a free iPad app could bring the heavens to your fingertips. Developed by the Slooh Space Camera collaboration, the MYSky app will let anyone tap on an object in the night sky and order a powerful telescope to take a high-quality image. The aim is to let anyone shoot their own world-class images of celestial events – such as a solar flare, asteroid flyby, or distant supernova explosion – with ease.

“Astronomy is inherently complex and it can be hard for newbies to understand how the night sky works,” said Slooh president Patrick Paolucci. “We are trying to break all those barriers down to make it simple.”

The MYSky app is more like a carshare operation — instead of owning a telescope, viewers control one of Slooh’s. In the app controls, you can browse a catalog of night sky objects, select one you like, and then order the telescope to swing over in real time and take a picture. Depending on the time of day and user load, Slooh hopes to provide images as little as 20 minutes after a request.

New App Lets You Aim a World-Class Telescope From Your iPad