Universe

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Credits and data sources

Universe is built on open science data and open-source software. This page lists every external source the app uses, its licence, and the credit it asks for.

Maps shipped with the app

  • Solar System Scope

    Surface maps of the Sun, planets and the Moon, and Saturn’s rings.

    Licence
    CC BY 4.0
    Credit
    Planet textures: Solar System Scope (INOVE), based on NASA imagery, CC BY 4.0. Downscaled for the web.

  • Global mosaics of the moons and Pluto

    Io, Europa, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Triton and Pluto, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    NASA / JPL / USGS / Caltech / Space Science Institute / Johns Hopkins APL / SwRI

  • Blue Marble Next Generation

    Earth’s cloud map.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    NASA Earth Observatory, Blue Marble Next Generation (Reto Stöckli)

  • Black Marble

    Earth’s night lights.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    NASA Earth Observatory, VIIRS Black Marble, via NASA GIBS

Imagery streamed as you fly closer

  • NASA GIBS

    Earth’s colour imagery, to about 500 m.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).

  • Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016

    Earth’s imagery, to about 10 m.

    Licence
    CC BY 4.0
    Credit
    Sentinel-2 cloudless – https://s2maps.eu by EOX IT Services GmbH (Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016). Rendering © EOX.

  • LRO Wide Angle Camera mosaic

    The Moon’s colour, to about 100 m.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    LRO WAC global mosaic: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University, via NASA Moon Trek

  • Kaguya Terrain Camera mosaic

    The Moon’s surface detail, to about 21 m.

    Licence
    JAXA terms of use, with credit
    Credit
    SELENE (Kaguya) Terrain Camera ortho mosaic: JAXA/SELENE, via NASA Moon Trek

  • Viking MDIM 2.1

    Mars’s colour, to about 232 m.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    Viking MDIM 2.1 colour mosaic: NASA/USGS, via NASA Mars Trek

  • CTX global mosaic

    Mars’s surface detail, to about 10 m.

    Licence
    Free to use with credit
    Credit
    CTX global mosaic beta01: NASA/JPL/MSSS; The Bruce Murray Laboratory for Planetary Visualization, Caltech (Dickson et al. 2023). Tiles served by Esri.

Elevation data

  • LRO LOLA

    The Moon’s elevation.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio, CGI Moon Kit; LRO LOLA team

  • MGS MOLA

    Mars’s elevation.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    MGS MOLA MEGDR: NASA/JPL/GSFC, PDS Geosciences Node

  • ETOPO5

    Earth’s elevation, worldwide.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    ETOPO5: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly NGDC)

  • Terrain Tiles

    Earth’s finer elevation, streamed near the ground.

    Licence
    Mixed open licences, with credit
    Credit
    Terrain Tiles by Mapzen on AWS Open Data. ArcticDEM: DEM(s) were created from DigitalGlobe, Inc., imagery and funded under NSF awards 1043681, 1559691, and 1542736 · © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2017 · © offene Daten Österreichs – Digitales Geländemodell (DGM) Österreich · Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada · Produced using Copernicus data and information funded by the European Union (EU-DEM) · ETOPO1: U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · Source: INEGI, Continental relief, 2016 · © Crown copyright Land Information New Zealand and NZ Government (All rights reserved) · © Kartverket · © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015. All rights reserved · 3DEP/NED, GMTED2010, SRTM: U.S. Geological Survey

Ephemerides and catalogues

  • JPL Horizons

    Planet and moon positions for the Lab’s validation against JPL, and the starting state of the Moon.

    Licence
    Public domain
    Credit
    NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics, Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System (DE441 and satellite ephemerides)

  • ATNF Pulsar Catalogue

    Spin periods and positions of the real pulsars.

    Licence
    Free to use; please cite
    Credit
    ATNF Pulsar Catalogue: Manchester, R. N., Hobbs, G. B., Teoh, A. & Hobbs, M., AJ 129, 1993–2006 (2005)

The verse

  • Tanzil

    The Arabic text of the verse (Fussilat 41:53), in Uthmani script.

    Licence
    CC BY 3.0, verbatim only
    Credit
    Tanzil Quran Text (Uthmani and Simple, Version 1.1), Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Tanzil Project, tanzil.net. Used verbatim.

  • The Clear Quran

    The English translation of the verse.

    Licence
    All rights reserved; quoted
    Credit
    The Clear Quran: A Thematic English Translation, by Dr. Mustafa Khattab; published by Al-Furqaan Foundation (Book of Signs Foundation). © Al-Furqaan Foundation, all rights reserved. One verse (41:53, first part) quoted.

  • KFGQPC Uthmanic Script HAFS

    The mushaf typeface of the verse, from the King Fahd Glorious Qur’an Printing Complex in Madinah, served exactly as published.

    Licence
    KFGQPC licence: free use, no modification
    Credit
    KFGQPC Uthmanic Script HAFS — King Fahd Glorious Qur’an Printing Complex, Madinah. © 2010 KFGQPC, all rights reserved; used unmodified under its end-user licence.

  • Amiri Quran

    The ornate parentheses around the verse, which the mushaf typeface does not include.

    Licence
    SIL Open Font License 1.1
    Credit
    Amiri Quran (the ornate parentheses ﴿ ﴾ only), © 2010–2022 The Amiri Project Authors

Software and fonts

  • three.js

    The 3D engine, WebGPU and WebGL.

    Licence
    MIT
    Credit
    three.js, © 2010–2026 three.js authors

  • IBM Plex

    The interface typefaces, Latin and Arabic.

    Licence
    SIL Open Font License 1.1
    Credit
    IBM Plex Sans, IBM Plex Mono, IBM Plex Sans Arabic, © IBM Corp.

  • GSAP

    The landing page’s scroll animations.

    Licence
    GSAP standard no-charge licence
    Credit
    GSAP and ScrollTrigger, © 2008–2026 GreenSock (Webflow)

  • Lenis

    Smooth scrolling on the landing page.

    Licence
    MIT
    Credit
    Lenis, © darkroom.engineering

  • Fontsource

    Packaging of the Plex fonts.

    Licence
    MIT
    Credit
    Fontsource font packages

  • AssemblyScript

    Compiles the physics core to WebAssembly.

    Licence
    Apache 2.0
    Credit
    AssemblyScript runtime, © the AssemblyScript authors

Body masses, orbits and physical constants come from published values (IAU, NASA JPL and the papers cited in the code). Facts are not copyrighted, but the sources are named where they are used.