3D Milky Way Explorer

An interactive 3D journey through the Milky Way — explore star systems, dive into planetary systems, and navigate celestial bodies in real time.

🌐 Live Demo: Try it on Vercel

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🌌 About the Project

3D Milky Way Explorer is a real-time, fully interactive 3D visualization of the Milky Way and multiple featured destinations — from familiar planetary neighborhoods to iconic nearby stars and deep-space highlights.

Unlike static space visualizations, this project lets you:

• Navigate freely inside the Milky Way
• Warp into star systems with smooth transitions
• Explore planetary systems down to moons, rings, and belts
• Inspect special deep-space objects (e.g., a supermassive black hole region)
• Interact with spacecraft and satellites rendered as 3D models

Built with a state-driven navigation architecture, the experience remains smooth while switching between galaxy → system → focused exploration modes.

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🚀 Key Features

• 🌌 Procedural Milky Way Galaxy

  • Instanced star field + optimized rendering
  • Label-driven destinations & clean UI navigation

• ⭐ Multiple Star Systems & Destinations

  • Solar System
  • Sirius A / B (binary system)
  • Alpha Centauri (triple system)
  • Vega
  • Capella
  • Castor
  • Antares
  • Naos
  • Betelgeuse
  • Kepler-22
  • Sagittarius A* (supermassive black hole region)

• 🪐 Fully Modeled Planetary Exploration

  • Planets, dwarf planets, and moons
  • Asteroid Belt & Kuiper Belt
  • Context-aware focus views (planet → moon → belt)

• 🛰️ Spacecraft & Orbital Assets (3D Models)

  • Probes & missions (e.g., Voyager, New Horizons)
  • Space telescopes (e.g., Hubble)
  • Human-made orbital structures (e.g., ISS)
  • Interactive placement within the scene for cinematic exploration

• 🕳️ Black Hole Experience

  • Dedicated Sagittarius A* destination
  • Focus-friendly visuals + deep-space ambiance
  • Designed to feel distinct from star/planet systems

• 🎥 Advanced Camera & Navigation Controls

  • Warp-in / warp-out transitions
  • Focus & reset per destination
  • Smooth “return to galaxy” scaling

• 🧭 UI + 3D Scene Synchronization

  • Click directly in the 3D scene
  • Or use the left info panel destinations

• ✨ Dynamic Labels

  • Distance-aware scaling
  • Context-sensitive visibility to reduce clutter

• ⚡ High Performance Rendering

  • Instancing + optimized geometries
  • Smart visibility management for heavy scenes

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🧭 Navigation Experience

1. Galaxy View

   • Free navigation across the Milky Way
   • Select a destination (star systems, deep space objects, exoplanet system)

2. Warp Transition

   • Smooth animated entry into the selected region

3. Focused Exploration

   • Inner systems: planets, moons, belts
   • Stellar systems: highlight stars / components
   • Deep-space: special objects (e.g., Sagittarius A*)

4. Return to Galaxy

   • Cinematic exit with spatial scaling

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🛠 Tech Stack

• React
• React Three Fiber
• Three.js
• @react-three/drei
• WebGL
• Vite
• Tailwind CSS

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💻 Running Locally

npm install
npm run dev

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📸 Previews

Milky Way — Galaxy overview	Sirius System — Inner system view
Sirius A — Focus view	Sirius B — Focus view
Alpha Centauri — Inner system view	Rigil Kentaurus (Alpha Centauri A) — Focus view
Proxima Centauri — Focus view	Solar System — Sun distant view
Sagittarius A* — Supermassive black hole region focus	Kepler-22 — Exoplanet system destination view
Voyager Probe — Detailed 3D model exploration	International Space Station (ISS) — Orbital 3D model view
Mercury — Planet focus view	Venus — Planet focus view
Earth — Planet focus view	Mars — Planet focus view
Jupiter — Planet focus view	Saturn — Planet focus view
Uranus — Planet focus view	Neptune — Planet focus view
Pluto — Dwarf planet focus	Haumea — Dwarf planet focus
Makemake — Dwarf planet focus	Eris — Dwarf planet focus
Asteroid Belt — Inner belt focus	Kuiper Belt — Outer belt focus