Maunakea, Hawai’i – Maunakea Observatories launched a brand new smartphone application geared towards educating and exciting the public about the science and wonder of astronomy. KeckWatch, which can be downloaded for free in the iTunes App Store, utilizes the massive amount of data collected by astronomers at the W. M. Keck Observatory to help users identify stars and planets, as well as offers them a glimpse into the eye of the twin Keck telescopes.

“Our work studying the stars advances the kind of scientific curiosity that has always been a part of Hawai’i’s cultural heritage, from the ancient celestial navigators to today,” said Steven Jefferson, Communication Officer for the W. M. Keck Observatory. “This app is fun, easy to use and offers a wealth of knowledge to every person who downloads it.”

KeckWatch, a special version of the popular award-winning astronomy app Distant Suns, provides users with a handheld-planetarium, allowing them to turn their phone in any direction to see the stars and planets in their current positions, day or night. By altering the preferences in the app, users can explore the common names of these interest points, the constellations they are a part of, their role in zodiacal figures, their historical names, and even their Hawaiian star names. Other features can help users explore meteor showers and solar systems.

The app will also show users when the telescopes are on and in use by astronomers at the W. M. Keck Observatories, as well as where the telescopes are being aimed in the sky at any instant.

The W. M. Keck Observatory operates the largest, most scientifically productive telescopes on Earth. The two, 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes near the summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawai’i feature a suite of advanced instruments including imagers, multi-object spectrographs, high-resolution spectrographs, integral-field spectrographs and world-leading laser guide star adaptive optics systems.

Keck Observatory is a private 501(c) 3 non-profit organization and a scientific partnership of the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and NASA.

About Maunakea Observatories:
Hawai’i is Earth’s connecting point to the rest of the Universe. The summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawai’i hosts the world’s largest astronomical observatory, with telescopes operated by astronomers from eleven countries. There are currently thirteen working telescopes near the summit of Mauna Kea. Nine of them are for optical and infrared astronomy, three of them are for submillimeter wavelength astronomy and one is for radio astronomy. They include the largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world (the Keck telescopes), the largest dedicated infrared telescope (UKIRT) and the largest submillimeter telescope in the world (the JCMT). The westernmost antenna of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) is situated at a lower altitude two miles from the summit.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
* Optimized for iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 Plus
* Requires iOS 7.1 or later
* 135 MB

Pricing and Availability:
KeckWatch (v20082) is available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Education category. The app, which was made available in the App Store for a soft launch yesterday, is free to download and does not require registration for use.

Distant Suns
KeckWatch (v20082)
Direct Download Link
Screenshot
App Icon

First Light Design, LLC, is a privately owned company. It first released Distant Suns for the Commodore Amiga in 1987, followed by versions for Macintosh and Windows. Distant Suns has partnered with NASA’s Night Sky Network and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific to include local, United States listings of astronomical events and activities in the App. It has also partnered with the SETI Institute to provide real-time monitoring of Allen Telescope Array extraterrestrial targets, as well as Astronomy magazine and Astronomy.com. First Light Design is a proud member of Moms With Apps, a collaborative group of family-friendly developers with family-friendly apps. Details about the company and its products can be found at Distant Suns. Distant Suns is a trademark of First Light Design, LLC. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2015 First Light Design, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.