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Retrieve NASA's Astronomy Photo of the Day (APOD)

Note: This is an original writing sample based on the public NASA API. All content was independently written and structured to reflect professional API documentation standards.

Endpoint:

GET https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod

Description:

Returns NASA’s Astronomy Photo of the Day (APOD) and accompanying metadata.

Authentication:

The DEMO_KEY is provided by NASA for public testing. However, an API key is provided for free to public users.

Required Query Parameters:

Name Type Description
api_key string Your NASA API key. Alternatively, use DEMO_KEY for public access


Optional Query Parameters

Name Type Description
date string Retrieve the APOD for a specific date (YYYY-MM-DD)
hd boolean Return high‑resolution image URL if available (true/false)
thumbs boolean Return thumbnail if the media is a video (true/false)


Request Headers

Header Required Description Example
Accept No Desired response format (usually JSON) application/json
User-Agent No Client identifier (optional) MyApp/1.0


Important Response Headers

Header Description Example Value
Content-Type Format of the response application/json
X-RateLimit-Remaining Remaining API calls in quota (if present) 45
Cache-Control Caching policy public, max-age=30


Example Response:

{
  "date": "2025-06-24",
  "explanation": "Is there a spiral galaxy in the center of this spiral galaxy…",
  "hdurl": "https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2506/M61_HubbleEsoGendler_2753.jpg",
  "media_type": "image",
  "service_version": "v1",
  "title": "In the Center of Spiral Galaxy M61",
  "url": "https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2506/M61_HubbleEsoGendler_960.jpg"
}


Response Fields

Field Type Description
copyright string Returns the owner of the copyright
date string Date of the content (YYYY‑MM‑DD)
explanation string Detailed description of the media
media_type string Indicates image or video
title string Title of the APOD
url string URL of the standard‑resolution media
hdurl string URL to the high‑resolution version (if available)


Possible Errors

Code Message Cause
400 INVALID_DATE Malformed or out‑of‑range date.
403 API_KEY_INVALID Missing, expired, or mistyped API key.
429 RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED Exceeded the DEMO_KEY usage quota.


Notes

  • The DEMO_KEY is rate-limited to 30 requests/hour and 50 requests/day
  • This endpoint supports educational and demo use. For higher limits, get a free API key at api.nasa.gov
  • When using thumbs=true, a thumbnail URL will be provided for video content