Light Pollution Map - Dark Sky

Dunbar Technology, LLC

In-app purchases

About this app

Light Pollution Map allows you to easily locate dark sites where the sky will not be affected by light pollution, allowing the best observance, star gazing, and photography of the night sky! But it's not just a light pollution map. There's many more features and tools for the hardcore astronomer. You'll soon realize Light Pollution Map is the only app you need to master the night. Scroll down and read to see the most important features:

Light Pollution Map
Integrated Light Pollution Map helps you find the darkest places near you for the best viewing of the night sky. Includes the ability to save and load your favorite dark sky locations, fully adjust the light pollution map overlay opacity and map type, and a unique "horizon safe radius tool" to avoid light pollution on the distant horizon!

Cloud Cover Map & Temperature Info
With an integrated cloud cover map and temperature indicator, always know before you even step outside if it's worth going outside to see the night sky!

Aurora Overlay
Overlay an Aurora layer on the Light Pollution Map to see where the best viewing of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) currently is.

ISS Tracker
Follow the international space station on a live map, see when it's flying above your location, who is currently on the ISS, view a live ISS webcam, and more!

Alerts & Notifications
Configure the app to send you alerts & notifications for the next meteor shower, super moon, or lunar eclipse. The app can also alert you when aurora activity is high and viewing is good at your current location, and alert you when the international space station will be flying above you.

Moon Information
Find moon phases and moon rise and set times for any date and any location. Also see more detailed info about the moon!

Live Aurora and Magnetic Field Info
See live information about the aurora such as KP value, viewing probability, magnetic field Bz, Density, and speed.

Astronomy Calculators
Get access to many different astronomy related calculators!

Live Aurora Webcams
Explore live aurora borealis webcams from around the world, and also see live graphs of the magnetosphere.

Moon Position Tool
Always know where the Moon will rise or set for any location, at any time and any date. Also has Moon Rise and Moon Set times.

Night Sky Calendar
Find the best days for meteor showers, lunar eclipses, and super moons for any day, past or present.

Live NASA SOHO Images
See live images of the Sun from NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

Astronomy Photo of the Day
See an awesome new astronomy photo every day!

Widgets
Enable and put widgets on your android home screen to show aurora information, cloud cover percentage, temperature info, astronomy photo of the day, and the time total darkness begins and ends.

Night Mode & AMOLED Themes
Darken the app to either save battery life, or put out less light pollution in the dark when you are stargazing.

And a lot more!
Some features are not available in the free version and may require an additional in-app purchase. We offering several upgrade packs, or a monthly subscription with free trial.

Ratings and reviews

The Light Pollution Map app is a great tool for locating the darkest possible skies for observing the night sky. It has features that indicate the likelihood of an auroral display, especially during the current solar maximum. It also has a cloud cover overlay to indicate the presence of clouds. Give the free version a try, and check how much it may help your observing sessions

Easy to use and with a good interface, and the free version is useful and not merely an attempt to force a purchase. My only criticism, which I don't hold against the app itself since it's not the source of the data, is that the light pollution scale strikes me as a bit optimistic. For the (badly polluted) skies around me, I'd probably add .5 to 1 to the Bortle numbers that the map key shows. Though one might quibble about the absolute accuracy of the numbers, their relative accuracy is fine.

Every feature is a paid feature. You can't adjust or modify it at all–its stuck showing light pollution, not opaque enough to see the map below. You can't tell where anything is. There is however, another app called Dark Sky Map. Its fully customizable, and looks great. Its not bogged down by buttons that do nothing. The difference between these apps is so great in fact that it compelled me to come all the way over here and write a review. You should look it up. Dark Sky Map. You're welcome.

What's new

Cloud layer fixed
Iss Tracking fixed
People in Space fixed
Iss live stream fixed
Aurora webcams fixed.
UI Improvements, improved layouts for landscape mode
Caching of Live location for few minutes
API data is cached
Location Manager improved
The location names of locations added in previous versions may not match after upgrade
Added location info to Widgets
Advanced aurora disabled, Darksky API is not longer available
Few bug fixed