apod-grabber

Sets your Mac's desktop to the current NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day, including explanation text overlaid onto image.

Usage:

• Manual
  • python3 apodgrab.py
• Automated
  • See 'Installation' below

Requirements:

• Homebrew ( see install instructions at https://brew.sh/ )
• Python 3 ( brew install python3 )
• BeautifulSoup ( pip3 install beautifulsoup4 )
• Pillow ( pip3 install pillow )

Installation:

1. cp dependencies/com.krishengreenwell.apod.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents
2. vi ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.krishengreenwell.apod.plist
3. Change line 8 to the absolute path of your apod-grabber GitHub checkout
4. Change line 11 to the absolute path of your python3 installation (to find this, run which python3)
5. launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.krishengreenwell.apod.plist
6. launchctl start com.krishengreenwell.apod
7. Grant the following two permissions ('Documents' may vary based on the location of your apod-grabber checkout):
   • 
   • 
8. Go to System Preferences > Desktop and select Fit to Screen and black background color:
   • 

Notes:

• Captioned APOD images can be found at ~/Pictures/apod/
• Very much a work in progress! Please be patient/forgiving. If something doesn't look right, please browse the existing issues or file a new one

TODO:

• Create a lighter region under textbox to make it more readable in event of a busy background
• Get rid of apodosa.sh if possible
• Decide install location in order to get rid of home directory dependency in dependencies/com.krishengreenwell.apod.plist
• Create installer
• Set picture on all attached monitors rather than just the one with the menubar

Feature ideas:

• Option to turn off captions

Troubleshooting

• If apod-grabber stops updating your desktop picture automatically, try re-running "pip3 install beautifulsoup4".

Credits

• Inspired by Harold Bakker's "Astronomy Picture Of the Day to Desktop" utility -- https://web.archive.org/web/20200221005113/http://www.haroldbakker.com/personal/apod.php