Roadmap

Last reviewed: 15 September 2026.

This page is the canonical public roadmap for Universe Map. It describes outcomes and evidence gates rather than promising release dates. Scientific accuracy, readable navigation, stable frame time, and a fully static browser architecture remain constraints for every item.

Render atlas

Updated 7 October 2026. Project inventory, not an exhaustive list of known nebulae.

Open the backlog of 189 objects and proposed additions.

Target 100 nebulae: complete selection and batches.

Nebulae · Galaxies · Stars and clusters · Black holes · Solar System

The workflow is To design → In progress → Awaiting review → Visually approved. “Implemented — review to confirm” does not claim individual aesthetic approval. Passing a GPU test is not visual approval. Explicit approvals are recorded for the Crescent and Elephant’s Trunk. Update this inventory after every addition or visual revision.

Performance: audit all nebulae after the visual pass. Individual tests do not close this comparative audit. Global browser-suite failures must be classified separately before release.

Nebulae and Crab

44 dedicated renderings: 43 nebula catalogue objects plus the Crab supernova remnant. Auriga field: shared sky orientation and differentiated visual proportions based on the user's panorama. IC 405 and IC 417 have diffuse extensions, IC 410 a cyan core, and NGC 1931 stays compact. Scientific centres and distances are unchanged; the visual grouping is a projection, not a shared physical complex. The composition still needs visual approval.

NGC 3576: volumetric rework awaiting review. The photographic prototype was visually rejected and removed. Gas filaments, absorbing dust volumes and illustrative stars are separated in XYZ; no photograph is loaded into the scene. Depth is invented, not an observed tomography. Silhouette pass: asymmetric open arcs, filaments following their curvature and the blue channel, tapered branched pillars and illuminated dust edges. The baseline received positive feedback; a new pass of finer, irregular, less cotton-like filaments still needs visual approval. Step budgets remain unchanged (48/80/128).

First filament-detail pass across all 44 existing profiles, including the Crab. Emission detail now follows cloud, shell, elongated-front and reflection morphology, with profile-specific direction and strength. NGC 3576 retains its dedicated treatment. Procedural modulation changes neither coordinates, palettes, dust extinction nor existing cavities. It does not individually reconstruct older profiles' depth: that morphological rework and per-object aesthetic approval remain open. Integration steps and resolution are unchanged; this does not guarantee unchanged GPU cost. First individual refinement after this baseline: Orion (front folds and bright bar, less uniform core), M57 (curved shell filaments, fainter interior) and Veil (filaments following all three fronts, undulating depth). Illustrative treatments, unchanged coordinates; aesthetic approval remains open. All three profiles pass GPU checks from both faces and an oblique angle. Second individual refinement: Butterfly (fanning lobe filaments), NGC 1999 (reflection folds around the preserved cavity) and NGC 1333 (elongated streamers following the dust lane). Silhouettes, palettes and positions are preserved; aesthetic approval remains open. GPU checks now wait for the visual fade independently of camera settling: premature Crab captures could measure an almost transparent volume. Visibility thresholds were not lowered; that test fix did not modify the Crab rendering. Third individual refinement: Heart (filaments following both lobes and their cleft), Soul (open lower front and filamentary left wall), Rosette (curved filaments in the irregular crown). Cavities, pillars, secondary knots, palettes and coordinates are preserved; depth and detail remain illustrative. Aesthetic review remains open. Fourth individual refinement: Helix (broader, depth-coherent radial trails), Crescent (curved web on the perforated shell) and Bubble (shell filaments and directed golden front). Positions and palettes are preserved without increasing integration steps. Half-resolution versus native-render test thresholds are unchanged; aesthetic review remains open. Fifth refinement, split by family: the remaining 31 profiles now have individually oriented detail. Clouds and dust: Eagle, Horsehead, Elephant Trunk, Cone, Monkey Head, Flame, NGC 1788, Pacman, Lagoon and Trifid. Shells and fronts: NGC 3199, Pencil, NGC 2467, Thor's Helmet, Jellyfish, Sharpless 249, Tarantula, Carina, Omega and Dumbbell. Wide fields and reflection: Flaming Star, Tadpole, Spider, Fly, IC 59, IC 63, Cat's Eye, Pelican, North America and California. The Crab receives curved shell strands. All 44 profiles therefore have an individual refinement implemented, without extra integration steps or object relocation. Implementation is distinct from artistic approval: final visual review and comparative performance auditing remain open. Depth stays illustrative. Jellyfish/Tadpole finishing pass: the Jellyfish lower shock front opens into more visible trails, with broader, less fragmented filaments; continuous folds replace isolated grain in the Tadpole cyan core while preserving both absorbing pillars. Comparisons use identical framing in each object's own sky plane: scene-Z views showed them almost edge-on. GPU checks now include these two front views without changing positions, celestial orientations, palettes or step budgets. These illustrative refinements still need visual approval. The plan stays at 42/100: this is a visual rework, not a new object.

All objects use procedural gas volumes; depth, orientation, adaptive size and palette are illustrative. Source links document the objects, not necessarily the exact user-supplied artistic references. Those images still need durable, attributed archival; temporary clipboard paths are not publishable references. Names below follow the catalogue.

