Archive SIMBAD

CDS astronomical database: basic data, cross-identifications, bibliography and measurements for objects outside the solar system.

Module name: simbad
Python class: astroquery.simbad.Simbad
Functions: 20

Call any function below with the astroquery_execute MCP tool. Descriptions are taken from the upstream astroquery/astropy docstrings.

Function	Summary
`add_votable_fields`	Add columns to the output of a SIMBAD query.
`clear_cache`	Clear the cache of SIMBAD.
`get_field_description`	Displays a description of the VOTable field.
`get_votable_fields`	Display votable fields.
`list_columns`	Get the list of SIMBAD columns.
`list_linked_tables`	Expose the tables that can be non-obviously linked with the given table.
`list_tables`	List the names and descriptions of the tables in SIMBAD.
`list_votable_fields`	List all options to add columns to SIMBAD's output.
`list_wildcards`	Displays the available wildcards that may be used in SIMBAD queries and
`query_bibcode`	Query the references corresponding to a given bibcode.
`query_bibobj`	Query all the objects mentioned in an article.
`query_catalog`	Query a whole catalog.
`query_criteria`	Deprecated: v0.4.8
`query_hierarchy`	Query either the parents or the children of the object.
`query_object`	Query SIMBAD for the given object.
`query_objectids`	Query SIMBAD with an object name.
`query_objects`	Query SIMBAD for the specified list of objects.
`query_region`	Query SIMBAD in a cone around the specified coordinates.
`query_tap`	Query SIMBAD TAP service.
`reset_votable_fields`	Reset the output of the query_*** methods to default.

Functions

`add_votable_fields`

Add columns to the output of a SIMBAD query.

Simbad.add_votable_fields(*args)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="add_votable_fields",
    params={},
)

The list of possible arguments and their description for this method can be printed with list_votable_fields.

The methods affected by this:

query_object,
query_objects,
query_region,
query_catalog,
query_hierarchy,
query_bibobj,
query_criteria.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`*args`	str		The arguments to be added.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> simbad = Simbad()
>>> simbad.add_votable_fields('sp_type', 'sp_qual', 'sp_bibcode')
>>> simbad.get_votable_fields()
['basic.main_id', 'basic.ra', 'basic.dec', 'basic.coo_err_maj', 'basic.coo_err_min', ...

`clear_cache`

Clear the cache of SIMBAD.

Simbad.clear_cache()

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="clear_cache",
    params={},
)

Parameters

No parameters.

`get_field_description`

Displays a description of the VOTable field.

Simbad.get_field_description(field_name)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="get_field_description",
    params={"field_name": "<field_name>"},
)

This can be replaced by the output of list_votable_fields.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`field_name` (required)

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> options = Simbad.list_votable_fields()
>>> description_dimensions = options[options["name"] == "dimensions"]["description"]
>>> description_dimensions.data.data[0]
'all fields related to object dimensions'

`get_votable_fields`

Display votable fields.

Simbad.get_votable_fields()

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="get_votable_fields",
    params={},
)

Parameters

No parameters.

`list_columns`

Get the list of SIMBAD columns.

Simbad.list_columns(*tables: str, keyword=None, get_query_payload=False)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="list_columns",
    params={},
)

Add tables names to restrict to some tables. Call the function without any parameter to get all columns names from all tables. The keyword argument looks for columns in the selected SIMBAD tables that contain the given keyword. The keyword search is not case-sensitive.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`*tables`	str
`keyword`	str	`None`	A keyword to look for in column names, table names, or descriptions.
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.

Returns

Table —

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.list_columns("ids", "ident")
<Table length=4>
table_name column_name datatype ...  unit      ucd
  object      object    object  ... object    object
---------- ----------- -------- ... ------ -----------
     ident          id  VARCHAR ...            meta.id
     ident      oidref   BIGINT ...        meta.record
       ids         ids  VARCHAR ...            meta.id
       ids      oidref   BIGINT ...        meta.record


>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.list_columns(keyword="filter")
<Table length=5>
 table_name column_name   datatype  ...  unit              ucd
   object      object      object   ... object            object
----------- ----------- ----------- ... ------ ---------------------------
     filter description UNICODECHAR ...             meta.note;instr.filter
     filter  filtername     VARCHAR ...        instr.bandpass;instr.filter
     filter        unit     VARCHAR ...                          meta.unit
       flux      filter     VARCHAR ...        instr.bandpass;instr.filter
mesDiameter      filter        CHAR ...        instr.bandpass;instr.filter

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.list_columns("basic", keyword="object")
<Table length=4>
table_name column_name datatype ...  unit         ucd
  object      object    object  ... object       object
---------- ----------- -------- ... ------ -----------------
     basic     main_id  VARCHAR ...        meta.id;meta.main
     basic   otype_txt  VARCHAR ...                src.class
     basic         oid   BIGINT ...              meta.record
     basic       otype  VARCHAR ...                src.class

`list_linked_tables`

Expose the tables that can be non-obviously linked with the given table.

