🌌 Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) API

A lightweight Python microservice that provides access to NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day collection with a simple, RESTful API interface.

Built with: Flask | Python | Docker | NASA API

• 📸 Access daily astronomy images and videos
• 🎯 Query by date range or get random images
• 🏷️ Optional concept tagging with AI insights
• 🎥 Support for both images and video content
• 🐳 Docker support for easy deployment
• 🧪 Comprehensive test suite with pytest
• 📱 Mobile-friendly API responses
• ⚡ High-performance Python implementation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/MEhsan-59/apod-api
cd apod-api

# Install dependencies with uv
uv sync

# Run the application
uv run python application.py

The API will be available at http://localhost:5000

# Clone and navigate to repository
git clone https://github.com/MEhsan-59/apod-api
cd apod-api

# Build and run with Docker Compose
docker compose up --build

The API will be available at http://localhost:5000

Run the test suite to ensure everything is working correctly:

uv run pytest

For coverage report:

uv run pytest --cov

GET /v1/apod

curl "http://localhost:5000/v1/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY"

curl "http://localhost:5000/v1/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY&date=2014-10-01&concept_tags=true"

Response:

{
  "resource": {
    "image_set": "apod"
  },
  "date": "2014-10-01",
  "title": "Filaments of the Vela Supernova Remnant",
  "url": "https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1310/velafilaments_jadescope_960.jpg",
  "hdurl": "https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1310/velafilaments_jadescope_2400.jpg",
  "explanation": "The explosion is over but the consequences continue...",
  "media_type": "image",
  "copyright": "ESA, Herschel & Planck Consortiums",
  "service_version": "v1"
}

curl "http://localhost:5000/v1/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY&count=5"

Returns a JSON array of 5 random APOD images.

curl "http://localhost:5000/v1/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY&start_date=2017-07-08&end_date=2017-07-10"

import apod_object_parser

# Fetch today's APOD data
response = apod_object_parser.get_data("your_api_key_here")

# Extract information
title = apod_object_parser.get_title(response)
date = apod_object_parser.get_date(response)
explanation = apod_object_parser.get_explaination(response)
url = apod_object_parser.get_url(response)
hdurl = apod_object_parser.get_hdurl(response)
media_type = apod_object_parser.get_media_type(response)

print(f"Title: {title}")
print(f"Date: {date}")
print(f"Image URL: {url}")

For complete parser documentation, see APOD Parser README

• Python 3.9+
• uv package manager
• Docker (optional, for containerized deployment)

apod-api/
├── application.py          # Main Flask application
├── apod_object_parser.py   # Python parser utility
├── apod_parser/            # Parser documentation
├── tests/                  # Test suite
├── Dockerfile              # Docker configuration
├── docker-compose.yml      # Docker Compose setup
├── pyproject.toml          # Project configuration
└── README.md              # This file

We welcome contributions! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Please open an issue with:

• Clear description of the problem
• Steps to reproduce (if applicable)
• Expected vs actual behavior
• Python version and environment details

⚠️ API Reliability: This repository is a fork of NASA's official APOD API. For production systems requiring extreme reliability, consider standing up your own instance.

⚠️ Content Issues: For issues related to APOD website content (image selection, descriptions), please contact NASA directly at the APOD website.

✅ Code Issues: For API implementation issues, bugs, or improvements, please use this repository's issue tracker.

This API is lightweight and can be deployed on:

• ☁️ AWS (EC2 micro instance or Elastic Beanstalk)
• 🐳 Docker containers
• 🖥️ Any Python-capable server
• ☸️ Kubernetes clusters

See deployment examples for detailed guides (coming soon).

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

• Brian Thomas - Original author
• Dan Hammer - Base implementation
• Justin Gosses - AWS Elastic Beanstalk compatibility
• Daniel Rendon - UV package manager & Docker support
• MEhsan-59 - Current maintainer

See all contributors

If you find this project useful:

1. Star this repository ⭐
2. Share it with others
3. Open issues or submit PRs to improve it
4. Follow for updates

• NASA API Documentation
• APOD Official Website
• Flask Documentation
• uv Package Manager

• 💬 Open a GitHub Discussion
• 🐛 Report a Bug
• 🚀 Request a Feature

Made with ❤️ by the community