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Work · January 8, 2025

AO

Atlas of Space

Hello HN! Sharing a recent side project of mine, the Atlas of Space, that I built out to explore the Solar System. As a long-time space nerd, I realized recently that I didn't have a good intuition on the scale, speed, and relative orientation of the celestial bodies around us. So over the break I built out a kind of spatial Wikipedia to click around and learn about planets, moons, asteroids, and other bodies orbiting the Sun. The physics is all simulated in the browser using simple Newtonian mechanics. There's a lot left to do from here, including modeling objects in non-Keplerian orbits…

In plain words

Atlas of Space is an interactive web application for exploring the Solar System. It displays planets, moons, asteroids, and other celestial bodies with physics simulated using Newtonian mechanics in the browser. Designed for space enthusiasts who want to understand the scale, speed, and positioning of objects orbiting the Sun, it functions as a clickable spatial reference guide. Users can learn about various celestial bodies and their orbital characteristics through direct interaction and visualization.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

Hello HN! Sharing a recent side project of mine, the Atlas of Space, that I built out to explore the Solar System. As a long-time space nerd, I realized recently that I didn't have a good intuition on the scale, speed, and relative orientation of the celestial bodies around us. So over the break I built out a kind of spatial Wikipedia to click around and learn about planets, moons, asteroids, and other bodies orbiting the Sun. The physics is all simulated in the browser using simple Newtonian mechanics. There's a lot left to do from here, including modeling objects in non-Keplerian orbits and replaying different spacecraft missions. Hope you have fun clicking around, and curious to hear what I should improve next!

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