Atlas of Space
Learning and science
space visualization
SHOW HN2025
770points
124comments
#32of 3,837 in 2025
Top 1%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
LovedMost comments that take a side are positive
35 positive, 50 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 4 critical, out of 92 comments about the project. Thread score +0.43.
Idea: 12 for, 0 againstDesign: 7 for, 1 againstExecution: 4 for, 2 againstDocs: 1 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Smooth, well-executed and works on mobile
From 3 comments
This is incredibly well done. Thank you! Love that it works so seamlessly on mobile. I clicked on it expecting it to be almost impossible to use Instead, I was able to easily…
nico on HNIt works seamless in mobile, that's just mind-blowing! Curious to know, - Is the Source code open source? - If not what is the stack you used to build this.
deveesh_shetty on HNThe project is amazing, thanks and congrats. A bit of an off-topic comment, I can't cease to be amazed by the quality of HTML apps we can build these days. I remember the days…
santiagobasulto on HN
Great for teaching kids and sparking curiosity
From 2 comments
Wonderful! I showed my kids (9 and 10) and we really enjoyed zooming in and out, reading about different Celistial bodie. We were all really intrigued about the "Trans-Neptuinan…
ezascanbe on HNLove it, thank you for sharing. Can't wait to show my kids later! Are the background stars randomly generated or do they correspond to the actual galaxy? Distant points of…
andystanton on HN
Accurate to-scale orbits
From 1 comment
I love that you’re depicting the Solar System accurately and to scale. It’s always bothered me that planetary orbits are often shown as equally-spaced concentric circles. The…
divbzero on HN
Objections
Hard to click small planets, labels and orbits
From 3 comments
Well done! I could spend a long time on this. One minor suggestion: you should make the labels clickable instead of just the planets/stars. I found it difficult to click on a…
guigui on HN... also the orbits themselves ideally? Maybe I missed it but in looking at some of the larger orbits it was hard to zoom in and out to figure out what orbit went with what. It…
derbOac on HNPlease add ability to click on the orbit path. Others have suggested clicking on label, but even after adding that ability, the labels can be hidden.
fuzzythinker on HN
Hard to keep planets centered on mobile
From 1 comment
It's great but especially on mobile it's very difficult to center the view on a planet, zoom on it and follow it around the sun. On a desktop I eventually manage to click on it,…
pmontra on HN
Only covers the solar system, not nearby stars
From 2 comments
Great stuff! Just a wee thing - when I read "Atlas of Space" I immediately assumed it went beyond the solar system and clicked-through expecting to be able to track stars at…
detritus on HNI would love to be able to zoom out beyond solar system and grasp a sense of how far we are from other stars and our place in our galaxy, etc.
javierluraschi on HN
Requests
Real-time clock and backwards time
From 5 comments
Excellent project! I want my kids to grow up so we can explore this together :) I'd love a "real-time" clock but I don't even know if that's feasible!
pedrogpimenta on HNSecond a real-time view. My wife has gotten into planet/stargazing and it would be very cool to see in real-time where, say, Venus is, while also seeing it in the night sky. Also…
3D30497420 on HNInitial positions and velocities are interesting. How did you get about that info? I would love to read about how the orbital trajectories are calculated, and how is it done for…
krishadi on HNNice project! Is it possible to go backwards in time?
iforaa on HNPlease add the ability to make time go backwards in addition to forwards! Also, when you click on the stop button (should probably be a pause icon), the icon should change to a…
a13n on HN
Show stars beyond the solar system
From 3 comments
Great. I really like this. What about doing something similar for the neighborhood of our solar system? E.g. all stars within 25 or so light years.
ochrist on HNI would love to be able to zoom out beyond solar system and grasp a sense of how far we are from other stars and our place in our galaxy, etc.
javierluraschi on HNFantastic! Will we venture beyond the solar system in the future, encompassing more astronomical objects? If so, that would be wonderful.
nanbing on HN
Add more spacecraft
From 2 comments
Is there a way to show only spacecrafts? I am having a hard time finding any
busymom0 on HNNice find. That's the only one up there currently, mostly because it's in a simple heliocentric orbit (most spacecraft are not). I want to add more but need to figure out how to…
pieix on HN
Better labels and orbit clicking
From 2 comments
Well done! I could spend a long time on this. One minor suggestion: you should make the labels clickable instead of just the planets/stars. I found it difficult to click on a…
guigui on HN... also the orbits themselves ideally? Maybe I missed it but in looking at some of the larger orbits it was hard to zoom in and out to figure out what orbit went with what. It…
derbOac on HN
Questions
Is the source code open source?
From 2 comments
It works seamless in mobile, that's just mind-blowing! Curious to know, - Is the Source code open source? - If not what is the stack you used to build this.
deveesh_shetty on HNThis is so cool! Is the codebase available for poking around (no worries if not!) Now if only there was an option to export an SVG to à la https://github.com/samyk :p Fantastic…
lbeckman314 on HN
Which libraries were used for rendering?
From 1 comment
Did you use any libraries to help render the canvas? Or is the code built up from plain JavaScript and DOM APIs?
divbzero on HN
Alternatives named
Celestia
From 2 comments
Incredible work! My son really had a blast scrolling around and exploring last night. Did you take any inspiration from Celestia (https://celestiaproject.space)? It's been over…
legogt on HNCelestia might also give you some ideas: https://github.com/CelestiaProject/Celestia
UncleSlacky on HN
SpaceEngine
From 1 comment
I think https://spaceengine.org/ fills part of your request. I haven't played it but I've watched videos about it and it looks like you can jump anywhere around the observable…
blakewatson on HN
Universe Sandbox
From 1 comment
Super cool! Like a simpler (not in a bad way) Universe Sandbox. I'm reminded of the astronomical-visualization app I created at the beginning of my career and abandoned. This…
digging on HN
Elite Dangerous
From 1 comment
The visual design details make it feel like the navigation system of Elite Dangerous! Well done! A sound effect would be nice. Just an idea.
low_tech_punk on HN