Support

Why does the app need my location?

Interstellar Tracker uses your GPS coordinates to calculate the exact altitude and azimuth of each celestial object from your position on Earth. Without this, the AR arrow cannot point in the right direction. Your location is only used on-device and is never stored or shared.

Why does the app need camera access?

The camera provides the live sky background behind the AR overlay. No photos or video are captured, stored, or uploaded — the feed is rendered directly to your screen in real time.

Motion sensors aren't working on my iPhone.

On Safari and Chrome for iOS, the app will prompt for motion-sensor access when you first tap "Enable Sky Scanner". If you missed the prompt, tap the amber ⟳ ENABLE MOTION SENSORS button that appears at the top of the screen. If you are using the installed app (Add to Home Screen), motion sensors are granted automatically without a prompt.

What does "magnitude" (mag) mean?

Visual magnitude is the astronomical brightness scale — lower numbers are brighter. The naked-eye limit under dark skies is approximately magnitude 6.5. Sirius, the brightest star, is magnitude −1.5. Tap the ? button in the Sky Objects panel for a full reference card.

What does "ALT" and "AZ" mean?

ALT (Altitude) is how many degrees above the horizon the object is. 0° = horizon, 90° = directly overhead (zenith). AZ (Azimuth) is the compass direction: 0° = North, 90° = East, 180° = South, 270° = West.

How do I track an object?

1. Tap any object in the SKY OBJECTS panel on the right.
2. Tap ◉ TRACK THIS OBJECT in the info card.
3. Follow the amber arrow — move your phone toward it.
4. When the reticle turns green you have TARGET LOCKED.

An object shows a green dot but I can't see it in the sky.

Green dots indicate the object is above your horizon mathematically. Visibility also depends on light pollution, atmospheric conditions, and whether it is currently night. The naked-eye magnitude limit is ~6.5 under dark skies; from a city centre, only objects brighter than ~4.0 mag are typically visible without binoculars.

Why is the comet/NEO list empty?

The app fetches near-Earth object data live from the NASA CNEOS API. If the list is empty, either there are no currently bright/close objects in NASA's catalog, or your internet connection may be blocking the request. The meteor shower list is always populated from the built-in dataset.

How do I enable event notifications?

Tap the 🔔 bell icon in the top-left of the AR screen to open the Upcoming Events panel, then tap ENABLE BROWSER NOTIFICATIONS. The app will alert you when a meteor shower peak or comet is visible from your location. In the native iOS app, notifications are sent via Apple Push Notifications (APNs) and do not require the app to be open.

How do I delete my data?

Interstellar Tracker stores only a small list of "already-notified events" in your browser's local storage so it doesn't send duplicate alerts. To clear it, go to your browser settings → Site Data → clear data for this site. No personal data is ever sent to our servers.