Object / open map	Visual status	Documentary source
NGC 1999	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Flame · NGC 2024	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
NGC 2174	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
NGC 2264	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
NGC 2359	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
NGC 3576	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
NGC 3199	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Crayon · NGC 2736	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
NGC 2467	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
NGC 1788	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
NGC 1333	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Pacman · NGC 281	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Sharpless 249	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Jellyfish Nebula · IC 443	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de l’Étoile flamboyante	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse des Têtards	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de l’Araignée	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de la Mouche	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
IC 59	Implemented — review to confirm	User reference; data
IC 63	Implemented — review to confirm	User reference; data
Dumbbell Nebula · M27	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Cat’s Eye Nebula · NGC 6543	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Tarantula Nebula · NGC 2070	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Pelican Nebula · IC 5070	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
North America Nebula · NGC 7000	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
California Nebula · NGC 1499	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Soul Nebula · IC 1848	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Heart Nebula · IC 1805	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de la Bulle	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse du Croissant	Visually approved	Source
Nébuleuse de la Trompe d’Éléphant	Visually approved	Source
Nébuleuse du Papillon	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de l’Hélice	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Dentelles du Cygne	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de la Tête de Cheval	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de l’Aigle	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse d’Orion	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de la Lyre	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de la Rosette	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de la Lagune	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse Trifide	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse de la Carène	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse Oméga	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Nébuleuse du Crabe	Implemented — review to confirm	Source

Bubble: revised complete shell and golden front; aesthetic approval pending.

Pacman: aesthetic rework in progress, not approved. Depth-coherent filaments adapted from the Crescent profile; shape and dust still need comparison against the user's DSS reference.

Next candidates — to design, non-exhaustive: NGC 3582. It needs a reference, sourced coordinates and distance, a dedicated profile, multi-angle review and inclusion in the performance audit.

The large cloud beside IC 443 is Sharpless 249 (LBN 841), distinct from the SIMBAD IC 444 entry. Both volumes share a sky orientation and remain visible together without merging their centres or distances. Sh2-249 uses an indicative 1.6 ± 0.5 kpc distance (Wolleben 2005, table 7.1).

Galaxies

Object or family	Existing rendering	Follow-up
Milky Way	Procedural stars, arms, bar and dust	Consolidated visual review
Andromeda, Triangulum	Calibrated volumetric portraits	Visually accepted; limits below
Large and Small Magellanic Cloud	Calibrated volumetric portraits	Visually accepted; limits below
Other catalogue galaxies	Shared families, not bespoke designs	Individual inventory pending

Catalogue centres are distinct from illustrative internal populations, colours and structures. Global benchmarks are not aesthetic approval of each galaxy.

Stars and clusters

Family	Existing rendering	Follow-up
Sun and resolved stars	Shared stellar materials	Per-target aesthetic review
HYG and Gaia	Batched catalogues, not one Three.js object per source	Colour, readability, picking and angular stability
Clusters	Shared batched rendering	Identify candidates for dedicated profiles

Catalogue membership does not imply bespoke design. Gaia aggregates are not individual observed clusters.

Black holes

Object / open map	Visual status	Documentary source
Sagittarius A*	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Cygnus X-1	Implemented — review to confirm	Source
Gaia BH1	Implemented — review to confirm	Source

Shared illustrative rendering, not a photograph or full relativistic calculation. Per-target visual and performance reviews remain to be recorded.

Solar System

Family	Existing rendering	Follow-up
Earth, Moon, planets	Surfaces, lighting and body-dependent textures	Record individual visual approval
Satellites	Shared map and planetarium representations	Near/far readability
Dwarf planets, asteroids and comets	Data-dependent representations	Bespoke silhouettes only with justified sources

Calculated/extrapolated positions remain separate from adaptive sizes and appearances. Other catalogue remnants (SN 1006, Tycho, Kepler, Cassiopeia A, SN 1987A) still need a review of shared rendering and potential dedicated profiles.

Target: 100 nebulae and remnants

42 implemented + 58 to design = 100 planned renderings, in ten batches of ten.

NGC 1931 and Sharpless 249 are also implemented outside this 100-object selection, without removing a candidate. Implementation is not aesthetic approval: the review statuses above still apply. Collection milestones: 30 → 60 → 100. Audit current renderings after the ongoing visual pass, without waiting for 100; extend that performance audit to each new batch.

Candidate identifiers were checked against OpenNGC. This editorial selection remains revisable. Before implementation, check aliases and complex boundaries, select an attributed image, source position and distance, then review multiple angles. Do not count aliases or separate portions of one object as separate designs. Cluster-associated entries refer to their nebulous component and require a scope check. This list does not add objects to the application catalogue.

The versioned nebula-plan.json register defines the 100 entries; tests check totals, batches, duplicate identifiers and inclusion of existing dedicated renderings.

Batch 1 · 1–10

#	Object	Implementation status
1	Nébuleuse de la Bulle · bubble-nebula	Implemented
2	Nébuleuse du Croissant · crescent-nebula	Implemented
3	Nébuleuse de la Trompe d’Éléphant · elephant-trunk-nebula	Implemented
4	Nébuleuse du Papillon · butterfly-nebula	Implemented
5	Nébuleuse de l’Hélice · helix-nebula	Implemented
6	Dentelles du Cygne · veil-nebula	Implemented
7	Nébuleuse de la Tête de Cheval · horsehead-nebula	Implemented
8	Nébuleuse de l’Aigle · eagle-nebula	Implemented
9	Nébuleuse d’Orion · orion-nebula	Implemented
10	Nébuleuse de la Lyre · ring-nebula	Implemented

Batch 2 · 11–20

#	Object	Implementation status
11	Nébuleuse de la Rosette · rosette-nebula	Implemented
12	Nébuleuse de la Lagune · lagoon-nebula	Implemented
13	Nébuleuse Trifide · trifid-nebula	Implemented
14	Nébuleuse de la Carène · carina-nebula	Implemented
15	Nébuleuse Oméga · omega-nebula	Implemented
16	Nébuleuse du Crabe · crab-nebula	Implemented
17	Heart Nebula · heart-nebula	Implemented — review pending
18	Soul Nebula · soul-nebula	Implemented — review pending
19	California Nebula · california-nebula	Implemented — review pending
20	North America Nebula · north-america-nebula	Implemented — review pending

