accelerometer sensors in your phone to show you a real-time map of the night sky. They typically have an augmented reality mode, allowing you to overlay the graphics onto the star fields above.
You get names of planets, stars, galaxies, constellations — and, if you use the best astronomy apps, the location of newly found comets. Many of them have been rebuilt to gel with Apple’s new translucent Liquid Glass app experience. Armed with the best night sky apps that include the comets in their databases, you’ll be eyes-on with Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) and Comet SWAN (C/2025 R2) in no time.
Sky Guide
Fifth Star Labs (iOS only)
Here’s one of the most polished and practical stargazing apps available. Around since 2013, Sky Guide’s intuitive time travel feature makes checking a comet’s position tomorrow or next week effortless, while the dark sky finder pinpoints the best nearby observing spots and darkest hours. There’s the all-important red night vision mode, shortcuts to finding the comets, and an explore section that adds astronomy news curated by managing editor Dr. Jenifer Millard, also from the Awesome Astronomy podcast. Working offline, it’s free to download on Apple devices, with Plus ($3.99/month) and Pro ($5.99/month) subscriptions.
SkySafari 7 Pro
Simulation Curriculum (Android and iOS)
If you’re a serious stargazer and you want to do everything from organizing your observations to controlling telescopes and cameras, SkySafari 7 is where to start. Although most of its advanced features require hefty subscriptions, it can easily be used in its basic mode ($6.99) to find C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and C/2025 R2 (SWAN). A list of comets is easy to find within the search menu, and from there, it’s a one-touch to check the comets’ present locations on a beautiful sky map. It’s also a cinch to fast-forward the sky and see where they’ll be tomorrow. Plus ($14.99) and Pro ($24.99) upgrades are available for advanced users.
Sky Tonight
Vito Technology (Android and iOS)
A lightweight app that’s easy to use, Sky Tonight by Vito Technology delivers a beautifully simple augmented reality guide to the night sky that works really well for comets. There are several ways to find C/2025 A6 and C/2025 R2, with the calendar being a great place to start. It details the closest approach dates for both comets and provides a one-touch link to find them in the real-time night sky. If you manually search for the comets, they remain clickable recent searches. You’ll also find dedicated articles about both comets. There’s also a handy screengrab option for sharing the comets’ positions with friends. The app is free to download, with a Premium subscription ($0.99/month, $4.99/year or $5.99/lifetime)
to remove ads and make the search less manual.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Read the full article here
