Cosmic Neighbors
Space discovery companion that turns every new exoplanet headline into an explorable 3D scene, habitability score, and bite-size explainer — so curious adults and teachers can actually understand what the science means.
Amateur astronomy enthusiasts and middle/high school science teachers who want to keep up with discoveries without reading papers
- 3D exoplanet explorer with size, temperature, and star comparison to Earth
- Habitability dashboard rating each world on atmosphere, water potential, and radiation environment
- Lesson plan generator that turns this week's discovery into a 30-minute classroom activity
- Weekly discovery digest with one new planet explained in plain language
LHS 1140b's atmosphere confirmation is driving a fresh wave of public interest in habitable worlds, and the James Webb era means a steady drumbeat of similar stories — teachers especially need a way to bring current science into classrooms without spending weekends reading preprints.
LHS 1140b atmosphere confirmation drove major mainstream coverage (NYT, Guardian, Nature, Space.com) in July 2026, validating headline-driven interest; teacher-specific demand confirmed by ESA's dedicated 'Teach with Exoplanets' course and IREx's 'Exoplanets in the Classroom' program.Astronomers Find an Atmosphere on a Nearby Earthlike Planet ↗Teach with Exoplanets: Discover Distant Planets - learn.esa.int ↗
Direct competitors already exist — NASA's free Eyes on Exoplanets (3D, real NASA data, browser-based), ExoVerse 3D Explorer, Exoplanet Visualizer, and Exoseeker all offer 3D exoplanet exploration; NASA/ESA also ship free classroom-ready materials, leaving little uncontested room.Eyes on Exoplanets - NASA/JPL ↗ExoVerse 3D Explorer | Explore Exoplanets in 3D ↗
Astronomy enthusiasts do pay — SkySafari Pro and Stellarium Mobile command $15-30/IAP tiers — but teachers/schools gravitate to free official sources (NASA, ESA, IREx) for curriculum; freemium likely needed and B2B school sales are slow.Best Astronomy Apps 2026: SkySafari, Stellarium and What Each One Is Good For ↗Exoplanets in the Classroom - Trottier Institute ↗
JWST and successor missions guarantee a multi-decade cadence of exoplanet atmosphere confirmations; habitability scoring and 3D visualization remain relevant as long as discovery continues.Found: a rocky exoplanet with an atmosphere — could it host life? ↗
Building blocks are proven: NASA's Eyes already does browser-based 3D exoplanet viz; habitability indices (ESI) are public; news-to-scene pipeline is a standard LLM+template job, though news reactivity and quality 3D assets per planet require ongoing content work.Eyes - NASA Science ↗