NightSkyLabAndroid

NightSkyLab Android

A real-time interactive planetarium for Android.

Author: Luís Simões da Cunha
Date: February 2026

🔭 Overview

NightSkyLab is a native Android astronomy application that displays the night sky in real-time. See exactly what stars, planets, and constellations are above you.

Explore the sky from any location on Earth, at any point in time, with intuitive touch controls.

✨ Features

Sky Display

Real-time star positions — Thousands of stars with accurate brightness rendering
Planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with real-time orbital positions
Sun & Moon — Accurate positions with dynamic rendering
Constellations — 88 official constellations with connecting lines and labels
3D globe projection — Fish-eye view with curved horizon

Time Controls

Real-time mode — Sky updates continuously
Time travel — Fast-forward or rewind to see how the sky changes
Pause — Freeze time to study a specific moment
Speed control — 1×, 10×, 100×, 1000× forward or backward

Location

GPS location — Use your current position
World cities — Preset locations across all continents
Manual coordinates — Enter any latitude/longitude
Automatic timezone — Correct local time display with DST support

Display Options

Constellation modes — Off / Lines / Lines + Names
Star names — Off / Bright stars only / All named stars
Coordinate grid — Toggle altitude/azimuth grid
Fullscreen mode — Hide UI for immersive viewing

🎮 Touch Controls

Basic Gestures

Gesture	Action
Drag (one finger)	Pan the view (change azimuth and altitude)
Pinch	Zoom in / out (field of view)
Double-tap (on globe)	Toggle UI overlay
Double-tap (outside globe)	Toggle UI overlay (restore hidden UI)

Advanced Gestures

Gesture	Action
Two-finger tap	Open location selector
Two-finger double-tap	Pause / resume time
Three-finger swipe up	Speed up time
Three-finger swipe down	Slow down / reverse time

On-Screen Buttons

Button	Location	Action
⚙️ Settings	Top-right	Open options menu
📍 Location	Top-right	Open location selector
⏪ Rewind	Bottom	Slow down or reverse time
⏸ Reset	Bottom	Reset to current time
⏩ Forward	Bottom	Speed up time

Tap the ⚙️ Settings button to access:

Option	Description
Constellations	Cycle: Off → Lines → Lines + Names
Star Names	Cycle: Off → Bright → All
Grid	Toggle coordinate grid on/off
Toggle UI	Hide/show the UI overlay
N / E / S / W	Snap view to cardinal direction
Select Location	Open location dialog
Exit	Close the application

📍 Location Selector

Access via the 📍 Location button or two-finger tap:

Use GPS — Get coordinates from device (requires permission)
World Cities — Choose from major cities worldwide:
- Europe: Lisbon, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Moscow
- Americas: New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires
- Asia: Dubai, Mumbai, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore
- Africa: Cairo, Cape Town, Nairobi
- Oceania: Sydney, Auckland
- Polar: Tromsø, Reykjavik, McMurdo Station
Manual Entry — Enter custom latitude and longitude

📱 Information Display

The UI overlay shows:

Field	Description
Date	Current simulation date (UTC)
UTC Time	Time in UTC
Local Time	Time in location’s timezone (with DST)
Location	Current location name
Direction	View direction (N/E/S/W + degrees)
Time Speed	Current simulation speed

🚀 Building from Source

Requirements

Android Studio (latest)
Android SDK 24+
Gradle 8.2+

Steps

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/luiscunhacsc/NightSkyLabAndroid.git

# Open in Android Studio and sync Gradle

# Build debug APK
./gradlew assembleDebug

# Install on connected device
./gradlew installDebug

📋 Technical Details

Specification	Value
Min SDK	24 (Android 7.0)
Target SDK	34 (Android 14)
Language	Java
Rendering	Android Canvas API
Location	Google Play Services
Data Format	JSON

Permissions

ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION — For GPS coordinates (optional)

📄 License

See LICENSE for details.

🔒 Privacy

This app collects no personal data. Location is used only locally to calculate star positions. See PRIVACY_POLICY.md for details.