open /Applications/Solar\ Beam.app

Solar Beam

Photo & Video

The James Webb Space Telescope, on every screen you own

A curated gallery of Webb's greatest images — each with its real caption, credit, distance and sky coordinates — plus NASA's picture of the day and the asteroids passing Earth right now. Free on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Vision Pro.

See it in action ↓

No ratings yet Free Photo & Video iPhone iPad Mac Apple TV Vision Pro

Webb's (JWST) most iconic images, curated — with real captions, credits and distances
A "Where Is Webb" dashboard: mission age, its L2 orbit 1.5M km out, +50°C to −236°C
Free to download — NASA's daily picture and the asteroid tracker are never gated

Solar Beam — Ambient Mode on Apple TV: the Pillars of Creation, full-bleed in 4K — Ambient Mode on Apple TV: the Pillars of Creation, full-bleed in 4K

./solarbeam --screenshots

Solar Beam in action

The curated Webb gallery on iPhone — Webb is the first tab
Webb’s First Deep Field opens full-width, with 4K download and the full ESA caption
The live “Where Is Webb” status card sits above the gallery
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, with the 30-day archive
Ambient Mode: a single Webb image full-bleed, with no interface at all
Near-Earth asteroids tracked each day — always free, never gated

Two dozen Webb images at a glance on iPad
Caption, objects, instruments, distance, sky position and the CC BY 4.0 credit
“Where Is Webb” — days in space, distance to L2 and instrument temperatures
NASA’s Picture of the Day with its archive grid
AI-generated facts about the day’s picture, on demand
The near-Earth object threat tracker on iPad

The Nebulae collection in the Mac app
The full ESA caption and NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI credit beside the image
Live telescope status at the top of the gallery
NASA’s Picture of the Day with AI facts alongside
Ambient Mode fills the Mac display
Asteroid sizes on Mac, scaled against familiar objects

The Webb gallery floating in your room on Vision Pro
Caption, sky data and credit — plus Spatial Scene on Vision Pro
Live telescope status in the Vision Pro window
NASA’s Picture of the Day on Vision Pro
Ambient Mode replaces the room with the app’s own starfield

Ambient Mode on Apple TV: the Pillars of Creation, full-bleed in 4K
The curated Webb gallery on the big screen
Caption, sky position and credit for every image
The live “Where Is Webb” dashboard on Apple TV
NASA’s Picture of the Day on Apple TV
Near-Earth asteroid charts on the big screen

tap a screen to enlarge · swipe to see more → click a screen to enlarge

cat solarbeam/FEATURES.md

What Solar Beam does

Curated Webb Gallery

Webb's greatest images — the Cosmic Cliffs, the Pillars of Creation, deep fields and more — grouped into collections and shown with their real captions, credits, distances, and sky coordinates. Search for any target.

Where Is Webb

A status dashboard for the telescope itself: how long it's been in space, its orbit 1.5 million km (about a million miles) away at Lagrange Point 2, and the astonishing gap between its sun-facing side and its supercooled instruments.

4K Wallpapers

Save any Webb image as a 4K wallpaper for your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV — straight from the source, at full resolution. Part of Solar Beam Premium.

Picture of the Day

NASA picks one image of the cosmos every day. Solar Beam puts the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) front and center — and when you want the science, one tap generates plain-language AI facts about what you're looking at.

Asteroid Tracker

See what's passing Earth in real time: how close each asteroid comes, how fast it moves, and the size of impact it would leave. Charts sort the dangerous from the safe — always free, never gated.

Five platforms, one app

A native app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Vision Pro — with a menu bar ticker on Mac, Ambient Mode on every screen, and Spatial Scenes on Vision Pro. Premium is a universal purchase: unlock it on one device and it works on all of them, with Family Sharing.

./solarbeam --pricing

Free, and then optional

Free forever

Today's NASA Picture of the Day, plus a rolling 30-day archive
The near-Earth asteroid tracker and its charts — never gated
The "Where Is Webb" telescope dashboard
The first 60 images of the curated Webb gallery
3 AI-generated fact sets, for the life of the install

Solar Beam Premium

$2.99/mo · $19.99/yr · $49.99 once

The complete curated Webb gallery
The full Picture of the Day archive, not just 30 days
4K wallpapers and full-resolution downloads
Ambient Mode on every device
Spatial Scenes on Vision Pro
Unlimited AI-generated facts

Monthly $2.99 per month, auto-renewing
Annual $19.99 per year, 1-week free trial
Lifetime $49.99 once, never renews

Subscriptions auto-renew until cancelled in your App Store account; the lifetime unlock never renews. All three are family-shareable, and whichever you choose unlocks Premium on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Vision Pro.

curl -s jwst/observing-schedule | head

What Webb is looking at this week

The telescope's real observing plan, straight from the Space Telescope Science Institute. Every target below is a genuine scheduled visit — times are UTC.

