Here you'll find some of the best eclipse-related apps and software available, as judged by members of the AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force. To avoid overwhelming you with too much information, we've intentionally weighted our listings toward resources that are relatively new, up to date, and/or especially relevant to the October 2023 and April 2024 American solar eclipses. We've also considered quality, of course; if an app or software is listed here, we think it's of high quality. If it's not listed here, that doesn't mean it's not of high quality — it just means we can't list everything (or haven't heard of it). If you have, or know of, a resource that you think belongs here, please contact us; we can't guarantee that we'll add the item to our website, but we will consider it.
Apps for iOS Devices (iPhone and/or iPad)
Eclipse-Specific Apps
- Eclipse Guide: Ring of Fire (Vito Technology)
- Great American Eclipse (Michael Zeiler/GreatAmericanEclipse.com)
- Solar Eclipse by Redshift (USM)
- Solar Eclipse Timer (Foxwood Astronomy)
- Solar Snap (Doug Duncan & American Paper Optics)
- Totality by Big Kid Science (Jeffrey Bennett)
- Total Solar Eclipses (Pietro Massimino)
General Astronomy Apps with Eclipse Simulation
Apps for Android Devices
Eclipse-Specific Apps
- Eclipse Calculator (University of Barcelona, Spain)
- EclipseDroid (Wolfgang Strickling)
- Eclipse Explorer (Joshua Berlin, FlyteSoft)
- Eclipse Guide: Solar & Lunar Eclipses Timer (Vito Technology)
- Great American Eclipse (Michael Zeiler/GreatAmericanEclipse.com)
- Solar Eclipse by Redshift (USM)
- Solar Eclipse Timer (Foxwood Astronomy)
- Solar Snap (Doug Duncan & American Paper Optics)
- Totality by Big Kid Science (Jeffrey Bennett)
General Astronomy Apps with Eclipse Simulation
- Mobile Observatory (Wolfgang Zima)
- SkySafari (Simulation Curriculum)
Dan McGlaun's Web-Based Eclipse Simulators (and More)
Indiana-based eclipse enthusiast Dan McGlaun has built a remarkable website at eclipse2024.org. Among its many features is the Eclipse Simulator, which shows what the North American eclipses of October 14, 2023, and April 8, 2024, will look like from any city or town where any part of either eclipse is visible. It works on any device with a web browser and includes controls for zooming in or out and speeding up, slowing down, or stopping the simulation. There's also a library of prerecorded videos made with the simulator showing both eclipses as viewed from more than 2,000 places, as well as an extensive collection of pages with location-specific information about the eclipses for virtually every city and town touched by one or both of them. On top of all that, everything on eclipse2024.org, including the simulator and its associated videos and pages, is available in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese!
- Eclipse2024.org Eclipse Simulator
- Eclipse2024.org Simulation Videos
- October 14, 2023, Solar Eclipse: Info for Your City
- April 8, 2024, Solar Eclipse: Info for Your City
Planetarium Programs with Eclipse Simulation for Desktop & Laptop Computers
- SkySafari for MacOS X (Simulation Curriculum)
- Starry Night for MacOS X & Windows (Simulation Curriculum)
- Stellarium for Linux, MacOS X & Windows (Fabien Chéreau et al.)
Camera Control for Automated Eclipse Imaging
- Solar Eclipse Maestro for MacOS X* (Xavier M. Jubier)
- Eclipse Orchestrator for Windows (Fred Bruenjes, Moonglow Technologies, Inc.)
- SET'n'C: Solar Eclipse Timer and Camera Controller for Windows (Robert Nufer)
- EclipseDroid for Android (Wolfgang Strickling)
*Solar Eclipse Maestro doesn't work with the latest versions of MacOS, but there are workarounds (as explained on its website).
High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) Image Compositing
- Photomatix for Windows & Mac OS X (HDRsoft)
- Aurora HDR for Windows & Mac OS X (Skylum)
- Nik HDR Efex Pro for Windows & Mac OS X (Nik Collection)