December 2025: Custom Domain & Community Features

Today marks an exciting milestone for NebulaX - we've launched our custom domain nebulax-collective.com.au! This update also brings accessibility improvements and community support features.

Custom Domain Launch

The site is now live at nebulax-collective.com.au (opens in new tab), giving us a professional Australian presence that reflects our focus on Australian radio astronomy and the SKA project.

Technical Setup

| Component | Configuration | |-----------|---------------| | Domain | nebulax-collective.com.au | | Registrar | Hostinger | | Hosting | Vercel (Free Hobby tier) | | SSL | Auto-provisioned via Let's Encrypt |

DNS Configuration

Configured through Hostinger's DNS management:

A     @      76.76.21.21          (Vercel's IP)
CNAME www    cname.vercel-dns.com (Vercel's CNAME)

The www subdomain automatically redirects to the apex domain for a consistent user experience.

Files Updated

All references to the old Vercel URL were updated across the codebase:

src/app/layout.tsx - OpenGraph URLs, canonical links, JSON-LD schema
src/app/sitemap.ts - BASE_URL constant
public/robots.txt - Sitemap URL
docs/FUTURE_FEATURES.md - OAuth callback URLs
README.md - Live demo links

Accessibility Improvements

Filter Tooltips

Added title and aria-label attributes to all filter buttons on the Explore page. This improves accessibility for:

Screen reader users - Clear labels describe each filter option
Mobile users - Long-press reveals tooltip text
Keyboard navigators - Better context when tabbing through filters

tsx

&lt;button
  onClick={() =&gt; updateFilter(&#039;source&#039;, source.value)}
  aria-pressed={currentSource === source.value}
  aria-label={source.label}
  title={source.label}
&gt;
  {source.icon}
  &lt;span className="hidden sm:inline"&gt;{source.label}&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/button&gt;

Filter groups updated:

Telescope sources - JWST, Hubble, ASKAP, MWA, Parkes
Object categories - Galaxies, Nebulae, Stars, etc.
Wavelength bands - Radio, Infrared, Visible, UV, X-ray

Community Features

Ko-fi Support Integration

Added a Ko-fi donation link to the footer, allowing supporters to contribute to the project's development:

tsx

&lt;a
  href="https:class="code-comment">//ko-fi.com/nikhilsundriya"
  target="_blank"
  rel="noopener noreferrer"
  aria-label="Support on Ko-fi"
&gt;
  &lt;Heart className="w-5 h-5" /&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;

"Available for Hire" Badge

Added a professional hire badge to the footer for potential collaboration opportunities:

tsx

&lt;a href="https:class="code-comment">//github.com/nikhilsundriya" className="..."&gt;
  &lt;Briefcase className="w-3.5 h-3.5" /&gt;
  &lt;span&gt;Available class="code-keyword">for hire&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;

SEO & Metadata Updates

With the new domain, all SEO-related metadata was updated:

JSON-LD Schema

json

{
  "@context": "https:class="code-comment">//schema.org",
  "@class="code-keyword">type": "WebSite",
  "name": "NebulaX",
  "url": "https:class="code-comment">//nebulax-collective.com.au",
  "potentialAction": {
    "@class="code-keyword">type": "SearchAction",
    "target": "https:class="code-comment">//nebulax-collective.com.au/explore?search={search_term_string}"
  }
}

robots.txt

Updated sitemap reference:

Sitemap: https://nebulax-collective.com.au/sitemap.xml

Observation Expansion - 3x More Content

Later in the day, we tripled the observation catalogue from ~25 to ~75 astronomical objects:

New JWST Observations (+6)

| Target | Type | Description | |--------|------|-------------| | Phantom Galaxy (M74) | Galaxy | Face-on spiral showing intricate dust lanes | | Neptune | Planet | Ice giant with rings and moons | | Uranus | Planet | Tilted ice giant with ring system | | Saturn | Planet | Ring system in infrared detail | | Mars | Planet | Detailed surface features | | Rho Ophiuchi | Nebula | Closest star-forming region to Earth |

New Hubble Observations (+11)

| Target | Type | Highlights | |--------|------|------------| | Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Galaxy | Our nearest major galactic neighbour | | Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) | Galaxy | Classic spiral interacting with companion | | Antennae Galaxies | Galaxy | Spectacular merger in progress | | Eagle Nebula | Nebula | Home of the Pillars of Creation | | Lagoon Nebula | Nebula | Giant stellar nursery | | Bubble Nebula | Nebula | Stellar wind-blown cavity | | Westerlund 2 | Star Cluster | Massive young star cluster | | Veil Nebula | Supernova Remnant | Ancient supernova debris | | Centaurus A | Galaxy | Nearest giant elliptical galaxy | | Cigar Galaxy (M82) | Galaxy | Starburst with galactic superwind | | Cosmic Reef (NGC 2014) | Nebula | 30 Doradus region in LMC |

New Radio Telescope Observations (+20)

ASKAP (+5):

Fornax Galaxy Cluster, Centaurus A Radio Lobes, Small Magellanic Cloud Survey, Galactic Center Survey, Sculptor Galaxy

Parkes (+5):

Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS), Vela Pulsar, Crab Pulsar, Double Pulsar System, Repeating Fast Radio Burst

MWA (+4):

Ionospheric Studies, Meteor Radar Detection, Low-Frequency Pulsar Survey, Cygnus A

ATCA (+5):

Supernova 1987A, GRB Afterglow Detection, HL Tauri Protoplanetary Disk, NGC 4945 Starburst, Circinus Galaxy

Performance Note

No significant performance impact expected because:

Images use loading="lazy" for deferred loading
Data is bundled at build time (static generation)
Client-side filtering operates on small in-memory dataset
Pagination via "Load More" button limits initial render

What's Next

Implement user authentication for personalised features
Add more citizen science classification projects
Performance optimisations for the gallery
Real-time data integration improvements

The custom domain establishes NebulaX as a permanent home for exploring the universe through Australian and international telescope data.

December 2025: Custom Domain, 75 Observations & Community Features