# Groovy Stars — Software License
Last updated: 2026-08-23
Groovy Stars (the "App") is a free astronomy planetarium and observing-planning application made by
Shawn Grant. By downloading, installing, or using the App, you agree to this License. If you don't
agree, don't use the App.
## 1. License grant
Groovy Stars is provided free of charge. You may install and use it on Apple devices you own or
control, for your personal, educational, and hobby astronomy use, at no cost. This is a license to use
the App, not a sale of it; the author retains ownership of the App and its original content.
## 2. What you may not do
Please don't:
- sell, rent, or charge others for the App, or redistribute it as your own;
- reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the App, except where the law expressly allows;
- extract or republish the App's bundled catalogs, images, or outlines as a standalone dataset or inside
another product;
- remove or alter the copyright, attribution, or license notices, including the in-app Acknowledgments.
You're welcome to share a link to where the App is officially distributed.
## 3. Astronomical data — accuracy and intended use
The App computes and displays predicted positions, brightnesses, and times, and includes third-party
catalogs. These are provided for hobby planning and education only. They can contain errors and are
not suitable for navigation, aviation, surveying, timing-critical, professional, or safety-critical
use. Verify anything important against an authoritative source.
## 4. Third-party data and attribution
The App uses data from third parties — including ESA/Gaia (DPAC), CDS Strasbourg (SIMBAD, VizieR), 2MASS,
DESI Legacy Surveys, OpenNGC, Stellarium constellation figures, the Minor Planet Center, Lowell Observatory
(ASTORB), JPL, and the COBS Comet Observation Database, among others. Each is used under its own license —
some require attribution or share-alike treatment, and some are non-commercial, which this free App
honors. Those sources and licenses are listed in the App's Acknowledgments screen and incorporated here
by reference. Please keep that credit intact.
## 5. Telescope and hardware control — assumption of risk
The App can connect to and command real telescope mounts over your network. **You assume all risk of
operating your hardware.** You are responsible for pointing safety — in particular, never aiming optics at
or near the Sun — and for supervising all movement. Any Sun-avoidance or confirmation features are aids
only, may fail, and do not replace your judgment. The author is not liable for injury (including eye
injury) or for damage to equipment or property arising from hardware control.
## 6. Third-party internet services
The App can fetch data from third-party services (for example, comet and minor-planet elements from the
Minor Planet Center and Lowell, imagery from CDS, and comet observations from COBS). Your use of those
services is subject to their terms, and the author is not responsible for their availability.
## 7. No warranty
THE APP IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
The author does not warrant that the App or its data is error-free or uninterrupted. Some places don't
allow excluding implied warranties, so some of this may not apply to you.
## 8. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE AUTHOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST DATA OR EQUIPMENT DAMAGE, ARISING FROM OR RELATED
TO THE APP. Because the App is provided free of charge, the author's total liability is limited to the
fullest extent the law allows. Some places don't allow certain limitations, so some of this may not apply
to you.
## 9. Updates
The author may — but is not obligated to — provide updates or support, and may change or discontinue the
App or its data feeds.
## 10. Apple App Store copies
If you obtain the App through the Apple App Store, Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License
Agreement also applies; this License is between you and the author only, not Apple.
## 11. Contact
Groovy Stars is made by Shawn Grant. For contact and updates, see the official Groovy Stars project page.