The 10 best astronomy websites and apps

1. Astronomy Now

astronomynow.com

The online version of Britain's best-selling astronomy magazine, expect great articles and a table for planning observation sessions.

2. Astronomy

astronomy.co.uk

This site aggregates astronomy news but comes into its own is with a "sky tonight" function, which points out thing to look out for.

3. APOD Viewer

£1.99, itunes.apple.com

A cool, fact-packed app that brings you breathtaking pictures from solar systems and galaxy systems far, far away.

4. Nasa Image of the Day

nasa.gov

Star-watcher or not, it would be hard not to fall for Nasa's gallery of images taken from satellites and telescopes around the world.

5. Luminos

£2.49, itunes.apple.com

Explore the surface of planets, see detailed maps of the stars and track the sky above you with this clever app.

6. Galaxy Zoo

galaxyzoo.org

This site asks users to sort out the solar system by analysing some of the 60 million galaxies on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

7. SkyView App

£1.49, itunes.apple.com

Point your iPhone's camera at the sky and a labelled map of the cosmos is overlaid on the real-life view on the screen.

8. Solar Walk

£1.99, itunes.apple.com

Just getting to grips with astronomy? Check out Solar Walk, which is something akin to a multimedia encyclopedia of solar happenings.

9. Star Chart for Android

£1.99, play.google.com

Fed up with not finding Orion? This star chart app lets you track a planet or star, so you'll never miss out again.

10. We Choose The Moon

wechoosethemoon.org

Created to commemorate the 1969 Moon landings, this recreates the lunar mission in fantastic detail, using real footage.