# nasa.apod

**stable** **Standard**

Astronomy Picture of the Day (today).

`GET /v1/nasa/apod`

## What you get

One Nasa record in Onekey's unified shape, in `data`. If the record does not exist you get a `404 not_found` and are not charged.

## What it costs

- **Standard · 1 credit** for a fresh fetch, charged only when it succeeds.
- **Free when served from cache (0.2 credit for a cached response over 100 KB).**
- **Free** if the request is invalid (never charged) or the source fails or reports not found (refunded).

## Parameters

This endpoint takes no parameters.

## Request

```bash
curl "https://api.onekey.dev/v1/nasa/apod" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

```python
import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.onekey.dev/v1/nasa/apod",
    params={},
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
body = res.json()

if body["success"]:
    print(body["data"])
else:
    print(body["error"]["code"], body["error"]["message"])
```

```javascript
const params = new URLSearchParams({});
const res = await fetch(`https://api.onekey.dev/v1/nasa/apod?${params}`, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
});
const body = await res.json();

if (body.success) console.log(body.data);
else console.error(body.error.code, body.error.message);
```

## Recorded response

A real Nasa response, recorded and returned in Onekey's shape. Fields the platform does not provide are `null`.

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "content": {
      "title": "Cosmic Latte: The Average Color of the Universe",
      "text": "What color is the universe?  More precisely, if the entire sky were smeared out, what color would the final mix be?  This whimsical question came up when trying to determine what stars are commonplace in nearby galaxies. The answer, depicted here, is a conditionally perceived shade of beige. In computer parlance: #FFF8E7.  To determine this, astronomers computationally averaged the light emitted b",
      "createdAt": "2026-09-28T00:00:00Z"
    },
    "media": {
      "url": "https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2609/CosmicLatte_jhu_960_annotated.jpg",
      "thumbnailUrl": null
    },
    "entity": {
      "url": "https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2609/CosmicLatte_jhu_960.jpg",
      "category": "image"
    },
    "author": {
      "displayName": null
    }
  },
  "metadata": {
    "platform": "nasa",
    "endpoint": "apod",
    "cached": false,
    "stale": false,
    "age_s": 0,
    "fetched_at": "2026-01-01T12:00:00+00:00",
    "credits_charged": 1,
    "request_id": "7f3a9c2e5b1d4c8fa2e6d0b9c4f18e37"
  },
  "error": null
}
```

## Field mapping

How this endpoint's source fields become Onekey's [unified schema](https://onekey.dev/docs/schema.md). Fields the source lacks come back as `null`.

| Source path | Onekey field | Transform |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `title` | `content.title` | - |
| `explanation` | `content.text` | - |
| `url` | `media.url` | `safeUrl` |
| `hdurl` | `entity.url` | `safeUrl` |
| `media_type` | `entity.category` | - |
| `date` | `content.createdAt` | `toIsoDate` |
| `copyright` | `author.displayName` | - |
| `thumbnail_url` | `media.thumbnailUrl` | `safeUrl` |

## Caching and freshness

- Fresh for about 30 minutes. Repeat calls in that window are served from cache and are free.
- Between 30 minutes and 6 hours the cached copy is still served instantly and marked `stale: true` while Onekey refreshes it in the background.
- If the source is down when a refresh is needed, the last copy can be served for up to 1 day more (marked stale).
- A "not found" is remembered for 5 minutes and is free.
- The cache is shared across all customers, which is what keeps repeat calls cheap.

## What can go wrong

| Status | Code | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 401 | `unauthorized` | Check the `x-api-key` header. |
| 402 | `insufficient_credits` | [Add credits](https://onekey.dev/pricing); your balance must cover the price. |
| 404 | `not_found` | That record does not exist. Free; do not retry. |
| 422 | `invalid_params` | Fix the parameters using the table above. Free. |
| 429 | `rate_limited` | Wait `Retry-After` seconds, then retry. |
| 502 | `upstream_error` | The source failed. Refunded; retry with backoff. |

See [Errors](https://onekey.dev/docs/errors.md) for the full list and retry guidance.

Status: stable (verified against the live source).