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This is the LITE EDITION (LE) Version of PocketSat3. It tracks a fixed - chosen by me - set of particularly bright satellites, which do not include any of the AMSAT ham radio satellites.
Other than that, it is the same as PocketSat3. It is intended for:
- People who are really only interested in bright satellites (like ISS and HST)
- People who would like to "test drive" all of the features of PocketSat3 without having to pay the full price.
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Have you ever looked up just after sunset or before sunrise and watched a steady light moving slowly across the night sky? It may well have been a man-made satellite, many of which are visible to the naked eye - if you know when and where to look.
PocketSat3 is a full-featured satellite tracking application for iPhone and iPod Touch devices, and is designed to be usable by both experienced satellite trackers as well as novices who are just interested in knowing when they can look up in the sky and see satellites. It is the 3rd major revision in the PocketSat series from BigFatTail Productions, which has set the standard for handheld satellite tracking since 1999.
PocketSat3 can display real-time plots of multiple satellites on both Earth maps and Sky charts. It also includes tools to predict when satellites will pass overhead and potentially be visible.
PocketSat3 LE is not a dumbed-down or feature-stripped version of PocketSat3. The only difference between the 2 apps is that PocketSat3 LE works with a fixed set of 40 of the brightest satellites, including the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as the Space Shuttle if it happens to be flying. All modes, tools, and options of the full version are present.
NOTE: PocketSat3 is a large and complex application and before you decide to purchase it you should visit:
http://www.pocketsat.com
and have a look at a more detailed description, read the full documentation, and perhaps visit the PocketSat user forum to ask any questions you might have.
Features of PocketSat3 LE include:
- Configurable to compute satellite visibility from any location on Earth. Can query the device for your current location.
- Map view shows satellite position and orbit track on an Earth map.
- Sky view shows satellite position and path in the sky, as well as current brightness. The Sun, Moon, stars and constellations can also be plotted.
- Flexible application clock can be set to any date and time as well as clock rate, allowing "what happens when..." experiments. You can make time stand still or even go backwards if you wish. A single button press restores the clock to current system time.
- "Pass" mode allows pre-calculation of satellites that will pass over a particular location during a given time span, including filters for minimum altitude, brightness and whether or not a satellite is lit by the Sun and thus potentially visible.
- Does not require an Internet connection to operate, though you will periodically need one in order to download orbital data.
- Uses full SGP4 and SDP4 orbit propagation algorithms providing state-of-the-art accuracy.