Batch 3 · 21–30

#	Object	Implementation status
21	Pelican Nebula · pelican-nebula	Implemented — review pending
22	Tarantula Nebula · tarantula-nebula	Implemented — review pending
23	Cat’s Eye Nebula · cats-eye-nebula	Implemented — review pending
24	Dumbbell Nebula · dumbbell-nebula	Implemented — review pending
25	IC 59 · ic59-nebula	Implemented — review pending
26	IC 63 · ic63-nebula	Implemented — review pending
27	Nébuleuse de l’Étoile flamboyante · flaming-star-nebula	Implemented — review pending
28	Nébuleuse des Têtards · tadpole-nebula	Implemented — review pending
29	Nébuleuse de l’Araignée · spider-nebula	Implemented — review pending
30	Jellyfish Nebula · jellyfish-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm

Batch 4 · 31–40

#	Object	Implementation status
31	Pacman · pacman-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
32	NGC 1333 · ngc1333-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
33	NGC 1788 · ngc1788-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
34	NGC 1999 · ngc1999-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
35	NGC 2024 · flame-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
36	NGC 2174 · monkey-head-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
37	NGC 2264 · cone-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
38	NGC 2359 · thor-helmet-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
39	NGC 2467 · ngc2467-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
40	NGC 2736 · pencil-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm

Batch 5 · 41–50

#	Object	Implementation status
41	NGC 3199 · ngc3199-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
42	NGC 3576 · ngc3576-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm
43	NGC 3582 · NGC3582	To design — reference pending
44	NGC 3603 · NGC3603	To design — reference pending
45	NGC 6188 · NGC6188	To design — reference pending
46	NGC 6357 · NGC6357	To design — reference pending
47	NGC 6559 · NGC6559	To design — reference pending
48	NGC 6729 · NGC6729	To design — reference pending
49	NGC 7023 · NGC7023	To design — reference pending
50	NGC 7129 · NGC7129	To design — reference pending

Batch 6 · 51–60

#	Object	Implementation status
51	NGC 7538 · NGC7538	To design — reference pending
52	NGC 1579 · NGC1579	To design — reference pending
53	NGC 2068 · NGC2068	To design — reference pending
54	NGC 2392 · NGC2392	To design — reference pending
55	NGC 3242 · NGC3242	To design — reference pending
56	NGC 7009 · NGC7009	To design — reference pending
57	NGC 7662 · NGC7662	To design — reference pending
58	NGC 6826 · NGC6826	To design — reference pending
59	NGC 246 · NGC0246	To design — reference pending
60	NGC 650 · NGC0650	To design — reference pending

Batch 7 · 61–70

#	Object	Implementation status
61	NGC 1360 · NGC1360	To design — reference pending
62	NGC 1514 · NGC1514	To design — reference pending
63	NGC 1535 · NGC1535	To design — reference pending
64	NGC 2022 · NGC2022	To design — reference pending
65	NGC 2346 · NGC2346	To design — reference pending
66	NGC 2371 · NGC2371	To design — reference pending
67	NGC 2438 · NGC2438	To design — reference pending
68	NGC 2440 · NGC2440	To design — reference pending
69	NGC 2818 · NGC2818	To design — reference pending
70	NGC 2867 · NGC2867	To design — reference pending

Batch 8 · 71–80

#	Object	Implementation status
71	NGC 2899 · NGC2899	To design — reference pending
72	NGC 3132 · NGC3132	To design — reference pending
73	NGC 3918 · NGC3918	To design — reference pending
74	NGC 5189 · NGC5189	To design — reference pending
75	NGC 5307 · NGC5307	To design — reference pending
76	NGC 5882 · NGC5882	To design — reference pending
77	NGC 6153 · NGC6153	To design — reference pending
78	NGC 6210 · NGC6210	To design — reference pending
79	NGC 6309 · NGC6309	To design — reference pending
80	NGC 6369 · NGC6369	To design — reference pending

Batch 9 · 81–90

#	Object	Implementation status
81	NGC 6445 · NGC6445	To design — reference pending
82	NGC 6537 · NGC6537	To design — reference pending
83	NGC 6563 · NGC6563	To design — reference pending
84	NGC 6565 · NGC6565	To design — reference pending
85	NGC 6572 · NGC6572	To design — reference pending
86	NGC 6751 · NGC6751	To design — reference pending
87	NGC 6781 · NGC6781	To design — reference pending
88	NGC 6804 · NGC6804	To design — reference pending
89	NGC 6818 · NGC6818	To design — reference pending
90	NGC 6891 · NGC6891	To design — reference pending

Batch 10 · 91–100

#	Object	Implementation status
91	NGC 6905 · NGC6905	To design — reference pending
92	NGC 7026 · NGC7026	To design — reference pending
93	NGC 7027 · NGC7027	To design — reference pending
94	NGC 7354 · NGC7354	To design — reference pending
95	IC 418 · IC0418	To design — reference pending
96	IC 1295 · IC1295	To design — reference pending
97	IC 2149 · IC2149	To design — reference pending
98	IC 2165 · IC2165	To design — reference pending
99	IC 3568 · IC3568	To design — reference pending
100	IC 4593 · IC4593	To design — reference pending

Detailed object backlog

189 named objects inventoried. Scope: every object in the nine direct JSON manifest catalogues and the five editorial nearby-universe tiles, deduplicated by identifier. Large imported catalogues (HYG, Gaia, NASA, galaxy catalog/ tiles, Cosmicflows, Tempel and binary structures) are tracked by pipeline, not as bespoke designs per source. This backlog is complete within that scope, not for every possible astronomical object.