Simbad.list_linked_tables(table: str, *, get_query_payload=False)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="list_linked_tables",
    params={"table": "<table>"},
)

This list contains only the links where the column names are not the same in the two tables. For example every oidref column of any table can be joined with any other oidref. The same goes for every otype column even if this is not returned by this method.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`table` (required)	str		One of SIMBAD's tables name
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.

Returns

Table — The information necessary to join the given table to an other.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.list_linked_tables("otypes")
<Table length=2>
from_table from_column target_table target_column
  object      object      object        object
---------- ----------- ------------ -------------
  otypedef       otype       otypes         otype
    otypes      oidref        basic           oid

`list_tables`

List the names and descriptions of the tables in SIMBAD.

Simbad.list_tables(*, get_query_payload=False)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="list_tables",
    params={},
)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.

Returns

Table —

`list_votable_fields`

List all options to add columns to SIMBAD's output.

Simbad.list_votable_fields()

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="list_votable_fields",
    params={},
)

They are of four types:

"column of basic": a column of the basic table. There fields can also be explored with list_columns.
"table": a table other than basic that has a declared direct join
"bundle of basic columns": a pre-selected bundle of columns of basic. Ex: "parallax" will add all columns relevant to parallax
"filter name": an optical filter name

Parameters

No parameters.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> options = Simbad.list_votable_fields()
>>> # to print only the available bundles of columns
>>> options[options["type"] == "bundle of basic columns"][["name", "description"]]
<Table length=8>
     name                         description
    object                           object
------------- ----------------------------------------------------
  coordinates                  all fields related with coordinates
          dim          major and minor axis, angle and inclination
   dimensions              all fields related to object dimensions
    morphtype         all fields related to the morphological type
     parallax                     all fields related to parallaxes
propermotions           all fields related with the proper motions
           sp            all fields related with the spectral type
     velocity all fields related with radial velocity and redshift

`list_wildcards`

Displays the available wildcards that may be used in SIMBAD queries and

Simbad.list_wildcards()

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="list_wildcards",
    params={},
)

their usage.

Parameters

No parameters.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.list_wildcards()
*: Any string of characters (including an empty one)
?: Any character (exactly one character)
[abc]: Exactly one character taken in the list. Can also be defined by a range of characters: [A-Z]
[^0-9]: Any (one) character not in the list.

`query_bibcode`

Query the references corresponding to a given bibcode.

Simbad.query_bibcode(bibcode, *, wildcard=False, abstract=False, criteria=None, get_query_payload=False, async_job=False, verbose=None, cache=None)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_bibcode",
    params={"bibcode": "<bibcode>"},
)

Wildcards may be used to specify bibcodes.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`bibcode` (required)	str		The bibcode of the article to be queried
`wildcard`	bool, defaults to False	`False`	When it is set to `True` it implies that the object is specified with wildcards.
`abstract`	bool, defaults to False	`False`	When this is set to `True`, the abstract of the article is also included to the result.
`criteria`	str	`None`	Criteria to be applied to the query. These should be written in the ADQL syntax in a single string. See example.
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.
`verbose`		`None`
`cache`		`None`

Returns

Table — Query results table

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> simbad = Simbad()
>>> simbad.ROW_LIMIT = 5
>>> simbad.query_bibcode("2016PhRvL.*", wildcard=True,
...                      criteria="title LIKE '%gravitational wave%coalescence.'")
<Table length=1>
      bibcode                    doi               journal ... volume  year
       object                   object              object ... int32  int16
------------------- ------------------------------ ------- ... ------ -----
2016PhRvL.116x1103A 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.241103   PhRvL ...    116  2016

`query_bibobj`

Query all the objects mentioned in an article.

Simbad.query_bibobj(bibcode, *, criteria=None, get_query_payload=False, async_job=False, verbose=False)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_bibobj",
    params={"bibcode": "<bibcode>"},
)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`bibcode` (required)	str		the bibcode of the article
`criteria`		`None`
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.
`verbose`		`False`

Returns

Table — Query results table

`query_catalog`

Query a whole catalog.

