A solar system simulation in the browser
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I didn't realize Universe Sandbox ran on MacOS, and I was in the mood to play around a bit.Some functions it's got: - Random system generation - Sonification is super fun too - Habitability Simulation (Just for fun, don't cite this please) - Replacing, spawning, deleting objectsI've had tons of fun building this, so I hope someone else can share the joy. It's free and runs in the browser.I'd love to hear any feedback. I think this is at a state where I might leave it as it is, but if people are interested in other features, maybe I'll keep working on it. I've kept saying I'll stop working on this for a while now though.
HN · launched Dec 29, 2025 · 13 upvotes (top 43%) · 0 views
Niche: interactive 3d web simulations · 157 launches, 9 in the last 7 days ▼ -47% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Content generation
- B2C
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 157 launches in interactive 3d web simulations →
Could you build this?
Partial While basic 3D canvas visuals are vibe-codeable, building a physically accurate N-body gravity simulator with real-time orbital mechanics, relativistic effects, and atmospheric Rayleigh scattering requires specialized physics and computer graphics math.
What it would actually take: The architecture requires WebGL/WebGPU or Three.js paired with numerical integrators (like Runge-Kutta or Verlet) optimized in WebAssembly or compute shaders to handle N-body gravitational calculations without frame drops. Custom GLSL shaders are needed for accurate atmospheric Rayleigh and Mie light scattering. Building this demands deep knowledge of orbital mechanics, numerical astrophysics, and shader math.
Discussion
4 comments analyzed.
Concerns raised: Life probability calculations appear inaccurate (Venus showing higher probability than Mars), Simulations are rudimentary and need more rigorous astrobiology backing, Planet rotations are incorrect (Jupiter rotating on its side)
Feature requests: Custom artwork for planets instead of generic textures, More conservative phrasing for default solar system numbers
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 551 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #255 of 552 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 61 days after the earliest competitor.
- farseer.space · hn · 2026-09-15 · 11 upvotes · similarity 0.63
- My Degenerate Craps Simulator · hn · 2026-02-21 · 6 upvotes · similarity 0.60
- A self-running space economy SIM in Rust and Bevy · hn · 2026-07-21 · 110 upvotes · similarity 0.59
- Our space game has a built-in RISC-V emulator that runs Linux · hn · 2026-10-02 · 94 upvotes · similarity 0.58
- Gravity · hn · 2026-06-09 · 217 upvotes · similarity 0.57
- A browser game where you navigate home to Earth using pulsars · hn · 2026-11-01 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.56
- Replicant Space · hn · 2026-07-29 · 11 upvotes · similarity 0.54
- Alien Abducto-rama: a FUN browser game I made with my kids · hn · 2026-01-24 · 6 upvotes · similarity 0.54
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