The SkyCruncher app

Where it stands

I'm building a new app on a new engine. It isn't ready, and I won't give a date until it is. This page is the one place on the site that says where the app stands, and it changes when that does.

Last checked 20 October 2026

What the first release is planned to include

None of this has shipped. Each item is a plan, and plans can change before release.

• planned

  A signed Windows desktop app

  Code-signed, so Windows can show who published it.

• planned

  The sky command-line tool

  The same engine in a terminal, for running a whole night of frames from a script.

• planned

  Star catalog download

  The star data the engine measures your frames against, downloaded once and checked.

• planned

  FITS export with the plate solution

  FITS is the file format astronomy software reads. The plate solution, the record of exactly where in the sky a frame points, worked out from the stars in it, goes in the file's header.

• planned

  An optional light-curves plugin, labeled experimental

  For transits and variable stars: how a star's brightness changes through a night. You add it only if you want it.

• planned

  Opt-in sharing of measurements, never photos

  Nothing leaves your computer unless you choose to send it, and what you can send is measurements, not your pictures.

The new app is built on a new engine, so I don't plan for 1.3.2 to offer it as an update.

Try it now

Engine (Alpha) is the 2026 old engine running in your browser. There's nothing to install, and your frame never leaves your computer. It asks before it downloads star catalogs. It's an alpha, a stopgap until the app ships.

Open Engine (Alpha)

Previous release

SkyCruncher 1.3.2 (25 July 2026), the previous release, on the old engine. Windows only. It is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen warns before it runs: choose More info, then Run anyway, but only for a file from SkyCruncher's GitHub releases page. Some workplaces don't allow that.

The installer is about 9 MB. The star data it needs, about 1.3 GB in all, downloads inside the app on first run. The release page also lists a checksum file, so you can check the installer before you run it.

SkyCruncher 1.3.2 on GitHub

The 1.3 old engine is open source under Apache 2.0. Every release is on GitHub, and its reference documents are listed on Docs.

Follow along

Questions, or want to hear when the app is ready? Write to hello@skycruncher.io. More about the project, and how claims on this site are marked: About.