Source: https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/program_interfaces.html

Exoplanet Atlas

A full-stack dashboard that ingests live exoplanet data from NASA's public Exoplanet Archive, stores it in PostgreSQL, and serves it through a custom REST API to an interactive React frontend including a custom-built star map visualization of every confirmed planet's discovery year, distance from Earth, and radius.

Live data. Real astronomy. Built from scratch.

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Overview

Exoplanet Atlas pulls data from NASA's Exoplanet Archive, normalizes and stores it in PostgreSQL, and exposes it through a REST API with filtering, sorting, and pagination. The React frontend visualizes the full dataset 6,000+ confirmed exoplanets through a custom scatter-plot "star map," aggregate statistics charts, and a searchable, sortable catalog table.

The design is themed around a real observatory convention: astronomers use dim red light at night to protect their eyes' dark adaptation, which is where the dashboard's accent color comes from.

Architecture

NASA Exoplanet Archive (TAP API)
        │
        ▼
Python ingestion script  ──►  PostgreSQL (Docker)
                                    │
                                    ▼
                          Node/Express REST API
                                    │
                                    ▼
                          React + Vite frontend

Features

• Automated data ingestion — pulls exoplanet records from NASA's public TAP API and upserts them into PostgreSQL, with run logging for observability
• REST API — endpoints for paginated/filtered/sorted planet listings, single-planet lookups, a random sample endpoint, and aggregate statistics
• Interactive star map — a custom SVG visualization plotting every planet by discovery year, distance from Earth (log scale), radius, and discovery method
• Aggregate charts — discoveries over time and a breakdown by discovery method, built with Recharts
• Searchable catalog — full data table with name search, discovery-method filtering, column sorting, and pagination

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Data ingestion	Python, requests, psycopg2
Database	PostgreSQL (via Docker)
API	Node.js, Express, pg
Frontend	React, Vite, Recharts
Data source	NASA Exoplanet Archive (TAP service)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop
• Node.js (v18+)
• Python 3 with pip

1. Start the database

docker run --name exoplanet-db \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=<your_db_user> \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=<your_db_pass \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=exoplanets \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -d postgres

docker cp schema.sql exoplanet-db:/schema.sql
docker exec -i exoplanet-db psql -U devuser -d exoplanets -f /schema.sql

2. Run the ingestion pipeline

pip install requests psycopg2-binary

export DB_USER=devuser
export DB_PASSWORD=devpass
export DB_NAME=exoplanets

python fetch_and_load_exoplanets.py

(On Windows PowerShell, use $env:DB_USER="devuser" instead of export.)

3. Start the API

cd api
npm install
cp .env.example .env   # fill in your DB credentials
node server.js

API runs at http://localhost:3001.

4. Start the frontend

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Dashboard runs at http://localhost:5173.

API Reference

Endpoint	Description
GET /api/exoplanets	Paginated list — supports page, pageSize, minRadius, maxRadius, discoveryMethod, sortBy, order
GET /api/exoplanets/sample	Random sample across the full dataset (limit) — used by the star map
GET /api/exoplanets/:id	Single planet by ID
GET /api/stats/discoveries-by-year	Discovery counts grouped by year
GET /api/stats/discovery-methods	Discovery counts grouped by method
GET /health	Database connectivity check

Design Notes

• SQL injection protection: sort columns are validated against a whitelist; all filter values are parameterized.
• Postgres BIGINT handling: aggregate COUNT(*) queries are explicitly cast to ::int, since Node's pg driver returns BIGINT as a string by default.
• Representative sampling: the star map pulls a true random sample (ORDER BY RANDOM()) rather than the most recent page, so the full year/distance range is represented.

Project Structure

.
├── fetch_and_load_exoplanets.py   # ingestion script
├── schema.sql                      # database schema
├── api/                             # Express REST API
│   ├── server.js
│   ├── db.js
│   └── routes/
│       ├── exoplanets.js
│       └── stats.js
└── frontend/                        # React dashboard
    └── src/
        ├── App.jsx
        ├── api.js
        └── components/
            ├── StarMap.jsx
            ├── StatsCharts.jsx
            └── PlanetTable.jsx

Data Source

All exoplanet data is sourced from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, operated by Caltech under contract with NASA.

Author

Developed by N. Connor Whitaker