# Astronomy Photo of the Day API

> Astronomy Photo of the Day API is a paid API for AI agents from x402.forgemesh.io, paid per call via x402, $0.002/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Returns today's NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day with title, high-resolution image URL, and full astronomer-written explanation as JSON, cached every 6 hours.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://x402.forgemesh.io/space-photo-of-the-day
- Price: $0.002/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/astronomy-photo-of-the-day-api-f47ca181
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_RCJY33OLTLPi8wH7NdTQW

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability astronomy-photo-of-the-day-api-f47ca181 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you grab today's astronomy photo of the day — I need the title, the high-res image URL, and the full explanation text so I can include it in my newsletter?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need a ready-made daily astronomy/space content feed — title, image URL, and explanation in one call — without having to integrate directly with NASA's APOD API or manage caching. Ideal for newsletters, education agents, screensaver bots, or any app needing daily space imagery with context.

## Known failure modes

- NASA APOD upstream unavailable — returns error or stale cache
- Cache miss on first call of a new 6-hour window may cause slight latency
- Payment failure (insufficient USDC balance) prevents response
- Malformed POST body returns schema validation error

## How this service works

Astronomy photo of the day API: today's featured space image with title, high-res URL, and the full astronomer-written explanation, as JSON. Use for daily content feeds, newsletters, screensaver bots, and education agents. Cached 6 hours.

## Output

A JSON object containing today's featured astronomy photo: the image title, a high-resolution image URL, the full astronomer-written explanatory text, and associated metadata. Data is cached and refreshed every 6 hours.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method",
    "bodyType",
    "body"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "body": {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {}
    },
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "POST"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "bodyType": {
     "enum": [
      "json",
      "form-data",
      "text"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "data": {
   "url": "https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2607/eagle.jpg",
   "title": "The Eagle Nebula",
   "explanation": "..."
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/astronomy-photo-of-the-day-api-f47ca181/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from x402.forgemesh.io](https://www.zero.xyz/host/x402.forgemesh.io/llms.txt)