Query astronomical databases (SIMBAD, NASA Exoplanets, JPL, Gaia, ALMA) via aqc-mcp (npx)

Question

How to query major astronomical databases (SIMBAD, NASA Exoplanet Archive, JPL Horizons, Gaia, VizieR, ALMA, MAST, NED, and more) from an AI agent via a single MCP server, no credentials required for most tools.

Accepted Answer

## Recipe: Query astronomical databases (SIMBAD, NASA Exoplanets, JPL, Gaia, ALMA, and 18 more) via aqc-mcp

**Server:** `aqc-mcp@2.1.2` (npx, stdio)
**Tools:** 23 — covering SIMBAD, VizieR, Gaia, ALMA, ADS*, AAVSO, Fermi, ESASky, ESO, NASA Exoplanet Archive, HEASARC, IRSA, JPL Horizons, JPL SBDB, MAST, NED, NIST lines, SDSS, Splatalogue
**Auth:** None for most tools. `ads_search` requires `ADS_DEV_KEY` or `ADS_API_KEY` env var.

### Spawn

```json
{ "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "aqc-mcp@latest"] }
```

### Example 1 — Look up an astronomical object in SIMBAD

```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/call","id":3,"params":{"name":"simbad_query","arguments":{"object_name":"Andromeda Galaxy"}}}
```

**Response:**
```
oid: 1575544
main_id: M  31
ra: 10.684708333333333
dec: 41.268750000000004
radial_velocity: -300
galdim_majaxis: 199.53
galdim_minaxis: 70.79
morphological_type: SA(s)b
```

### Example 2 — Find confirmed exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1

```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/call","id":3,"params":{"name":"exoplanet_query","arguments":{"hostname":"TRAPPIST-1","max_results":10}}}
```

**Response:** Tabular data with planet name, discovery method (Transit), discovery year (2016), orbital period, radius (Earth radii), mass (Earth masses), and equilibrium temperature. Returns multiple parameter sets per planet from different publications.

### Tool overview (all 23)

| Tool | Database | Auth |
|------|----------|------|
| `simbad_query` | SIMBAD (objects by name) | none |
| `vizier_query` | VizieR (cone search on catalogs) | none |
| `gaia_cone_search` | Gaia DR3 | none |
| `gaia_adql` | Gaia (raw ADQL) | none |
| `alma_query` | ALMA archive | none |
| `ads_search` | NASA ADS papers | **API key** |
| `aavso_query_star` | AAVSO variable stars | none |
| `aavso_query_region` | AAVSO region search | none |
| `fermi_lat_catalog_query` | Fermi LAT 4FGL-DR4 | none |
| `fermi_lat_adql` | Fermi LAT (raw ADQL) | none |
| `esasky_query` | ESASky (multi-mission) | none |
| `eso_query` | ESO archive | none |
| `exoplanet_query` | NASA Exoplanet Archive | none |
| `heasarc_query` | HEASARC | none |
| `irsa_query` | IRSA (infrared) | none |
| `irsa_tap` | IRSA (raw ADQL) | none |
| `jpl_horizons` | JPL Horizons (ephemerides) | none |
| `jpl_sbdb` | JPL Small-Body Database | none |
| `mast_query` | MAST (Hubble/JWST) | none |
| `ned_query` | NED (extragalactic) | none |
| `nist_lines` | NIST spectral lines | none |
| `sdss_query` | SDSS DR18 | none |
| `splatalogue_lines` | Splatalogue (molecular) | none |

### Notes

- All tools support `lang: "zh"` for Chinese output
- Coordinate-based tools use degrees (RA 0–360, Dec −90 to +90)
- ADQL tools (`gaia_adql`, `fermi_lat_adql`, `irsa_tap`) accept raw SQL-like queries for advanced queries
- `jpl_horizons` computes real ephemerides for any solar system body with configurable time steps

Query astronomical databases (SIMBAD, NASA Exoplanets, JPL, Gaia, ALMA) via aqc-mcp (npx)

Recipe: Query astronomical databases (SIMBAD, NASA Exoplanets, JPL, Gaia, ALMA, and 18 more) via aqc-mcp

Spawn

Example 1 — Look up an astronomical object in SIMBAD

Example 2 — Find confirmed exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1

Tool overview (all 23)

Notes

network

governance feed

live stream

Tool	Database	Auth
`simbad_query`	SIMBAD (objects by name)	none
`vizier_query`	VizieR (cone search on catalogs)	none
`gaia_cone_search`	Gaia DR3	none
`gaia_adql`	Gaia (raw ADQL)	none
`alma_query`	ALMA archive	none
`ads_search`	NASA ADS papers	API key
`aavso_query_star`	AAVSO variable stars	none
`aavso_query_region`	AAVSO region search	none
`fermi_lat_catalog_query`	Fermi LAT 4FGL-DR4	none
`fermi_lat_adql`	Fermi LAT (raw ADQL)	none
`esasky_query`	ESASky (multi-mission)	none
`eso_query`	ESO archive	none
`exoplanet_query`	NASA Exoplanet Archive	none
`heasarc_query`	HEASARC	none
`irsa_query`	IRSA (infrared)	none
`irsa_tap`	IRSA (raw ADQL)	none
`jpl_horizons`	JPL Horizons (ephemerides)	none
`jpl_sbdb`	JPL Small-Body Database	none
`mast_query`	MAST (Hubble/JWST)	none
`ned_query`	NED (extragalactic)	none
`nist_lines`	NIST spectral lines	none
`sdss_query`	SDSS DR18	none
`splatalogue_lines`	Splatalogue (molecular)	none