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Check here for the latest features and updates of

Clear night Coach

August 29th 2026

September's best to capture — Ten deep-sky targets, northern and southern sky

The equinox falls on 22-23 September: autumn begins in the north, spring in the south. Northern skies are in transition; southern skies have turned to galaxy season.

Eight targets this September, four for each hemisphere


Full article - @clearnightcoach.au

August 16th 2026

Clear Night Coach for Android is in closed testing — testers wanted

Hello everyone,

Clear Night Coach, the Windows target-picker I have posted about before, now has an Android version, and Google requires a closed-testing round before it can be published. That means a modest number of people installing it from Play and keeping it on the phone for a fortnight, opening it when the mood takes them.

It is free, the whole engine runs on the phone (so it works offline at a dark site), and it picks one target for tonight for your telescope and location, with a Plan B, a top-five list, a sky map, comets and a daily verdict alert.

If you have an Android phone and would be willing, please reply or message me with the Gmail your Play Store uses and I will send the opt-in link. Feedback is welcome at support@clearnightcoach.com but entirely optional. Everyone who stays the course to the end of the fortnight will have six months of Pro from me by way of thanks — one licence, good on the desktop now and on the phone when Pro arrives there. Thank you very much.

August 6th 2026

v2.1 is out — how long to expose, which night to choose, which month to wait for

The same nightly decision, now answering at every timescale you plan in.

- A seven-night picker — a call, the moon and the dark window for each night ahead

- A sub-length verdict from your camera's read noise and your sky

- A seasonal planner — the best month, and fortnight, for any target

- 36 more southern showpieces, and two more smart telescopes

Also rolling out on the Microsoft Store — Store installs update themselves.

July 28th 2026

v2.0 is here — the whole sky, one console

Clear Night Coach now covers both hemispheres. The engine scores 10,181 objects every night — 5,807 northern, 4,374 southern — each sky with its own hand-curated

showpieces, and no toggle to set: your site latitude decides. v2.0 also adds one-pick smart telescope presets, a daylight theme, and update notices in the app.

Upgrading from v1.0? Just run the new installer — your settings and logbook carry over. See the full change log, or download v2.0 now.

July 23rd 2026

The Northern Hemisphere is Coming!

We've launched and now straight onto making the northern hemisphere feature, stay tuned will be very soon!
More than happy to email you if you want an update, let me know support@clearnightcoach.com

July 22nd 2026

Go live!

Grand start, the journey begins

Frequently Asked Questions

How is this different from a planetarium or a planner I already use?

How accurate is it — where do the numbers come from?

I image on an alt-az mount or a Dobsonian — is field rotation a dealbreaker?

How easy is it to set up and use the app?

Is it really free? What's the catch?

How much is Pro, and can I get a refund?

Will it work with my telescope and camera?

Does it control my mount or run my session for me?

Do I need an account? What happens to my data?

Frequently Asked Questions

How is this different from a planetarium or a planner I already use?

How accurate is it — where do the numbers come from?

I image on an alt-az mount or a Dobsonian — is field rotation a dealbreaker?

How easy is it to set up and use the app?

Is it really free? What's the catch?

How much is Pro, and can I get a refund?

Will it work with my telescope and camera?

Does it control my mount or run my session for me?

Do I need an account? What happens to my data?

Frequently Asked Questions

How is this different from a planetarium or a planner I already use?

How accurate is it — where do the numbers come from?

I image on an alt-az mount or a Dobsonian — is field rotation a dealbreaker?

How easy is it to set up and use the app?

Is it really free? What's the catch?

How much is Pro, and can I get a refund?

Will it work with my telescope and camera?

Does it control my mount or run my session for me?

Do I need an account? What happens to my data?