Scope Nights

Astronomy Weather Reports is the first award winning astronomy weather forecast app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, providing stargazing weather reports for anywhere in the world.

Scope Nights differs from many astronomy apps as it specialises in astronomy weather forecasts and concentrates on being a practical telescope and observatory planning aid. Scope nights also differs from many weather apps as it uses a unique combination of national and global night-time weather forecasts to compile detailed stargazing ratings up to 10 nights ahead.

It also provides detailed weather forecasts and advanced settings so stargazing ratings can be tailored to meet the observing requirements of the most dedicated astronomer, with more advanced features and more national weather forecasts to be added in future updates.

Accurate weather data is taken direct from Met Office DataPoint so that weather conditions such as cloud, wind and rain can be analysed and rated to show which nights will have the best stargazing conditions.

About Egg Moon Studio

After working as a meteorologist, obtaining a degree in Applied Physics and Astronomy, and with fifteen years industry experience as a software engineer, Martin Dodd (@eggmoonstudio) decided to create Egg Moon Studio as an independent mobile app development business and as a way of combining his technical and creative skills.

Martin is an independent developer based in Liverpool UK specialising in smart & intuitive mobile apps, and entered the mobile software market in 2012 with the release of Scope Nights: Astronomy Weather Reports for iPhone, iPad and iPad touch, recommended as a Hot Product for 2013 by Sky and Telescope Magazine. Scope Nights is Martin's first app and was, he says "an obvious first choice given my interests and experience". As an amateur astronomer himself he hopes fellow stargazers will find it an indispensable tool for finding clear skies.

Scope Nights uses the UK 3-hourly site specific forecast data feed from Met Office DataPoint. Talking about the development, Martin commented "The Met Office DataPoint service makes this sort of app development much easier and simpler by providing forecast data in industry-standard formats. The fair use policy does not penalise small, start up businesses and lays out very reasonable terms of use. Well done Met Office!".

Features

Stargazing Weather Rating

Shows at a glance which nights will be most suitable for stargazing using advanced smart weather analysis and nightly detail summaries to make it easy to pick the best nights
Receive clear period notifications before sunset so you can prepare your telescope
Let other people see your custom forecasts and share your astronomy weather reports via Twitter

Local and Global Weather Data

5 to 7 night local astronomy weather reports updated hourly using weather data provided by NOAA National Weather Service for the United States and Met Office for the United Kingdom.
10 night global stargazing weather forecasts derived from the European numerical forecast model, renowned worldwide as providing the most accurate medium-range global weather forecasts

Advanced Smart Weather Analysis

Filters weather data only showing forecasts from sunset to sunrise
Analyses weather, cloud cover, wind, humidity, temperature, moon phase and creates stargazing ratings using weighted algorithms
Threshold adjustments for moon phase, wind, temperature and humidity to suit your observing requirements
Wind speed gust sensitivity switch for those with large telescopes or in exposed locations

Highly Detailed Night-Time Forecasts

3 hourly and 6 hourly forecast details
Sunrise and sunset times
Moon phases
Colour coded details for:
- Moon phase
- Cloud cover
- Precipitation Probability
- Humidity
- Minimum temperature in celsius or fahrenheit
- Wind speed and direction in mph, knots, kph or mps

Location Search

Automatically finds stargazing weather forecasts for your current location
Find stargazing forecasts for any location worldwide
List of international dark sky locations

Price

Scope Night offers a number of packages avialable at different prices ranging between £0.99 for the basic set of features through to £1.9

Press

"There's no shortage of weather-related apps for the iPhone, but there's only one specifically made for amateur astronomers... Our resident weather maven, who uses more than half a dozen apps and websites to prepare predictions, gives Scope Nights two thumbs up for it's consistent accuracy." (Sky & Telescope, Hot Product 2013)

"Launch those fireworks! Blast that klaxon! How many of us have laboriously prepared our observing equipment under a clear ceiling, only to have it blotted out by a wall of cloud seconds after we are ready? Or, waited forlornly with undue optimism under leaden heavens for signs of a crack in the sky? At last, here is the help we need..." (Astronomy Now, November 2012)