Rows describe existing rendering and the next action, not a request to remake every object. Individual review remains to be recorded unless approval is stated. Missing artistic references must be selected; shared renderings are not labelled bespoke. Links open the public map; unpublished local changes may not appear there.

Open clusters (4)

Object	Existing	To review
Amas NGC 1893 · ngc-1893	Illustrative batched points	Members not catalogued; appearance and performance
Amas NGC 1907 · ngc-1907	Illustrative batched points	Members not catalogued; appearance and performance
Amas M38 · m38	Illustrative batched points	Members not catalogued; appearance and performance
Amas M36 · m36	Illustrative batched points	Members not catalogued; appearance and performance

Nebulae and remnants (49)

Object	Existing	Remaining work
SN 1006 · sn-1006	Shared temporal rendering and layers	Choose a reference; assess a dedicated gas profile; review phases and performance
Nébuleuse du Crabe · crab-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Supernova de Tycho · tycho-supernova	Shared temporal rendering and layers	Choose a reference; assess a dedicated gas profile; review phases and performance
Supernova de Kepler · kepler-supernova	Shared temporal rendering and layers	Choose a reference; assess a dedicated gas profile; review phases and performance
Cassiopée A · cassiopeia-a	Existing multi-scale representation	Review transitions, scientific limits, readability and frame time
SN 1987A · sn-1987a	Shared temporal rendering and layers	Choose a reference; assess a dedicated gas profile; review phases and performance
NGC 1999 · ngc1999-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Cavity and reflection; review and performance
Flame · NGC 2024 · flame-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Golden filaments and branching dust; review and performance
NGC 2174 · monkey-head-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Interpreted Hubble detail, not the entire nebula; review and performance
NGC 2264 · cone-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Cone, pink emission and blue reflection; review and performance
NGC 2359 · thor-helmet-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Blue shell, wings and filaments; review and performance
NGC 3576 · ngc3576-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Golden arcs and dark pillars; illustrative depth; review and performance
NGC 3199 · ngc3199-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Pale crown and copper filaments; illustrative depth; review and performance
Crayon · NGC 2736 · pencil-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Turquoise filaments; illustrative depth; review and performance
NGC 2467 · ngc2467-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Coloured lobes and dust; conflicting indicative distances; review and performance
NGC 1788 · ngc1788-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Reflection core and red curtain; review and performance
NGC 1333 · ngc1333-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Blue reflection, dust and shocks; review and performance
Pacman · pacman-nebula	Implemented — review to confirm	Review / performances
Sharpless 249 · sharpless249-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	IC 443 projected neighbour, distance 1.6 ± 0.5 kpc; review and performance
IC 443 · jellyfish-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de l’Étoile flamboyante · flaming-star-nebula	Dedicated profile	Visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse des Têtards · tadpole-nebula	Dedicated profile	Visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de l’Araignée · spider-nebula	Dedicated profile	Visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de la Mouche · fly-nebula	Dedicated profile	Visual review + performance audit
IC 59 · ic59-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
IC 63 · ic63-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Dumbbell Nebula · dumbbell-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Cat’s Eye Nebula · cats-eye-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Tarantula Nebula · tarantula-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Pelican Nebula · pelican-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
North America Nebula · north-america-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
California Nebula · california-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Soul Nebula · soul-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Heart Nebula · heart-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de la Bulle · bubble-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse du Croissant · crescent-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Visual approved; performance audit pending
Nébuleuse de la Trompe d’Éléphant · elephant-trunk-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Visual approved; performance audit pending
Nébuleuse du Papillon · butterfly-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de l’Hélice · helix-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Dentelles du Cygne · veil-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de la Tête de Cheval · horsehead-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de l’Aigle · eagle-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse d’Orion · orion-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de la Lyre · ring-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de la Rosette · rosette-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de la Lagune · lagoon-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse Trifide · trifid-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse de la Carène · carina-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit
Nébuleuse Oméga · omega-nebula	Dedicated gas profile	Individual visual review + performance audit

Galaxies (59)

Object	Existing	Remaining work
Voie lactée · milky-way	Dedicated galactic cloud	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Andromède · andromeda	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
M100 · 2mrs-pgc-40153	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually retained locally; depths and individual stars illustrative
NGC 1300 · 2mrs-pgc-12412	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually retained locally; depths and individual stars illustrative
M32 · m32	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
NGC 205 · ngc-205	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
NGC 147 · ngc-147	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
NGC 185 · ngc-185	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie du Triangle · triangulum	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
IC 10 · ic-10	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Grand Nuage de Magellan · large-magellanic-cloud	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
Petit Nuage de Magellan · small-magellanic-cloud	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
IC 1613 · ic-1613	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie de Barnard · ngc-6822	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte · wolf-lundmark-melotte	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine du Sagittaire · sagittarius-dwarf-spheroidal	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine du Fourneau · fornax-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Leo I · leo-i	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Andromède VII · andromeda-vii	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Andromède II · andromeda-ii	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Andromède I · andromeda-i	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine de Pégase · pegasus-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Leo A · leo-a	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
UGC 4879 · ugc-4879	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine de la Baleine · cetus-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine irrégulière du Sagittaire · sagittarius-dwarf-irregular	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine du Verseau · aquarius-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine du Phénix · phoenix-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine du Sculpteur · sculptor-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
LGS 3 · lgs-3	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine du Toucan · tucana-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine du Dragon · draco-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie naine de la Petite Ourse · ursa-minor-dwarf	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Leo T · leo-t	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
NGC 4244 · ngc-4244	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
M106 · m106	Calibrated portrait candidate	Local visual review pending; outer detail softer, central line coverage partial
NGC 4449 · ngc-4449	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
M94 · m94	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie du Moulinet · pinwheel-galaxy	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
Galaxie du Tourbillon · whirlpool-galaxy	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
NGC 5195 · ngc-5195	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Sombrero Galaxy · M104 · lv-ngc4594	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
NGC 4945 · ngc-4945	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
NGC 5102 · ngc-5102	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Centaurus A · centaurus-a	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
M83 · southern-pinwheel	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted locally; release pending; depths and individual stars illustrative
NGC 2403 · ngc-2403	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie de Bode · bodes-galaxy	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
Galaxie du Cigare · cigar-galaxy	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; depths and individual stars illustrative
NGC 3077 · ngc-3077	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
NGC 55 · ngc-55	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
NGC 300 · ngc-300	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
NGC 247 · ngc-247	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
Galaxie du Sculpteur · sculptor-galaxy	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
M49 · m49	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
M87 · virgo-a	Calibrated volumetric portrait	Visually accepted; four GPU budgets pass on the measured host
M60 · m60	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
M86 · m86	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed
M84 · m84	Shared morphology family	Compare silhouette, arms/dust and angles with a reference; decide whether a dedicated profile is needed

