Mac Astronomy Software

The open-source planetarium that most astronomers start with. Renders a realistic sky from any location and time, with a catalog of over a million objects. Supports telescope GOTO control.

Deep catalogs, telescope control, observing lists, and AR sky overlay. The premium iOS/Mac planetarium app with professional-grade functionality.

A commercial planetarium with a 38,000-object database, telescope control, and an interactive sky guide. Strong visual fidelity for observation planning.

Desktop planetarium focused on chart accuracy and catalog access rather than visual polish. Pulls data from numerous professional catalogs.

Lightweight planetarium with fast rendering and a focus on deep-sky observation. Downloads additional catalog data as needed.

Gravity simulator focused on orbital mechanics — model asteroids, comets, planetary systems. Not a traditional planetarium but useful for education and visualization.

A 3D model of the Milky Way, letting you explore the galaxy from any vantage point.

Professional observatory control software from Software Bisque. Combines a planetarium with camera, mount, focuser, and dome automation. The most complete commercial option on Mac.

The free, open-source powerhouse. KStars provides the planetarium and planning layer; EKOS handles automated capture sequences, focusing, guiding, plate solving, scheduling, and mosaic planning.

A native Mac all-in-one imaging suite built on the INDIGO driver platform. Handles capture, guiding, telescope control, and scripting in a single app. M1/Apple Silicon native with Metal acceleration. Free download with optional agent GUI modules at €24.99 each via the Mac App Store.

Open-source imaging suite for CCD/CMOS cameras, integrating capture, mount control, and basic guiding. Cross-platform via Free Pascal/Lazarus.

A cross-platform capture tool supporting a wide range of astronomy cameras. Outputs SER, FITS, AVI, and TIFF.

Java-based planetary capture application with advanced features like auto-alignment and ROI selection. Cross-platform but requires Java runtime on Mac.

Open-source camera capture tool supporting many astronomy cameras via native drivers.

The standard autoguiding software across all platforms — free, open-source, and used by the vast majority of astrophotographers. Supports guide cameras from every major manufacturer and works with INDI/INDIGO driver frameworks on macOS.

Free, open-source deep-sky stacking and processing pipeline — calibration, registration, stacking, background extraction, and color calibration in one tool. Apple Silicon native with scripting automation for batch workflows.

Astrometric stacking and plate-solving tool. Handles calibration, registration, and stacking with built-in star catalogs for astrometric solving.

Free unified photo, design, and publishing app by Canva (formerly Affinity Photo). Retains astrophotography features including star stacking, noise reduction, and advanced layer editing. Some AI features require a paid Canva plan.

Python-based planetary stacker. Requires manual setup with a Python launcher on macOS but produces excellent results.

Java-based planetary stacker focused on lucky imaging workflows. Cross-platform.

Mac-native planetary stacker available on the Mac App Store.

Mac-native deep-sky stacker available on the Mac App Store. Simple interface for basic stacking workflows.

Specialized star trail stacking tool. Blends multiple exposures into dramatic star trail composites.

Mac App Store tool for creating star trail images from a sequence of exposures.

Open-source live stacking tool from the Open Astro Project. Real-time stacking for visual observation.

The professional gold standard for deep-sky image processing. Runs on macOS via Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon Macs with no noticeable performance penalty. Unmatched depth for calibration, registration, stacking, deconvolution, and nonlinear processing.

Intuitive deep-sky processing suite handling the full pipeline from calibration through final processing. Apple Silicon native with 2.5× faster performance on M-series chips. Excellent mosaic tools and a free trial available.

Guided astrophotography processing that prevents common mistakes. Unique tracking engine records all operations non-destructively.

Collection of standalone tools and PixInsight scripts for noise reduction, star removal, and enhancement.

Open-source gradient removal tool. Extracts and removes light pollution gradients from astrophotos using AI models.

Neural network star removal tool. Separates stars from nebulae in a single click for starless processing.

AI-powered noise reduction specifically trained on astrophotography data.

General-purpose AI denoising and sharpening. Not astro-specific but widely used by astrophotographers for final enhancement.

Java-based photometry and light curve analysis tool. Primarily for exoplanet transit detection and variable star research.

Observation planning and logging tool with detailed object information, observability predictions, and equipment profiles.

Mac-native observation planner and logger with catalog browsing, sky charts, and equipment management.

Niche planning tool focused on field star photometry and variable star observation planning.

Quick Look plugin for macOS that adds FITS file previews directly in Finder.

Professional FITS viewer from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Advanced visualization, analysis, and catalog overlay.

Mac-native FITS viewer on the App Store with basic viewing and analysis features.

FITS viewer from the Max Planck Institute. Lightweight but capable with basic measurement tools.

Plate-solving utility using local index files. Works offline for astrometric calibration.

Viewer for SER (planetary video) files with playback controls and frame export.

Analyzes PHD2 guiding logs to diagnose mount tracking issues.

Mac utility to help with telescope collimation using a camera feed.

Red-screen filter utility for macOS to preserve dark adaptation while using your laptop at the telescope.

The recommended driver framework for Mac astrophotography. Native macOS support with an extensive device library maintained by CloudMakers.

GUI frontend for managing INDIGO device connections, properties, and configurations.

Status monitoring dashboard for INDIGO-connected devices during imaging sessions.

The original open-source astronomy device driver framework. Cross-platform, bundled with KStars/EKOS.

Web-based INDI server manager for starting, stopping, and configuring INDI driver profiles.

Mac utility for launching and managing INDI server instances with saved configurations.

ZWO's official camera control suite for macOS. Includes ASICap for capture and ASILive for basic live stacking.

QHY's polar alignment camera software. Uses a dedicated camera for precise polar alignment.

iOptron's electronic polar alignment app. Requires iOptron mount with iPolar camera.

Camera control software for QSI scientific-grade CCD cameras.

Periodic error correction tool for Celestron mounts. Records and applies PEC curves.

Advanced mount control for 10Micron GM mounts. Model building, alignment, and pointing optimization.