Simbad.query_catalog(catalog, *, criteria=None, get_query_payload=False, async_job=False, verbose=False, cache=True)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_catalog",
    params={"catalog": "<catalog>"},
)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`catalog` (required)	str		The name of the catalog. This is case-dependant.
`criteria`	str	`None`	Criteria to be applied to the query. These should be written in the ADQL syntax in a single string. See example.
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.
`verbose`		`False`
`cache`		`True`

Returns

Table — The result of the query to SIMBAD.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> simbad = Simbad()
>>> simbad.ROW_LIMIT = 5
>>> simbad.query_catalog("GSC", criteria="pmra > 50 and pmra < 100")
<Table length=5>
    main_id            ra       ...     coo_bibcode        catalog_id
                      deg       ...
     object         float64     ...        object            object
--------------- --------------- ... ------------------- ---------------
      HD  26053  61.84326890626 ... 2020yCat.1350....0G GSC 04725-00973
TYC 8454-1081-1 345.11163189562 ... 2020yCat.1350....0G GSC 08454-01081
      HD  10158  24.86286094434 ... 2020yCat.1350....0G GSC 00624-00340
    CD-22  1862  73.17988827324 ... 2020yCat.1350....0G GSC 05911-00222
    BD+02  4434 327.90220788982 ... 2020yCat.1350....0G GSC 00548-00194

Notes

Catalogs can be very large. Configuring SimbadClass.ROW_LIMIT allows to restrict the output.

`query_criteria`

No description in upstream docstring.

Simbad.query_criteria(*args, get_query_payload=False, **kwargs)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_criteria",
    params={},
)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`*args`			String arguments passed directly to SIMBAD's script (e.g., 'region(box, GAL, 10.5 -10.5, 0.5d 0.5d)')
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`**kwargs`			Keyword / value pairs passed to SIMBAD's script engine (e.g., {'otype'='SNR'} will be rendered as otype=SNR)

Returns

Table — Query results table

Examples

Can be replaced by the `criteria` argument that was added in the
other query_*** methods

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad(ROW_LIMIT=5).query_region('M1', '2d', criteria="otype='G..'")
<Table length=5>
  main_id            ra        ... coo_wavelength     coo_bibcode
                    deg        ...
   object         float64      ...      str1             object
------------ ----------------- ... -------------- -------------------
LEDA  136099 85.48166666666667 ...                1996A&AS..117....1S
LEDA  136047 83.66958333333332 ...                1996A&AS..117....1S
LEDA  136057 84.64499999999998 ...                1996A&AS..117....1S
LEDA 1630996 83.99208333333333 ...              O 2003A&A...412...45P
  2MFGC 4574 84.37534166666669 ...              I 2006AJ....131.1163S

Or by custom-written ADQL queries

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.query_tap("SELECT TOP 5 main_id, sp_type"
...                  " FROM basic WHERE sp_type < 'F3'")
<Table length=5>
  main_id   sp_type
   object    object
----------- -------
 HD  24033B     (A)
 HD  70218B     (A)
 HD 128284B   (A/F)
CD-34  5319   (A/F)
  HD  80593   (A0)V

`query_hierarchy`

Query either the parents or the children of the object.

Simbad.query_hierarchy(name, hierarchy, *, detailed_hierarchy=True, criteria=None, get_query_payload=False, async_job=False)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_hierarchy",
    params={"name": "<name>", "hierarchy": "<hierarchy>"},
)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`name` (required)	str		name of the object
`hierarchy` (required)	str		Can take the values "parents" to return the parents of the object (ex: a galaxy cluster is a parent of a galaxy), the value "children" to return the children of an object (ex: stars can be children of a globular cluster), or the value "siblings" to return the object that share a parent with the given one (ex: the stars of an open cluster are all siblings).
`detailed_hierarchy`	bool	`True`	Whether to add the two extra columns 'hierarchy_bibcode' that gives the article in which the hierarchy link is mentioned, and 'membership_certainty'. membership_certainty is an integer that reflects the certainty of the hierarchy link according to the authors. Ranges between 0 and 100 where 100 means that the authors were certain of the classification. Defaults to False.
`criteria`	str	`None`	Criteria to be applied to the query. These should be written in the ADQL syntax in a single string. See example.
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.

Returns

Table — Query results table

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> parent = Simbad.query_hierarchy("2MASS J18511048-0615470",
...                                 detailed_hierarchy=False,
...                                 hierarchy="parents")
>>> parent[["main_id", "ra", "dec"]]
<Table length=1>
 main_id     ra     dec
            deg     deg
  object  float64 float64
--------- ------- -------
NGC  6705 282.766  -6.272

`query_object`

Query SIMBAD for the given object.

