NASA APoD Wallpaper Automator

A lightweight Python utility designed to automatically fetch the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) and set it as your Windows desktop wallpaper. Software is using DEMO_KEY standardly (you can use private one after registration at NASA's API), which has these limitations: Hourly Limit: 30 requests per IP address per hour. Daily Limit: 50 requests per IP address per day.

🌟 Features

• Daily Updates: Automatically grabs the latest space imagery from NASA's official API.
• High-Resolution Support: Prioritizes HD imagery (hdurl) with an automatic fallback to standard resolution if HD is unavailable.
• Fail-safe: It NASA launches a video as the APoD, it will not be set as Wallpaper, APoD will be ignored.
• Silent Background Operation: Runs as a .pyw process, meaning no console windows or pop-ups will interrupt your work.
• Robust Path Handling: Automatically ensures the destination folder exists, even in complex OneDrive or custom Windows setups.

🚀 Installation & Usage

1. Prerequisites

Ensure you have Python 3.x installed along with the requests library:

• pip install requests

2. Compilation to .exe

To use this as a standalone application without needing Python installed on the target machine, compile it using PyInstaller:

• pip install pyinstaller
• pyinstaller --noconsole --onefile app.pyw
• or
• python -m PyInstaller --noconsole --onefile app.pyw

The compiled executable will be located in the /dist folder. Based on Python version, you will get x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) executable. 32-bit can run on 32-bit and on 64-bit OS aswell, 64-bit can run on 64-bit OS only!

3. Setting up Auto-Start

To ensure your wallpaper updates every time you turn on your PC:

1. Press Win + R on your keyboard.
2. Type shell:startup and press Enter.
3. Move the compiled .exe (or a shortcut to it) into this folder.

🛠 Technical Details

• API: Uses the NASA Planetary Inventory API.
• Win32 Integration: Utilizes ctypes.windll.user32.SystemParametersInfoW to communicate directly with the Windows API for instant wallpaper application without a system restart.
• Storage: Images are saved locally to your Pictures folder as nasa_apod_wallpaper.jpg.

📄 License

This project is open-source and available under the MIT License.

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Created by Martin Chlebovec