Stars (24)

Object	Existing	Remaining work
Soleil · sun	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Proxima du Centaure · proxima-centauri	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Alpha Centauri A · alpha-centauri-a	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Étoile de Barnard · barnards-star	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Wolf 359 · wolf-359	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Sirius · sirius	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Epsilon Eridani · epsilon-eridani	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Procyon · procyon	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Altaïr · altair	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Véga · vega	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Fomalhaut · fomalhaut	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Arcturus · arcturus	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Capella · capella	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Aldébaran · aldebaran	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Polaris · polaris	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Bételgeuse · betelgeuse	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Rigel · rigel	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Kepler-186 · kepler-186	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Kepler-22 · kepler-22	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
Kepler-452 · kepler-452	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface
TRAPPIST-1 · trappist-1	Shared stellar material	Review colour, brightness, halo and near/far transition; do not claim an observed surface

Solar System bodies (40)

Object	Existing	Remaining work
Mercure · mercury	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Vénus · venus	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Terre · earth	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Lune · moon	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Mars · mars	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Jupiter · jupiter	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Saturne · saturn	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Uranus · uranus	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Neptune · neptune	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Io · io	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Europe · europa	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Ganymède · ganymede	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Callisto · callisto	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Titan · titan	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Pluton · pluto	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Cérès · ceres	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Vesta · vesta	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Comète de Halley · halley	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Phobos · phobos	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Déimos · deimos	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Mimas · mimas	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Encelade · enceladus	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Téthys · tethys	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Dioné · dione	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Rhéa · rhea	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Japet · iapetus	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Miranda · miranda	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Ariel · ariel	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Umbriel · umbriel	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Titania · titania	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Obéron · oberon	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Triton · triton	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Charon · charon	Existing body and lighting, textures where available	Review surface, terminator, applicable silhouette/rings and detail levels; record approval
Éris · eris	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Hauméa · haumea	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Makémaké · makemake	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Pallas · pallas	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Hygie · hygiea	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
Bénou · bennu	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling
67P/Tchourioumov-Guérassimenko · 67p-churyumov-gerasimenko	Existing data-dependent representation	Audit shape, surface and applicable effects; require a source before bespoke modelling

Featured exoplanets (10)

Object	Existing	Remaining work
Kepler-186 f · kepler-186-f	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
Kepler-22 b · kepler-22-b	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
Kepler-452 b · kepler-452-b	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
TRAPPIST-1 b · trappist-1-b	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
TRAPPIST-1 c · trappist-1-c	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
TRAPPIST-1 d · trappist-1-d	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
TRAPPIST-1 e · trappist-1-e	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
TRAPPIST-1 f · trappist-1-f	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
TRAPPIST-1 g · trappist-1-g	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details
TRAPPIST-1 h · trappist-1-h	Illustrative appearance and orbit	Review differentiation and system readability; do not invent observed details

Black holes (3)

Object	Existing	Remaining work
Sagittarius A* · sagittarius-a-star	Shared activity profile: quiescent	Review activity-dependent disc/halo, readability and GPU cost; retain illustrative labels
Cygnus X-1 · cygnus-x-1	Shared activity profile: active	Review activity-dependent disc/halo, readability and GPU cost; retain illustrative labels
Gaia BH1 · gaia-bh1	Shared activity profile: dormant	Review activity-dependent disc/halo, readability and GPU cost; retain illustrative labels

Regions and large scales (3)

Object	Existing	Remaining work
Réseau cosmique · cosmic-web	Existing multi-scale representation	Review transitions, scientific limits, readability and frame time
Univers proche · nearby-universe	Existing multi-scale representation	Review transitions, scientific limits, readability and frame time
Groupe local · local-group	Existing multi-scale representation	Review transitions, scientific limits, readability and frame time

Missing objects: to design

The next candidate is part of the 58 remaining additions in the 100-object plan. They are not yet catalogued: proposals, not shipped renderings.

Candidate	Status	First action

| NGC 3582 | To design | Select reference and source data |

Remaining cross-cutting work

• Archive attributed artistic references and attach dated captures to individual reviews.
• Clusters: select the first individual targets; no exhaustive cluster inventory is claimed.
• HYG/Gaia: colour, density, picking, 360° stability and transitions; no fictional gap-filling stars.
• NASA/exoplanets: review shared appearances and readability of imported systems.
• Imported galaxies and large structures: morphology/pipeline reviews, provenance and transitions.
• After visual work: audit every nebula during zoom, rotation and target changes at multiple qualities; measure GPU cost and resources.
• Classify global test failures before technical sign-off; keep aesthetic approval separate.

