Data-viz project for ray-tracing the Moon model

In plain words

This is a data visualization project that uses ray-tracing techniques to model and render the Moon. Launched in 2019 and available on GitHub, it is designed for researchers, developers, and enthusiasts interested in lunar visualization and 3D graphics. The project combines astronomical data with ray-tracing rendering to create detailed visual representations of the Moon's surface and features.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

• 
  AstraPixelsAug 2026 · astrapixels.com · ▲267

  ​​A pixel-art solar system at its real current positions.​

• AR
  A raytracer to shade topographic maps in R2018 · tylermw.com · ▲198
• 
  A physically-based GPU ray tracer written in JuliaFeb 2026 · makie.org · ▲198

  We ported pbrt-v4 to Julia and built it into a Makie backend. Any Makie plot can now be rendered with physically-based path tracing. Julia compiles user-defined physics directly into GPU kernels, so anyone can extend the ray tracer with new materials and media - a black hole with gravitational lensing is ~200 lines of Julia. Runs on AMD, NVIDIA, and CPU via KernelAbstractions.jl, with Metal coming soon. Demo scenes: github.com/SimonDanisch/RayDemo

• 
  CGI Moon Kit2019 · svs.gsfc.nasa.gov · ▲73

  A 3D map of the moon for CG artists and creators

• 
  I've made a Monte-Carlo raytracer for glTF scenes in WebGPU2024 · github.com · ▲131

  This is a GPU "software" raytracer (i.e. using manual ray-scene intersections and not RTX) written using the WebGPU API that renders glTF scenes. It supports many materials, textures, material & normal mapping, and heavily relies on multiple importance sampling to speed up convergence.

• MS
  Moon simulator game, ray-castingApr 2026 · mooncraft2000.com · ▲114

  Did this a few years ago. Seems apropos. Sources and more here: https://github.com/EngineersNeedArt/Mooncraft2000

• 
  /dev/null▲472

  a social network for devs

  Dev tools · 2d ago · dev-null.sh

• 
  Whiteboard (YC W26) – an open-source IDE for thoughtful software design▲423

  open-source IDE for thoughtful software design. Contribute to devdotfast/whiteboard development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 27d ago · github.com

• 
  Reladraw – A diagram language where you decide where to place things▲411

  Contribute to reladraw/reladraw development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 25d ago · github.com

• 
  OpenBot▲362

  Grok Bot alternative: free, local, open-source, multiplayer

  Dev tools · 22d ago · openbot.run

• 
  Talanoa▲340

  Hi HN, I’m a fullstack developer, and honestly, I’ve lost count of how many side projects I’ve worked on over the years. But one idea kept coming back to me: a different kind of email client. It first came to me in 2014: “What if we could handle emails more like conversations?” Every year, I’d revisit this concept in my “Build Notes.” Ten years later, no one had built exactly what I had in mind — so I finally decided to do it myself. That’s how Talanoa was born. I wanted something focused on people, not timelines. I was tired of marking messages as unread just to remember to reply later, or…

  Dev tools · 20d ago · talanoa.email

• 
  CoreSpeed▲332

  One MCP for everything your agents need: apps, memory, tools

  Dev tools · 27d ago · corespeed.io

• 
  Startup Decks▲708

  View 100s of startup pitch decks or submit your own.

  Growth · 2019 · startupdecks.co

• 
  Dashblock▲696

  Turn any website into an API

  Dev tools · 2019

• 
  CLI tool for saving web pages as a single file▲640

  ⬛️ CLI tool and library for saving complete web pages as a single HTML file - Y2Z/monolith

  Dev tools · 2019 · github.com

• 
  Get waves▲602

  A simple web app to generate svg waves, unique every time

  Dev tools · 2019 · getwaves.io

• 
  Spider Pro▲574

  The easiest way to scrape the internet.

  Dev tools · 2019

• 
  Marketing Examples▲560

  A gallery of real world marketing examples

  Growth · 2019 · marketingexamples.com