StarGazer - Stardance

Ship #1

What I Made:
I built StarGazer, a web application that allows users to explore NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). The website displays the latest APOD by default and lets users browse images and videos from any available date using a built-in calendar.

What Was Challenging:
The most challenging part of the project was creating the animated particle-based starfield background from scratch using the HTML Canvas API while keeping the animation smooth and lightweight.

What I Am Proud Of:
I am most proud of the custom particle system, as it gives the website an immersive space-themed feel. I also implemented loading and splash screens, request timeouts, and error handling to improve the overall user experience.

What You Should Know Before Testing:
To test the project, add a valid NASA API key to the .env file and run the application with an internet connection. The application uses NASA's APOD API, so some content may be images while others are videos.

Working on a Secret Feature, More Updates Soon

Try project → See source code →

Open comments for this post

@L0stsky on StarGazer · 21 days ago

57m 25s logged

Improved the Timeout Constraint
Added a Particle System As Stars for the Background
Added the Current APOD date

Open comments for this post

@L0stsky on StarGazer · 21 days ago

1h 17m 35s logged

Improved the overall layout of the website.
Added a splash screen that appears when the website loads.
Removed the background animation to make the interface cleaner and less distracting.
Added a calendar that lets users view NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for any available date.
Implemented a request timeout to handle cases where the NASA API is slow or fails to respond.
The website is now more polished, easier to use, and more reliable.

Working on Some Animations and A Cool Feature.

Open comments for this post

@L0stsky on StarGazer · 21 days ago

1h 56m 18s logged

Worked on the basic website today. I integrated the NASA APOD API so the site can show the daily astronomy picture along with its title and description. I also added the first version of the UI and some space-themed visuals to give the website its look.

More Features Coming Soon!