NightFall — Find Dark Skies

Will the Milky Way be out tonight? Check the map first: 9-level star visibility, a fully off-line star chart, and horizon lines computed from real terrain.

You want to see the stars, but where? City skies glow grey, and the countryside is a question mark. NightFall answers on a map: where light pollution is lowest, how long the drive is, and what you will actually see when you get there.

[9-LEVEL STAR VISIBILITY, AT A GLANCE] The map is painted in nine colors of light pollution — the warmer the color, the brighter the sky. Move the map and the crosshair instantly tells you: • Which visibility level this spot is, from "perfect skies" to "not recommended", each explained in plain words; • "What you'll see looking up": is the Milky Way visible, how many stars, whether clouds glow; • Season-by-season targets: the Sagittarius Milky Way in summer, the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades in winter; • Numbers when you want them: zenith brightness and more live folded away in "View details" — no jargon on the main screen.

[PLACE CARD: IS THIS SPOT WORTH THE DRIVE?] Tap anywhere for the level, elevation, coordinates, and the estimated drive time and distance from your starting point. Share it with friends, or jump straight into Apple Maps, Amap, Baidu, or Google Maps to navigate.

[STAR CHART: LOOK UP BEFORE YOU LOOK UP] A fully rendered night sky, not an illustration: • Drag to look around; scrub the timeline from sunset to sunrise, or follow the real sky live; • Light pollution has a direction: NightFall samples the horizon around you — cities light up exactly where they are; • The skyline is computed from real elevation data: in a valley the hills shield the low sky, on a summit more stars come out; • Constellation lines, the Moon and planets; tap any star for its name, altitude and magnitude; • Fully off-line: catalog, Milky Way and terrain travel inside the app — usable where there is no signal.

[SEARCH AND FAVORITES] • 36 built-in stargazing spots and observatories, filtered instantly off-line; • Your own favorites support pinyin search; starting points and destinations are managed separately and stored on your device only.

[DESIGNED FOR NIGHT USE] A dark interface that is easy on the eyes; adjustable overlay opacity; four base maps (road, terrain, satellite, hybrid); Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and English; universal on iPhone and iPad.

[ABOUT THE DATA, HONESTLY] The light pollution map is built on NOAA VIIRS night lights and the Light Pollution Atlas. It is a model estimate of zenith brightness, not a measurement, and it does not include horizon glow — real skies usually look worse than the map suggests. Seeing also depends on weather and moon phase. Full data sources and notes live in Settings → About.

Tonight looks clear? Open NightFall, find somewhere dark, and look up.

What's New

First release: light pollution map, 9-level star visibility, place cards, off-line star chart, search and favorites. Found a problem, or know a great stargazing spot? Tell us in a review.