Astronomy in Reverse is a drawing tool made in Processing. It was made as a class assignment for LMC 2700 Intro to Computational Media with the constraint of “making an outside of the box drawing program.” I am a huge fan of space, and I often incorporate stars or galaxies in the illustrations I do, so I made a tool to easily create beautiful, randomized galaxy-like patterns limited only by the user’s creativity.

The user is able to select from a gradient of colors to add to the blank canvas, specifically chosen to mesh well together and best resemble galaxy structures. By default, clicking with produce both stars and clouds, but these can be toggled on and off, and the user can also select the size of the “brush.” The code operates by randomly producing small white circles (stars) and low opacity ellipses of varying height, width, and position.