The web application 'Odyssey: Cosmos' converts daily step counts into distances to stars measured in parsecs. The project uses a specific formula to calculate the required steps: 20,000 steps plus 800 steps per parsec, with a cap of 150,000 steps per route. Daily activity is limited to 40,000 steps for the purpose of the game.
The service utilizes two primary star catalogs: HYG for visible stars and Gaia DR3 for deep-space scanning. The HYG catalog contains approximately 99,050 stars and is downloaded once to the browser, while Gaia data is queried on-demand via the VizieR public service. The application also incorporates constellation data from the IAU and background images from NASA's APOD.
The system identifies stars by their catalog numbers or official names recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). When users perform a 'deep scan' to find stars not in the primary catalog, the application registers them in its own database. These custom names are strictly for in-game use and hold no official scientific status.
The developer created the project without professional programming experience, relying on AI assistants to write the code. The application handles star classification by analyzing spectral classes and calculating absolute magnitude based on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, as Gaia data does not provide pre-classified star types.
