Summer nights are great for all kinds of outdoors activities and being the stargazing geeks that we are, we just have to share our obsession with the night sky.  We are excited to announce the beginning of the fifth annual Star Walk Month of Astronomy. Every year we choose the most eventful month in terms of things to watch in the sky and share all plans and discoveries with 10 million Star Walk fans all over the world. Get some friends, take some photos, win an iPod touch and more!

July 25 – August 8

For two weeks we will hold Astrophotography Contest (here’re few tips on how to make astro photos) on Star Walk Facebook page. If you want to take part:

- Post your astrophotography work on Star Walk FB page from July 25 to August 6

- Add #SWMonthofAstronomy in the description

- Stay tuned, as there will be two winners (the winner of the 1st week and the final one)

Prizes: the winner of the 1st week gets a place in the Star Walk app Gallery, the final winner also gets a place in the Gallery and a $60 promotion on SW FB page.

August 8 – August 22

Don’t miss your chance to win an iPod touch 16 GB in the Month of Astronomy Giveaway. More details about the giveaway you will find in August on Star Walk FB page.

And here is what the sky will show during the Month of Astronomy.

July 30

Two meteor showers will peak – Alpha Capricornids and the Southern Delta Aquariids

August 11

The closest full moon of the year – the Super Moon

August 13

Perseids meteor shower peak

August 18

Kappa Cygnids meteor shower peak

How to watch the events?

All the astronomy events mentioned above can be easily found in Star Walk app.

Users of Star Walk app on iOS:

Tap on the Menu button in the lower right corner of the screen and open the Calendar. If you tap on the event in the Calendar, the app will guide you to the center of the show in the sky. Clock icon in the Calendar sets the notification so you won’t  miss the event.

Users of Star Walk app on Android, Windows, Kindle:

Tap on the Search icon in the lower right corner of the screen, then type the name of the object you are looking for in the search line. Choose the object, activate your Star Spotter by tilting your device, and  let the green arrow show you  the way.

The Ring Nebula (Messier 57, M57 or NGC 6720) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Lyra. It is located south of the bright star Vega and lies about 40% of the distance from Sheliak star to Sulafat star of Lyra constellation,  making it an easy target for amateur astronomers to find.

On Saturday, July 19, the moon will rise late, making this an ideal time to get your telescope on the backyard and hunt the Ring Nebula. Let the Star Walk app help you with this:

1.Open the app and tap Search icon on the lower left corner.

2. Type “M57″ or “Ring Nebula” in the search line and tap on the image of the nebula.

3. Activate Star spotter by tilting your device and let Star Walk guide you to the colorful bubble.

Nebula image credit: NASA, ESA, and C. Robert O’Dell (Vanderbilt University).

The reef on the photo is located in the Coral Sea. Do you know its name? Share your guesses with #starwalk on Facebook and Twitter.

The right answer will be published next Wednesday, July 23.

Upd: the right answer is the Great Barrier reef.

 Full moon is coming on July 12, so we decided to find out whether it will be just a full moon or a super moon?

As seems to happen every year, the term “supermoon” has once again reared its (ugly?) head across ye ole Internet. Hey, it’s a teachable moment, a good time to look at where the term came from, and examine the wonderful and wacky motion of our Moon.

I’ll let you in on a small secret. Most astronomers, both of the professional and backyard variety, dislike the informal term “supermoon”. It arose in astrology circles over the past few decades, and like the term “Blue Moon” seems to have found new life on the Internet.  A better term from the annuals of astronomy for the near-coincidence of the closest approach of the Full Moon would be Perigee Full Moon. And if you really want to be archaic, Proxigean Moon is also acceptable.
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Our latest interview with some hints on what we’re up to by Julian Garcia of Cash for iPhones.

As the popular Coldplay song goes, “look at the stars, look how they shine for you” Though Chris Martin might’ve meant for the lyric to be part of a greater, emotional message, I’d like to take the line out of context and use it as a healthy reminder for everyone to stargaze every once in a while. On clear nights, the skies open up and provide us with a breathtaking perspective on how insignificant our personal problems are and how little we know about the universe we’re a smidge of. Of course, this isn’t to say that we have zero information on the heavenly bodies we ogle at.

“Welcome to the new age,” sings the band Imagine Dragons, as an age-old pastime has been coupled with new age technology brought to us by Managing Director of Vito Technologies, Murad Nazaraliev. Star Walk is a 2010 Apple Design Award winner with nine million users and counting. The stargazing app is an interactive astronomical guide that zeroes in on your position in real-time to provide extensive information for over 200,000 celestial bodies in the form of beautiful graphics and text. Using the Augmented Reality icon, you can add images from your camera to your sky view. Other features of the app include the Time Machine, which allows you to explore sky maps of yesteryear and even tomorrow; a calendar of celestial events; and of course, Night Mode.

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