StarHop NavigatorDEAnswers to the most common questions about StarHop Navigator.
StarHop Navigator is a tool for visual observers. The app helps you find objects in the sky with your telescope — by moving it yourself, not through automation.
It is not a planetarium, not an astrophotography app and not a GoTo replacement. It is a companion for people who want to observe on their own.
StarHop Navigator works with all manually moveable telescopes — Dobsonian mounts, alt-azimuth mounts and equatorial mounts without GoTo. You don't need a motor or any special bracket. Simply attach your iPhone to the tube and get started.
Currently StarHop Navigator is iPhone only. An Android version is technically possible, but the diverse sensor landscape across Android devices makes it more complex. If there's enough interest, an Android version will follow — feel free to reach out.
No. The app works completely offline. The full star catalogue with Messier objects, constellations and stars is included in the app. Ideal for observing sites without mobile reception.
With careful calibration using visible stars you can achieve high accuracy. Use stars between 30° and 60° altitude and avoid stars near the zenith. Two calibration stars give good results, three is the sweet spot — more rarely helps.
Whether the target lands inside your eyepiece view also depends on your telescope and eyepiece. See the Accuracy page for details and diagrams.
No — and that's normal. Magazine and internet photos are long-exposure images that show colours and detail invisible to the eye. Through the eyepiece, most nebulae and galaxies appear as faint, subtle smudges. That's real visual observing.
StarHop Navigator helps you find objects — what you see depends on your telescope, your sky conditions, and the object itself. A dark sky and patience make a bigger difference than any app.
GoTo systems drive automatically to an object — you don't learn anything about the sky in the process. StarHop Navigator shows you the way, but you move the telescope yourself. This way you get to know constellations, develop a feel for distances in the sky and become a better observer.
Yes. StarHop Navigator is built to make getting started easy — with contextual help, seasonal observing lists and a guided calibration process. At the same time the app offers enough depth for experienced observers: equipment management, observation log, statistics and a complete object catalogue.
Yes. The built-in observation log saves your sessions with date, location, conditions (seeing, transparency, Bortle scale), weather data (temperature, wind, cloud cover, humidity) and equipment used. For each observed object you can record notes, eyepiece and conditions.
Yes. Equipment management supports multiple telescopes, eyepieces, Barlow lenses and filters. The app automatically calculates magnification, field of view and exit pupil for every combination and shows you whether an object is well observable with your current equipment.
Yes. Your observations and equipment can be exported and backed up. Your data belongs to you — you can archive it, share it or process it in other applications.
No. StarHop Navigator collects no personal data and contains no tracking. No advertising, no analytics, no cloud connection. All data stays on your device.