io.github.cyanheads/astronomy-mcp-server

Tools

• astronomy_find_events

  Search forward from a start time for the next occurrences of one sky-event class, selected by the `event` enum: solar_eclipse, lunar_eclipse, equinox, solstice, moon_quarter, opposition, conjunction, max_elongation, or perigee_apogee. Only solar_eclipse takes an observer: pass latitude and longitude to get local circumstances (contact times plus `local_visible`). Every other class is geocentric and needs no location — a lunar eclipse is the same event everywhere the Moon is up, so it returns contact times and no `local_visible`. The body-relative events (opposition, conjunction, max_elongation, perigee_apogee) require a `body`: opposition applies to the superior planets (mars through pluto), conjunction to any planet, max_elongation to mercury and venus, and perigee_apogee to the moon (perigee/apogee), earth, or a planet (perihelion/aphelion). Returns the next `count` occurrences (default 1). Start defaults to now; pass an IANA `timezone` for observer-local timestamps.

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• astronomy_get_ephemeris

  Fetch a time-series ephemeris for a small body (asteroid or comet) or spacecraft from JPL Horizons — RA/Dec, distance, and apparent magnitude over a span, optionally with observer-relative altitude/azimuth. This covers objects the in-process major-body set cannot. The designation is passed to Horizons verbatim, so it must be in a form Horizons resolves to a single record: a numbered asteroid takes a trailing-semicolon record lookup (e.g. "433;" for Eros, "1;" for Ceres), and a periodic comet takes the DES + closest-apparition form (e.g. "DES=1P;CAP" for Halley) — a bare name like "433 Eros" or "1P/Halley" returns no match or an ambiguous record list and is rejected. Spacecraft take their negative SPK-ID. `start` and `stop` are ISO 8601 UTC and `stop` must be after `start`; `step` is a count plus a unit of m, h, d, mo, or y, such as "1d", "1h", or "10m". Supplying observer latitude/longitude yields topocentric coordinates and adds alt/az — supply both or neither. This is a gated, network-backed extension (JPL Horizons is keyless but rate-limited and best-effort); large spans truncate inline at 200 rows, and the truncation notice names the exact `start` to resume from — one step past the last row returned, because Horizons includes the start instant in its output — so re-calling from there continues the series without repeating a sample. Splitting the range into smaller adjacent spans works too; keep the same step either way so no sample is lost.

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• astronomy_get_moon_phase

  Report the Moon phase for an instant: illuminated fraction, phase name, synodic age in days since the new moon, phase angle, and the next four quarter phases (new, first quarter, full, last quarter) with timestamps. Answers "what is the moon phase tonight" and "when is the next full moon" in one call without iteration. The time defaults to now; pass an IANA `timezone` to also receive observer-local timestamps. The phase is geocentric — no observer location is needed.

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• astronomy_get_rise_set

  Compute rise, set, and culmination (transit) times for a body at an observer location, plus the maximum altitude at culmination. For the Sun, also returns the three twilight pairs (civil −6°, nautical −12°, astronomical −18°) so a single call answers "when does the sun set and when is it truly dark." Searches forward from `start` (default today) and returns the next `count` cycles (default 1). When the body is already above the horizon at `start`, the first cycle is the interval in progress: its `set` is the imminent one and its `rise` is null, since that rise precedes the search — so a set is never reported earlier than the rise beside it. Circumpolar or never-rises situations are reported as null rise/set fields with an explanatory note rather than an error — the fact is the answer. Default elevation is 0 m; pass an IANA `timezone` for observer-local times. This server does not geocode — resolve coordinates upstream first.

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• astronomy_get_satellite_passes

  Predict visible passes of a satellite (e.g. the ISS, NORAD 25544) over an observer in the next `days`. Identify the satellite by exactly one of `norad_id` or `name` — supplying both, or neither, is rejected. `name` is matched as a case-insensitive substring of CelesTrak's catalog names, so it resolves only when it picks out a single object: a broader query comes back with the matching objects and their catalog numbers to choose from, and the result echoes the query that resolved it as `resolved_from_name`. Fetches the object's current GP element set from CelesTrak, propagates it with SGP4 in-process, and returns each pass's rise, peak, and set times with azimuths and the peak elevation. Only passes that are naked-eye-plausible are returned — the satellite must be sunlit at peak while the observer's sky is dark. Every returned pass rises within the requested window: a pass already underway at `start` is omitted rather than reported with `start` as its rise, so back up `start` to see it. A `start` further than about a month from the element set's epoch is rejected as out of range on that distance alone, and an element set that will not propagate to a window inside that horizon is rejected as a reentry — so an empty `passes` means only that nothing was visible. CelesTrak publishes only current element sets, so in practice `start` must be within about a month of today. NORAD catalog numbers and catalog names are found at celestrak.org or heavens-above.com. This is a gated, network-backed extension (CelesTrak is keyless but rate-limited; element sets are cached briefly). Default elevation 0 m; pass an IANA timezone for observer-local pass times.

  shallow
• astronomy_get_sky_position

  Compute the apparent topocentric position of one solar-system body (sun, moon, mercury through neptune, pluto) or a named bright star for an observer location and instant. Returns equatorial (RA/Dec), refraction-corrected horizontal (altitude/azimuth), and ecliptic coordinates, plus distance, apparent magnitude, angular diameter, phase angle, illuminated fraction, and the constellation it falls in. For a solar-system body it also returns that body card — classification, mean radius, naked-eye visibility — the same values served at astronomy://body/{body}, so a client without resource support does not need a second surface to reach them; a catalog star has no card and the field is absent. Positions are parallax- and aberration-corrected for the given observer; default elevation is 0 m and the default time is now. Supply `star` (e.g. "Sirius", "Polaris") instead of `body` to target a catalog star; `body` is ignored when `star` is set. Pass an IANA `timezone` to also receive the observer-local time. This server does not geocode — resolve a place name to latitude/longitude upstream first.

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• astronomy_list_visible

  The one-call "what is up right now" answer. For an observer location and instant, iterate every naked-eye solar-system body (and, with include_stars, the bundled bright stars), compute altitude and azimuth, keep those above the horizon, rank them brightest-and-highest first, and attach a plain-language visibility note to each. The whole sky is gated by the Sun's altitude into daylight / civil / nautical / astronomical twilight / dark, returned alongside the list. `time` is a single evaluation instant, not a window — for "tonight" pass a time after astronomical dusk (use astronomy_get_rise_set on the sun to find it). Default elevation 0 m; use min_altitude to skip objects grazing the horizon. This server does not geocode — resolve coordinates upstream first; pass an IANA timezone for observer-local times on each body.

  shallow

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