---
name: apod
description: Download the latest Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA. Use when the user asks to download APOD, get today's astronomy picture, fetch NASA's picture of the day, or save astronomy images.
---

# APOD - Astronomy Picture of the Day Downloader

## Overview
This skill downloads the latest Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) from NASA's website and saves it to your Desktop along with metadata.

## Instructions

When the user requests to download APOD or get today's astronomy picture:

1. Run the download script:
   ```bash
   python3 ~/.claude/skills/apod/download_apod.py
   ```

2. The script will:
   - Fetch the latest APOD from https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
   - Download the high-resolution image
   - Save it to `~/Desktop/APOD/APOD_YYYY-MM-DD.{ext}`
   - Create a metadata file `~/Desktop/APOD/APOD_YYYY-MM-DD.txt` with title, description, and date

3. Report the result to the user, including:
   - Success/failure status
   - File paths where the image and metadata were saved
   - Any errors encountered

## Requirements

The following Python packages must be installed:
```bash
pip install requests beautifulsoup4
```

## Special Cases

- **Videos**: If APOD is a video (YouTube embed), the script will notify the user and skip the download
- **Network errors**: Clear error messages will be displayed if the website is unreachable
- **Existing files**: If today's APOD has already been downloaded, it will be overwritten

## Examples

**User request**: "Download today's APOD"
**Action**: Run the script and report that the image was saved to ~/Desktop/APOD/APOD_2025-12-19.png

**User request**: "Get the astronomy picture of the day"
**Action**: Run the script and confirm the download with file locations

**User request**: "Fetch NASA's picture of the day"
**Action**: Run the script and show the image title and save location