How to find when it lines up

Updated 2026-11-04

Goal: draw where in the sky you want the sun, the moon or the Milky Way core, and get every date and time it passes through that Location.

The 3D world is part of Ultra and is in beta.

Steps

  1. In the 3D world, tap the violet frame square at the top of the rail. It fills violet and Drag a box around your subject shows.
  2. Drag a box around the part of the skyline you want. When you lift your finger, Viewpoint searches the sun, the moon and the Milky Way core at once.
  3. Read the results strip. The body that passes soonest shows first; the chips of the others count their passes (“Sun 2”). Tap a chip to pick that body.
  4. Choose how far to look: 1 year (the default), 2 years or 5 years. Results come a year at a time, this year first; tap a year in the row of years, each with its count, to see it.
  5. Tap a date. The world jumps to that moment.
  6. Drag the minute scrubber under the dates to move 30 minutes either side and watch the body travel through your frame. The diamond marks the spot-on moment; tap it to go back there.
  7. Tap Keep this time to put that time in your plan, with the frame.

What you will see

  • Hints at the moment you need them: Dates found. Tap one to jump there., then Drag inside to move. Handles resize. Tap the square to redraw.
  • Drag inside the frame to move it and drag a handle to resize it; the search runs again a moment after you lift. A drag outside the frame still looks around.
  • When you turn away, a marker at the edge says which way the frame is (“Frame · 40° left”); tap it to turn back.
  • The scrubber ticks every 5 minutes, and firmly as it crosses the spot-on moment.

Tip

The body you pick stays picked: if you are planning a moonrise, tap Moon once and later searches keep showing the moon, even when the sun passes sooner.

If something looks off

  • Neither passes through this frame. None of the three crosses that part of the sky in the time you chose. Tap Widen to make the frame larger, try 5 years for a rare alignment, or move the camera.
  • A body I picked says it doesn’t reach this frame. That body has no pass there; the other chips still count theirs, so you can switch.
  • My stroke didn’t draw anything. A very small drag counts as a tap. Drag a bigger box.
  • I want to start over. Tap the square to draw a new frame (Drag a new box, or Cancel). The ✕ at the top ends framing.
  • The Milky Way core finds fewer dates than the moon. The core only counts when the sky is dark enough, with the moon down.

Next

When you have moved the camera · Save a plan · All guides