The galaxy view went from a particle blob to a scientifically grounded visualisation — logarithmic spiral arm particle distribution, procedural 2048px disk texture, Galactic Habitable Zone ring, Gaia census boundary, Kepler survey cone, Magellanic Clouds, and JWST/Hubble deep-field beams.

Eliminated the homepage Three.js iframe that was loading 15MB of JavaScript on every landing page visit — replaced with a pre-recorded video loop. Lighthouse scores hit 100 across the board. Observatory security rating reached A+. Vercel Analytics deployed.

A systematic pass across every page: WCAG AA colour contrast, keyboard navigation, ARIA labelling, reduced motion support, font optimisation, lazy loading, and data density improvements.

Dive mode was overexposing the entire scene white — tracked down to a DirectionalLight illuminating all planets simultaneously. Fixed with calibrated ambient, exposure, and emissive values across all three entry and exit code paths.

The biggest single-session solar system update yet — dwarf planets, dive mode lighting, a redesigned JWST viewer with multi-wavelength channels and deep zoom, a Hubble brightness slider, and an interactive Kepler system diagram.

Six new camera presets give the solar system distinct cinematic personalities — lemniscate, satellite drift, breathing vortex, immersive chase, Surfboard, and Helix — plus the galaxy view gained a full particle system with halo, core bloom, and 52,000 stars.

All 13 moons now tidally lock to their planets, scale correctly with True Scale mode, and the solar system viewer gained a photorealistic Milky Way background with progressive 8K texture loading.

The JWST Explorer catalogue grew from 14 to 85 observations — covering NIRCam, MIRI, and NIRSpec targets across nebulae, galaxies, star clusters, and planetary systems.

A live star field of 2,600+ confirmed exoplanets from NASA's Kepler mission — colour-coded by stellar temperature, filterable by planet size and habitable zone, with orbital system diagrams and an HR diagram mode.

Replacing the static hero with a real-time WebGL solar system built with Three.js — orbiting planets, Galaxy View zoom-out, and a dismissible overlay for the best of both worlds.

Adding dramatic high-resolution NASA planet images as hero backgrounds across the site, bringing the solar system to life on every page.

Replacing placeholder graphics with genuine radio telescope imagery from CSIRO and international observatories, bringing the invisible universe to life.

Major expansion of the Live Events system with 50+ astronomical events including lunar phases, eclipses, planetary conjunctions, and rocket launches.

Launching nebulax-collective.com.au with custom domain setup, tripling observations from 25 to 75, adding accessibility improvements, and Ko-fi support integration.

Major feature update adding live ISS camera feeds, expanded telescope observations, real images in Citizen Science, and significant UI/UX improvements.

The technical architecture behind integrating data from JWST, Australian radio telescopes, and real-time event feeds into a cohesive exploration experience.

How I connected to CASDA and the Australian SKA Pathfinder data archives to bring radio astronomy to the web.

Designing astronomical data visualisations that work for users of all abilities, with a focus on WCAG compliance and inclusive design.

Building a classification interface that empowers volunteers to contribute to real astronomical research through Zooniverse integration.