How to read the roadmap

Status	Meaning
Delivered	Available in the current application and covered by automated tests
Current	The next improvements to the existing experience
Next	Work that first needs a scientific contract or physical measurements
Deferred	Useful only when new evidence, source data, or a denser catalogue exists

Delivered

• The Earth-observer planetarium provides a freely pannable 10,000-star HYG sky, modern constellations, altitude and azimuth, a 102°–2° pointer-anchored field of view, 461 URL-restorable observing places, consent-based browser geolocation rounded to three decimal degrees, and illustrative local scene contexts.
• Returning from the planetarium to the 3D map now lifts away from the observer over 2.4 seconds: the horizon fades and Earth becomes the pivot on the same renderer. This illustrative path preserves the initial gaze, yields immediately to input, and respects reduced-motion preferences. Ordinary map navigation is unchanged.
• Cards, search, the planner, and timeline now adapt to narrow and short-landscape screens. Cards offer summary, preview, and expanded reading states; the compact timeline expands on demand and its measured height reserves control space. Closing stays in the header, the orbit action moves beside orbital data, and the redundant orange banner is removed without losing scientific explanations in the timeline and cards.
• Two fragile wheel journeys now wait for actual inertia to settle and distinguish reaching the distance floor from a new traversal burst. Their movement and orientation assertions are unchanged; this test stabilization requires no camera-control change.
• An on-demand local observation planner ranks the visible Moon, planets, and catalogued satellites by altitude and evaluates the 48 brightest catalogue stars to propose up to eight visible stars. Selecting a suggestion opens its existing details and recentres the sky. Calculated horizon and terrain obstruction are applied when available. The active target now has a calculated 24-hour altitude curve with rise, culmination, set, USNO twilight bands, Moon interference, an explicitly illustrative best-window index, and an action that moves both shared time and camera. The curve target can be replaced from the same local catalogue without moving the current sky; only that action commits the target, shared time, and camera. A compact comparison applies the same calculation to seven consecutive nights. It automatically highlights the strongest night with a comparable illustrative index out of 100 and exposes altitude, darkness, moonlight, and terrain clearance before its direct action moves to the best instant, locally refined to five-minute resolution. Live weather, light pollution, and unsurveyed local obstacles remain outside the model.
• Every fixed catalogue location has a 360° obstruction profile calculated from the authoritative NOAA/NCEI ETOPO 2022 v1 60-arc-second surface-relief product. The compact profiles load lazily and can hide stars, the Moon, planets, and satellites behind modelled terrain; buildings, vegetation, microrelief, and custom-coordinate locations remain explicitly outside that model. Three calculated envelopes (0–30, 30–100, and 100–300 km) give the silhouette depth; colour and lighting are stylistic.
• The Moon, seven visible planets, and twenty other catalogued satellites reuse their existing Three.js objects, materials, lighting, and deferred textures in the observer view. Topocentric directions and angular diameters use physical orbital distances: Galilean positions are calculated, while the sixteen mean-J2000-element paths remain labelled extrapolated. Satellite markers appear from a 12° field of view, or immediately when targeted, to avoid overlap at wide angles; the bounded readability floor remains explicitly illustrative.
• Stellar points and the Milky Way now gain useful detail continuously under zoom instead of relying on a fixed pixel footprint. Navigation also clears stale targets and selections when their visual context disappears. During Galactic entry, the camera pivot travels continuously from the Galactic centre to the Sun while the same Galactic point cloud remains visible and the measured stellar catalogues add local detail over it without a reference-frame cut. This reversible path starts in the nearby Universe and does not launch a camera recenter at hierarchy changes. Its pivot and elevation are evaluated directly from distance: they stop with the wheel and retrace the same curve in reverse, with no catch-up that could make the stars bounce. The Gaia volume now stays compact throughout the external approach, then unfolds its reference frame from 3,600 to 2,400 units while the catalogues stay masked. After a hidden buffer, HYG, Gaia, exoplanet hosts, and constellations appear from 900 to 90 units in an already stable frame, so zoom no longer makes their stars slide. This full decade of zoom overlaps the nearby cloud passage, without changing the camera route. Galactic brightness also remains bounded across viewing inclinations.
• The structural Milky Way calibration now gives the rendered disc and the Sun the same canonical coordinate metric at every zoom level. Removing the independent ninefold enlargement restores the Sun's 8.178-kpc position to about 53% of the radius of the documented 100,000-light-year-diameter disc. Near-field dust-like grain remains, while camera distances, wheel response, picking, and catalogue placement remain unchanged. The exterior view and traversal now use the same batched galactocentric cloud, with no analytic surface, billboard, or raster image. From a distance, its point density draws an irregular spiral silhouette—two dominant and two secondary arms, branches, a bar, bulge, and dark gaps—then perspective separates those same points into stars during approach. Branched, wandering filaments concentrate more stars in the arms, leaving fainter interarm space; the core favors a denser golden bar around an ivory nucleus, evoking its old stellar population rather than black-hole emission. The density and colours remain illustrative, and the luminosity distribution favors fine stars over bright grain. The externally visible galaxy is therefore the population crossed inside, with no visual-object swap. The 280,000 rendered high-quality samples belong to the bar, arms, local spur or diffuse disc. The thick component covers all azimuths and both sides of the plane; the former camera-path corridor and separate Solar-centred sphere have been removed. There is no zoom-gated replacement population or artificial motion trail. The shader projects world-space point diameters with the actual viewport, field of view and camera depth, preserves subpixel energy, and caps resolved samples at fine dust-like grain within four-pixel raster support. Compact grains have no halos or approach-dependent exposure boost, and fade smoothly only as they pass the lens. A fixed opacity normalization preserves cloud legibility. This is an illustrative density effect, not observed dust; HYG/Gaia rendering stays unchanged. A broad illustrative luminosity distribution keeps most stars fine and a smaller number bright. Blue-white, ivory and amber stellar colours, plus sparse pink H II-like knots, are illustrative—not individually measured Gaia colours. The cloud keeps the same opacity down to 220 units and fades only between 220 and 70 units, overlapping the Gaia/HYG reveal from 900 to 90 units. Measured catalogue coordinates and camera/navigation behavior are unchanged. Ordinary planets, orbits, and their labels now appear separately from 240 to 90 units, leaving a cloud-first stage. Moon names are secondary and contextual to the selected or targeted system; direct hover and selection remain available. Universe-scale annotations no longer label the local bulge. The low-quality prefix increases to 144,000 finer-lit samples to cover the larger thick disc without adding brightness. Regression tests check the separate reveals, immutable point data, thick-disc coverage at all qualities, and the pixel footprint and energy actually rendered by the production shaders. Nearby cloud detail now uses one additional bounded point batch, with three spatial resolutions and faint unresolved density between the grains. Its density comes from the displayed