Exoplanets Finder AI

Interactive dashboard for exploring NASA Exoplanet Archive KOI statistics—"KOI" stands for Kepler Object of Interest, a star system where NASA's Kepler telescope spotted something that might be a planet. The front-end is built with Vite, React, and TypeScript; CSV data is parsed with d3-dsv, rendered as insight cards, ranked tables, and a 3D orbit preview powered by react-three-fiber.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or newer (ships with npm 9+). Use nvm or fnm if you manage multiple versions.
• Git (optional, but recommended for pulling updates and collaborating).
• Python 13.12+ with pip

Verify your tooling:

node --version
npm --version

Install Dependencies

1. Clone or download the repository and open it in your terminal.

git clone https://github.com/Slowlybomb/Exoplanets.git

3. Install node packages (creates node_modules/ locally):

npm install

4. Install pip packages

pip install scikit-learn flask flask_cors pandas joblib

Running the project

In one terminal, in the project root directory:

npm run dev

In a separate terminal, in the backend directory:

flask run

If you run into permission issues on macOS/Linux, avoid sudo; instead, fix your global npm permissions or use a Node version manager.

Available Scripts

All scripts are defined in package.json and run with npm run <script>.

Script	Purpose
dev	Starts Vite in development mode with hot reloading on http://localhost:5173
build	Produces a production bundle in dist/
preview	Serves the dist/ bundle locally to validate the production build
lint	Runs ESLint against the project source

Examples

# Start the dev server
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Preview the production bundle locally
npm run preview

Project Structure

Exoplanets/
├── dataset/
│   └── cumulative_2025.10.04_06.46.42.csv   # NASA Exoplanet Archive KOI release (2025-10-04)
├── index.html                               # Vite entry point
├── package.json                             # Scripts and dependencies
├── postcss.config.js                        # Tailwind/PostCSS config
├── public/                                  # Static assets (favicon, etc.)
├── src/
│   ├── App.tsx                              # Root component
│   ├── main.tsx                             # React entry
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── orbit/OrbitSimulation.tsx        # react-three-fiber orbit visual
│   │   └── ui/Card.tsx                      # Tailwind-based section wrapper
│   ├── data/
│   │   └── exoplanets.ts                    # Parses CSV + computed aggregates
│   ├── pages/Dashboard.tsx                  # Main screen with cards, tables, and 3D view
│   ├── styles/global.css                    # Tailwind directives + base theming
│   └── vite-env.d.ts                        # Vite module declarations
├── tailwind.config.js                       # Tailwind theme overrides
├── tsconfig.json
├── tsconfig.node.json
└── vite.config.ts

Data & Views

• src/data/exoplanets.ts ingests the KOI CSV (via Vite ?raw import) with d3-dsv, computes disposition counts (how NASA currently classifies each potential planet), summary statistics, and ranked planet lists.
• The app is split across dedicated views:
  • /overview — mission summary, KPI (key performance indicator) cards, and quick links.
  • /gallery — poster-style cards with procedurally generated art and navigation to detail pages.
  • /orbit — interactive react-three-fiber transit preview; a transit is when a planet crosses in front of its star and briefly dims the starlight.
  • /analytics — disposition breakdowns and ranking tables showing confirmed worlds and candidates side-by-side.
• Additional highlights:
  • Persistent sidebar navigation (desktop) and responsive top tabs for quick jumps between sections.
  • Metric cards for catalog totals, confirmations (worlds NASA is confident are real), candidates (still being checked), and temperate small worlds (roughly Earth-sized planets in the not-too-hot/not-too-cold zone).
  • A planet gallery that generates poster-style cards with procedurally textured art, key metrics, and orbit shortcuts.
  • A 3D orbit simulation card that animates the leading confirmed KOI using react-three-fiber and drei.
  • Disposition breakdown chips with absolute counts and percentages.
  • Ranked tables for the highest scoring confirmed planets and KOI candidates.
• Each planet card links to a dedicated /planet/:name page with a hero orbit preview, stellar context, and recommendations for nearby discoveries.
• Replace the CSV in dataset/ with a newer download to refresh the interface automatically.

Astrophysics Terms Explained

• Exoplanet: A planet that orbits a star outside our solar system.
• KOI (Kepler Object of Interest): Star system flagged by the Kepler telescope because its light briefly dimmed, hinting that a planet might be passing in front of the star.
• Disposition: NASA’s status label for a KOI—"confirmed" means follow-up analysis shows the signal is a real planet, "candidate" means promising but not yet verified, and "false positive" means the signal came from something else (for example, a nearby star).
• Transit: The moment an exoplanet moves between its star and the telescope, causing a small, temporary dip in brightness. Measuring these dips reveals planet size and orbit.
• Habitable/temperate zone: The range of orbits where a planet could have liquid water on the surface; this depends on the star’s temperature and brightness.
• Light curve: A graph of how a star’s brightness changes over time. Repeating dips in the curve often indicate a planet’s orbit.

Styling Notes

• Tailwind CSS powers the interface (src/styles/global.css). Use utility classes for layout tweaks, or extend theme tokens in tailwind.config.js for consistent colors and shadows.

Troubleshooting

• If npm install fails due to incompatible Node version, switch to Node 18+ and reinstall, or try running npm ci.
• When npm run dev is already bound to a port, either stop the existing process or run npm run dev -- --port 5174.
• For TypeScript or ESLint errors, run npm run lint to see details and apply fixes in the referenced files.
• Ensure the browser supports WebGL for the orbit simulation; fallback copy is still shown if the KOI list is empty.

Happy hacking!