1,690: days since launch
1.5M km: from Earth, at Lagrange Point 2
6.5 m: mirror, in 18 segments
+50 / -236 °C: sunshield gap, sun side to shaded side

Wed 12 Aug, 04:04 UTC
on target now B68-MSA-Update-4
NIRSpec MultiObject Spectroscopy · Observation · 3h 31m
Wed 12 Aug, 07:55 UTC
on target now DJ16254583-2347372
NIRSpec Fixed Slit Spectroscopy · Star · 1h 30m
Wed 12 Aug, 09:36 UTC
on target now DJ16393029-2454135
NIRSpec Fixed Slit Spectroscopy · Star · 1h 30m
Wed 12 Aug, 11:28 UTC
on target now ECLIPTIC-RA160
NIRCam Imaging · Calibration · 4h 14m
Wed 12 Aug, 16:10 UTC
on target now 2MASS-15184249-3854265
WFSC NIRCam Fine Phasing · Calibration · 29m
Wed 12 Aug, 17:05 UTC
on target now 2J16151772-1817546
NIRSpec Fixed Slit Spectroscopy · Star · 34m
Wed 12 Aug, 17:52 UTC
on target now DJ16041234-2127472
NIRSpec Fixed Slit Spectroscopy · Star · 1h 24m
Wed 12 Aug, 19:23 UTC
on target now WJ160420.43-213453.1
NIRSpec Fixed Slit Spectroscopy · Star · 1h 24m

Schedule: STScI JWST observing schedules , refreshed on every build. Mission figures from NASA/STScI's "Where Is Webb"; the sunshield temperatures are its commissioning readings, which NASA no longer updates. Solar Beam is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA, ESA or STScI.

man solarbeam

How Solar Beam works

Download free

Get Solar Beam free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, or Vision Pro. No account, no purchase — today's NASA picture and the asteroid tracker are always free.
Open to the universe

Land in the curated Webb gallery and the "Where Is Webb" dashboard, with the daily picture and the asteroid tracker a tap away.
Go deeper, optionally

Unlock Solar Beam Premium for the complete Webb gallery, 4K wallpapers, Ambient Mode, years of past pictures, and unlimited AI facts — $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year with a 1-week free trial, or $49.99 once for lifetime access.

./solarbeam --faq

Frequently asked questions

What makes Solar Beam's James Webb gallery special?

It's a curated gallery of the telescope's best images — not a raw data dump. Each image comes with its real caption, credit, distance, instruments, and sky coordinates, grouped into collections (nebulae, galaxies, deep fields, the solar system, and more), and you can search for any target. A "Where Is Webb" dashboard shows the telescope's mission status alongside it.

Which devices are supported?

Solar Beam is a single universal app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, and it's free on all of them. Premium is a universal purchase: one subscription or one lifetime unlock covers every device you own, and it's family-shareable. It's native on each — a menu bar ticker on Mac, Ambient Mode everywhere, and Spatial Scenes on Vision Pro.

How much does Solar Beam cost?

Solar Beam is free to download, and the daily NASA picture, the asteroid tracker and the "Where Is Webb" dashboard are always free. Premium is optional: $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year with a 1-week free trial, or $49.99 once for lifetime access. Subscriptions auto-renew until you cancel in your App Store account; the lifetime unlock never renews. All options are family-shareable and cover every Apple device.

What do I get for free versus Premium?

Free covers today's picture, the near-Earth asteroid tracker, the "Where Is Webb" dashboard, the first 60 images of the curated Webb gallery, a rolling 30-day archive of past pictures, and 3 AI-generated fact sets for the life of the install. Premium unlocks the complete Webb gallery, 4K wallpapers and full-resolution downloads, Ambient Mode, the full Picture of the Day archive, Spatial Scenes on Vision Pro, and unlimited AI facts. Asteroid tracking is never gated.

Is there a subscription or in-app purchase?

Only if you want more. The app is free. Premium is $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year with a 1-week free trial — both auto-renewing until cancelled — or a $49.99 one-time lifetime unlock that never renews. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account. The daily picture and asteroid tracker stay free either way.

Where do the images and data come from?

From NASA's public APIs and the ESA/Webb archive: the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), James Webb Space Telescope imagery (ESA/Webb, CC BY 4.0), and near-Earth object data. Image credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Solar Beam is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA or ESA.

Can I really set Webb images as wallpaper?

Yes. With Premium, save any Webb image at 4K — desktop and mobile sizes — and set it as your wallpaper on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV. Free sharing is at display resolution.

What does Solar Beam collect about me?

There's no account and no third-party tracking. The app records purchase history so a Premium unlock can follow you across your devices; it isn't linked to your identity and is never used for tracking. Everything else — the images you browse, what you save — stays on your device. The full policy is linked at the bottom of this page.

Does it work without internet?

Yes, for content you've already viewed. Smart caching keeps recent images available offline and makes launches fast. New daily images, the telescope status, and asteroid updates need a connection.

Images and data come straight from NASA, ESA, CSA and STScI — the Astronomy Picture of the Day, the ESA/Webb archive (CC BY 4.0, credited on every image), and NASA's near-Earth object feed. No account, no ads, no third-party tracking. The app reports purchase history so a Premium unlock follows you between devices; it isn't linked to your identity and is never used for tracking. Solar Beam is an independent app by Midgar Oy and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA or ESA.

The James Webb Space Telescope, on every screen you own.

Free on the App Store — a new NASA picture every day, the asteroid tracker, the "Where Is Webb" dashboard, 60 Webb images and a 30-day archive at no cost. Premium — $2.99/month, $19.99/year with a 1-week free trial, or $49.99 once — unlocks the full Webb gallery, 4K wallpapers, Ambient Mode, the complete archive and unlimited AI facts on every device.