galaxy, while individual grains keep fixed Galactic cell addresses. Streaming only replaces invisible cells, preserving foreground parallax, stationary views and reverse travel. This is illustrative dust-like density, not new catalogue stars. Camera motion and HYG/Gaia coordinates are unchanged. The exterior pass now adds one 16,000/32,000/64,000-point GPU batch of sparse stars around the disc according to quality, with one sixteenth arranged into 48 compact globular-like concentrations. This rounder envelope reaches about 129 kpc from the Galactic centre, stays fixed in the Galactic frame for perspective-only parallax and fades out before the Solar neighborhood. It is explicitly illustrative and uncatalogued, with no fog or diffuse emission. A separate static galactocentric pass now adds 6,000/14,000/28,000 extended galaxy impostors around the Galactic approach. Their varied elliptical, spiral, and irregular profiles form an explicitly illustrative representative sample—not a catalogue or literal galaxy count— with an analytic Galactic zone of avoidance and perspective parallax. The Cosmicflows depth bridge now uses inclined, multi-lobed unresolved group light instead of circular star-like marks. At external galaxy-view distances only, a single runtime-generated spherical shader now sits behind those galaxy silhouettes. It adds deep-indigo space, broad cobalt-violet filamentary light, near-black rifts, and unresolved elliptical galaxy grain without a raster sky or catalogue positions. Its continuous 5,800–12,000-unit fade keeps it entirely out of the Milky Way overview and interior traversal. The structural pass narrows and strengthens leading-edge and paired bar dust lanes, removes most of the diffuse thick-disc pedestal, and composites their near-black extinction after the additive stellar batch. A compact ivory nucleus inside the amber bar now remains distinct from both the dust and the surrounding arm light.
• Other galaxies also use fixed point clouds with spiral, elliptical, or irregular density, visible from multiple directions. Catalogue centres are preserved; internal points and colours remain illustrative. Selection keeps the card and interactions without drawing an oversized planetary selection ring across the cloud. Browser captures and tests cover the Milky Way, Andromeda, M87, and the Large Magellanic Cloud, including rendered pixels and spatial stability; aesthetic approval remains a separate step.
• A Gaia DR3 hierarchy turns 2,923,790 quality-filtered sources into distant calculated 512 pc aggregates and 133,526 measured-source samples for the stellar-neighborhood overview. Each refined 512 pc leaf retains its 32 brightest sources plus a deterministic uniform selection, up to 96 points. Frustum- and quality-bounded refinement fetches only visible branches, validates them in module Workers, transfers typed arrays without copying, and never creates one Three.js object per source. Refinement tests the tighter child-cell bounds even when a broad root center is off-screen, then ranks eligible roots by their visible measured-source count. High quality can refine at most 16 roots, preventing an orbit around the Sun from leaving one side of the screen represented only by coarse aggregates. Tile changes retain the outgoing detailed batch and transfer opacity from an interrupted fade, so even rapid rotations no longer cause a temporary brightness drop. A bounded faint-source curve slightly enlarges and sharpens only dim measured samples, narrowing the perceived density gap between viewing directions without adding sources, moving coordinates, or making rotations pump the global exposure. Retained Gaia samples preserve their source identifiers and are now directly selectable and focusable from their shared GPU batches; their cards expose measured G and BP−RP values plus the calculated inverse-parallax distance. They remain absent from global search and labels, and the aggregate cells remain anonymous. The sampled field is incomplete. Under zoom-out, detailed samples cross-fade into calculated roots, which remain as a restrained bridge through the Local Group while the local volume follows a logarithmic scale blend into the Milky Way disc.
• HYG J2000 Cartesian velocities now propagate the shared star catalogue, observer sky, and constellation figures through time with explicit extrapolated confidence and a ±10,000-Julian-year validity clamp.
• The Received light temporal mode now treats the selected date as reception time. It backdates the Sun, Moon, and planets from an Earth observer with Astronomy Engine, and solves an individual retarded epoch for every HYG star from the Solar System barycentre. Supported axial rotations use that emission epoch, object cards expose delay and emission date, and the HYG model keeps its explicit ±10,000-Julian-year clamp.
• Galilean moons now use Astronomy Engine at their Earth-received epoch. Other documented satellites, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets iteratively solve geometric light time with their existing JPL two-body elements; their confidence remains extrapolated and visual distance amplification stays outside the scientific calculation.
• Documented exoplanet systems now share a barycentric delay derived from the NASA-published host distance. The static host direction is unchanged, and each local planetary orbit is evaluated at that emission epoch while its phase remains explicitly illustrative; systems without a published distance stay simultaneous.
• Nearby galaxies now use geometric catalogue light time. Cosmicflows-4 distance moduli are treated as luminosity distances and large-scale-structure map distances as comoving distances; both are inverted in the documented flat ΛCDM model. Cards expose the inferred redshift and lookback time, while catalogue positions and static appearances remain unchanged and the result is marked extrapolated.
• Published walls, probabilistic basins, attractors, and repellers retain separate provenance and visual semantics rather than being merged into the Tempel filament network.
• Cold startup, Tempel transition, resource stability, and frame stability have repeatable browser benchmarks.
• A repeated physical high-end baseline now records three startup, Tempel, and cold-frame runs plus three post-warmup resource cycles on an Apple M5 Max using its real Metal renderer. It is not evidence for another device class.
• A dedicated observable-planetarium benchmark now covers real sky panning, recentering, a Jupiter-anchored transition into the shared resolved planet, and zoom-out. Three physical high-end Retina runs passed at the high-quality DPR 1.5 cap with no long frames. A separate, explicitly simulated CPU 4×/6× stress matrix also passes and measures regression headroom only.
• All five manual performance protocols now share a versioned JSON evidence report that records the source state, host, renderer, configuration, samples, and summary. A physical-only guard rejects simulated, software-rendered, or unclassified measurements before writing the report. A clean-checkout campaign runner executes them sequentially and binds the five files into one SHA-256-verifiable manifest.
• A separate clean-checkout command now runs the same-host medium and low regression campaign across all five protocols: medium quality at CPU 4× and low quality at CPU 6×. Its distinct simulated manifest binds ten reports and states that GPU, memory, driver, bandwidth, and thermal behavior still belong to the source host.
• The four complementary catalogues now fetch and decode in a dedicated module Worker and transfer their typed-array buffers without copying. Worker preparation creates no scene resource; once it finishes, main-thread registry, search, geometry, and GPU installation requires a fresh 1.2-second stable-camera window. A transition restarts that delay, observable mode suspends background installation entirely, and an explicitly requested catalogue target still loads immediately. The clean campaign of 28 August 2026 at revision 27db0e1 passed all ten reports. Medium/CPU 4× scale runs stayed at 9.3 ms p95 with a 66.5 ms worst frame; low/CPU 6× remains at 16.6–16.7 ms p95 with an 83.4 ms worst frame. Observable runs resolved Jupiter 3/3 in both profiles, with no resource-count drift in that historical baseline.

