Coding a Starry Sky in Python

Creating a starry sky using Python is a fun and engaging way to explore the power of the programming language. In this article, we’ll discuss the code required to draw a beautiful starry sky, step by step.

Prerequisites

To follow this tutorial, you’ll need to have Python installed on your computer. Additionally, we’ll be using the turtle module, which is a built-in Python module that provides basic graphics capabilities.

The Code

Let’s dive into the code that will help us create a starry sky.

pythonimport turtle
import random

# Create the screen
screen = turtle.Screen()
screen.bgcolor("black")  # Set the background color to black

# Create a turtle object
star_turtle = turtle.Turtle()
star_turtle.speed(0)  # Set the drawing speed to the fastest

# Function to draw a star
def draw_star(turtle, size):
    turtle.begin_fill()
    for _ in range(5):
        turtle.forward(size)  # Move forward by the size of the star
        turtle.right(144)     # Turn right by 144 degrees
    turtle.end_fill()

# Draw 100 stars
for _ in range(100):
    star_size = random.randint(5, 20)  # Random star size
    x = random.randint(-300, 300)      # Random x-coordinate
    y = random.randint(-200, 200)      # Random y-coordinate
    
    star_turtle.penup()
    star_turtle.goto(x, y)
    star_turtle.pendown()
    star_turtle.color("white")  # Set the color of the star to white
    draw_star(star_turtle, star_size)

# Keep the window open until the user closes it
turtle.done()

Code Explanation

Imports: We import the turtle module and the random module, which will help us generate random values for the stars’ positions and sizes.
Screen Setup: We create a new screen using turtle.Screen() and set its background color to black using screen.bgcolor("black").
Turtle Setup: We create a turtle object using turtle.Turtle() and set its drawing speed to the fastest using star_turtle.speed(0).
Draw Star Function: We define a function draw_star() that takes a turtle object and a size as parameters. Inside the function, we use a loop to draw a star by moving the turtle forward and turning it right by 144 degrees five times.
Drawing Stars: We use a loop to draw 100 stars. Inside the loop, we generate random values for the star’s size, x-coordinate, and y-coordinate using the random module. We then move the turtle to the random position, set its color to white, and call the draw_star() function to draw the star.
Keeping the Window Open: Finally, we use turtle.done() to keep the window open until the user closes it.

Conclusion
By using the turtle module in Python, we’ve been able to create a beautiful starry sky with just a few lines of code. This project is a great way to explore graphics programming in Python and have fun while learning.