Royce Bair
patreon
Planning Nightscapes with the Planit Pro app
🕑 Added 2025-12-05 14:46:35 +0000 UTCAlthough PhotoPills is the most popular photography planning app, in our recent poll, The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE) captured the number two spot as the app most used for planning nightscape photography. I conducted this same poll on my Nightscaper Facebook group, where Stellarium came in 2nd. I also ran this poll on my NightScaper Lounge Instagram broadcast channel. After I averaged over 600 votes in all three polls, Planit Pro emerged as the 2nd most used photography app, and is quickly gaining a loyal following.
App History: The Photographer's Ephemeris is oldest (March 2009) of the four mentioned apps, but it did not have any Milky Way planning features in its early versions. PhotoPills filled that void when it was introduced in March 2013. Long before Stellarium became an app and web based, it was a stand alone software (2001) that astronomers and early nightscapers (like myself) downloaded to their desktop computers. Planit Pro entered in 2014/2015.
Planit Pro is powerful. Patreon supporter, Flo Beau, commented in our recent poll, "Planit Pro is definitely the app I use the most. Complete and very powerful, by far the best planification tool, with new functions like aurora and weather simulations."
Shooting Totem Pole: While I still use PhotoPills the most in my nightscape planning, I turn to Planit Pro when I run into more complicated situations, like when I need to know exactly where to stand at 3:00am in Monument Valley with my Navajo guide, Quanah, in order to align the Dark Horse Nebula between Yei Bi Chei and the Totem Pole. Planit Pro allows you insert images of your foreground topography (or draw a box showing the feature's overall dimensions and position).
My friend, and Patreon supporter, Roger Nedel, made the following plans in Planit Pro for our private workshop this past April:
Planit Pro video tutorials: My friend, Mike Shaw, has put together a collection of free tutorials that will help you discover this app's amazing power. Mike also has a paid service for immediate planning, until you master Planit Pro on your own.
Comments
Royce Bair
Really appreciate your review, Flo!
Flo Beau
Thanks so much for the mention! I’ve been using Planit Pro for several years now, and it’s become my go-to tool whenever I need precision in nightscape planning. The learning curve is quite steep but the result worth the time spent to master it. What really stands out for me is how complete and versatile it is : advanced Milky Way alignment tools, accurate topographic modelling, light pollution map, true-to-scale FOV simulation for single and panoramic shots. New features are implemented regularly, like the aurora forecasts and cloud simulation features. As an astrophotographer working a lot along the Mediterranean coastline with light pollution almost everywhere, I often deal with complex terrain, narrow dark horizons, or very specific alignments with foreground features. Planit Pro consistently gives me the most reliable results. I still use other apps depending on the situation, but whenever I need exact position or want to prepare a complex shot, Planit is the one I open first. Great to see it getting more recognition. It’s an incredibly powerful app that really shines in advanced nightscape planning!
