Every once in a while I like exploring some of the popular apps on the App Store. Most of the popular ones I already have, and some are worth a more in-depth shoutout, soon but two must haves come to mind for tonight.

The first is the Sky Guide app. I can’t recommend it enough! It’s so cool how you can point it at the night sky and know what you’re looking at. It will also gives the option for alerts for when the International Space Station flies by, as well as calendar alerts to upcoming celestial events. These could be at your geolocation, and/or around the world over the coming months and years. I can read about the cool ones and add them to my Google Calendar with months of advanced notifications!

I have been very fortunate to have seen one total solar eclipse (August 2017), and one total lunar eclipse in my life here in Oregon (March 2025). It would be a real treat to get to see other amazing celestial events in the coming years.

I saw my first total lunar eclipse, in part due to this app right outside my front door. It was a work night, but I went to bed and briefly woke up to see it and go back to bed. We got really lucky with a bit of clouds clearing just in time. It was around 12:07am on March 14, 2025 (unfortunately I missed the most recent total lunar eclipse on March 3rd, although the timing was worse, as I would have had to wake at 3am and go back to bed on a work night, but I still wish I had added it to my calendar).

The second app that I like is the Aurora app for tracking the northern lights. You can see live webcams of some of the best activity in the world at the moment too which is cool. In the Portland, Oregon region, getting the northern lights is so rare, and I was bummed out not seeing it last time. But this app does notify you when there is a slight chance of auroral activity at your location. The closest spots to Oregon are often at best British Columbia, but more often Yukon or Alaska. So not exactly a quick drive. But one I’ll do someday? You bet. Mother nature’s, trippy, colorful night skies are indeed on my bucket list to see at some point!