Completed on 11 September 2026

• CPU and catalogue preparation improvements are delivered: cooperative geometry and registry batches, cached search/labels, complete search/discovery publication, and one ancestor lookup per frame. The 8K panorama decodes asynchronously with bounded initial prewarming. Camera paths, catalogue coordinates, and scientific values are unchanged.
• The clean campaign on 796fe70 passes 10/10 protocol/profile budgets, with three runs or resource cycles each: medium/CPU 4× and low/CPU 6×. Tempel medians are 27.2 / 29.9 ms and all six first-visible frames stay below 33.3 ms. Worst scale frames are 100.0 / 66.7 ms. Resource counts do not drift; Jupiter resolves 3/3 per profile. This closes this campaign, not all possible frame stalls. CPU throttling retains the host GPU and memory, not representative hardware.
• Dependency security fixes shipped in c380bce: npm audit reports zero vulnerabilities on 11 September, and the complete verification passes, including 180 browser tests and 100% coverage. GitHub's Dependabot API returned no open alert on 14 September. The performance campaign predates these dependency updates and must not be attributed to c380bce.

Completed on 14 September 2026

• The real Tempel filament batch is now prepared and compiled while it is still fully invisible at the preceding LOD. The cosmic transition reuses that exact batch rather than creating it on its first visible frame. Camera paths, targets, timing, catalogue positions, and visual reveal ranges are unchanged.
• A clean physical high-quality campaign on the Apple M5 Max / Metal renderer at 5ef4fe3 passes all 5/5 protocols with three runs or resource cycles each: first usable map median 505.6 ms (524.6 ms worst), Tempel first visible frame 0.7 ms median (0.8 ms worst), zero geometry/texture/ draw-call drift, cold scale journeys within their global budget, and the Retina planetarium at 16.8 ms worst with Jupiter resolved 3/3. This is evidence for that physical high-end host only.

Completed on 24 September 2026

• A field of 42,788 real 2MRS galaxies (Tully 2015 groups at their Cosmicflows-4 group distance, or their Tully group distance rescaled to the Cosmicflows-4 scale; HyperLEDA names) now fills the space between the Local Volume and the cosmic web. It is a faint background at the Milky Way scale and dense at the Nearby Universe scale. Inside 320 Mpc it replaces the Cosmicflows-4 group markers before the cosmic-web view. Each galaxy is clickable, searchable by name or PGC n, and linked to NED and SIMBAD. A deterministic zone-of-avoidance fill is labelled illustrative. The field adds at most about 0.5 ms of GPU time per frame at DPR 2 on the Apple M5 Max.

Current priorities

1. Monitor the scale-transition tails. The invisible Tempel preparation now starts at the galactic approach, ahead of its nearby-universe preload; the camera behavior remains unchanged. Repeated local cold diagnostics no longer concentrate their tails at the nearby-universe to cosmic-web boundary, but isolated global tails still require observation rather than a camera change.
2. Physical validation remains optional if suitable medium/low hardware becomes available.

The observer planetarium remains a separate topocentric projection of the selected observing place. The temporal Received light map uses an Earth observer for supported Solar System bodies and the Solar System barycentre for HYG stars and documented exoplanet systems.

Deliberately deferred

• Additional irregular-body silhouettes or polygonal models will only ship when an authoritative shape product justifies the download, decoding, attribution, and rendering cost.

Product boundary

This roadmap does not promise an exhaustive Universe, live weather, ground exploration, full gravitational simulation, or relativistic ray tracing. See Scientific confidence and Performance and limits for the current contract.

Continue with About the project.