AstroLab

A study tool for astronomy and physics built for the terminal. No heavy web interfaces, just real NASA data and AI-generated quizzes to help you study between lectures.

I built this because reading blocks of theoretical physics gets boring fast. With AstroLab, I pull the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) and let Gemini AI create interactive, university-level quizzes and flashcards out of it.

See it in action

The Tech & Why

• Python + Rich: I love CLI tools. Rich makes the terminal look great without a browser.
• NASA API: Real-world data is better than textbook examples.
• Gemini 2.5 Flash: Fast enough to generate quizzes and deep dives on the fly.
• Offline / Smart Demo Mode: I coded a fallback caching system. If you don't have API keys or internet, the app won't crash. It serves pre-generated, high-quality offline quizzes. I know what it's like to have your code break during a review because of missing .env files, so I fixed that friction.

Try it out

I packaged this up so anyone can run it instantly:

pip install astrolab-cli

Then, just run:

astrolab

Track Your Progress & Deep Dive

I didn't just want to answer questions; I wanted to see if I was improving. The app features local persistence with a stats tracker.

If you get a quiz question wrong, AstroLab doesn't just give you the answer. It asks if you want a "Deep Dive", where it acts like a physics professor and explains the exact concept you missed using everyday analogies right in the terminal.

Built for the Hack Club Sidequest Challenger.