Simbad.query_object(object_name, *, wildcard=False, criteria=None, get_query_payload=False, async_job=False, verbose=False)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_object",
    params={"object_name": "<object_name>"},
)

Object names may also be specified with wildcards. See examples below.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`object_name` (required)	str		name of object to be queried.
`wildcard`	boolean	`False`	When it is set to `True` it implies that the object is specified with wildcards. This parameter will render the query case-sensitive. Defaults to `False`.
`criteria`	str	`None`	Criteria to be applied to the query. These should be written in the ADQL syntax in a single string. See example.
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.
`verbose`		`False`

Returns

Table — The result of the query to SIMBAD.

Examples

Get the dimensions of a specific galaxy

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> simbad = Simbad()
>>> simbad.add_votable_fields("dim")
>>> result = simbad.query_object("m101")
>>> result["main_id", "ra", "dec", "galdim_majaxis", "galdim_minaxis", "galdim_bibcode"]
<Table length=1>
main_id         ra           dec    ... galdim_minaxis    galdim_bibcode
               deg           deg    ...     arcmin
 object      float64       float64  ...    float32            object
------- ------------------ -------- ... -------------- -------------------
  M 101 210.80242916666668 54.34875 ...          20.89 2003A&A...412...45P

Get 5 NGC objects that are clusters of stars

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> simbad = Simbad()
>>> simbad.ROW_LIMIT = 5
>>> ngc_clusters = simbad.query_object("NGC*", wildcard=True, criteria="otype='Cl*..'")
>>> ngc_clusters
<Table length=5>
 main_id          ra        ...     coo_bibcode     matched_id
                 deg        ...
  object       float64      ...        object         object
--------- ----------------- ... ------------------- ----------
NGC  2024 85.42916666666667 ... 2003A&A...397..177B  NGC  2024
NGC  1826 76.39174999999999 ... 2011AJ....142...48W  NGC  1826
NGC  2121 87.05495833333332 ... 2011AJ....142...48W  NGC  2121
NGC  2019 82.98533333333333 ... 1999AcA....49..521P  NGC  2019
NGC  1777             73.95 ... 2008MNRAS.389..678B  NGC  1777

`query_objectids`

Query SIMBAD with an object name.

Simbad.query_objectids(object_name, *, criteria=None, get_query_payload=False, async_job=False, verbose=None, cache=None)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_objectids",
    params={"object_name": "<object_name>"},
)

This returns a table of all names associated with that object.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`object_name` (required)	str		name of object to be queried
`criteria`	str	`None`	an additional criteria to constrain the result. As the output of this method has only one column, these criteria can only be imposed on the column `ident.id`.
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.
`verbose`		`None`
`cache`		`None`

Returns

Table — The result of the query to SIMBAD.

Examples

Get all the names of the Bubble Nebula

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.query_objectids("bubble nebula")
<Table length=8>
              id
            object
------------------------------
[ABB2014] WISE G112.212+00.229
                     LBN   548
                     NGC  7635
                     SH  2-162
          [KC97c] G112.2+00.2b
         [L89b] 112.237+00.226
            GRS G112.22 +00.22
            NAME Bubble Nebula

Get the NGC name of M101

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.query_objectids("m101", criteria="ident.id LIKE 'NGC%'")
<Table length=1>
    id
  object
---------
NGC  5457

`query_objects`

Query SIMBAD for the specified list of objects.

Simbad.query_objects(object_names, *, wildcard=False, criteria=None, get_query_payload=False, async_job=False, verbose=False, cache=False)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_objects",
    params={"object_names": "<object_names>"},
)

Object names may be specified with wildcards. If one of the object_names is not found in SIMBAD, the corresponding line is returned empty in the output (see Giga Cluster in the example). In the output, the column user_specified_id is the input object name.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`object_names` (required)	sequence of strs		names of objects to be queried
`wildcard`	boolean	`False`	When `True`, the names may have wildcards in them. Defaults to `False`.
`criteria`	str	`None`	Criteria to be applied to the query. These should be written in the ADQL syntax in a single string. See example.
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.
`verbose`		`False`
`cache`		`False`

Returns

Table — The result of the query to SIMBAD.

Examples

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> clusters = Simbad.query_objects(["Boss Great Wall", "Great Attractor",
...                                  "Giga Cluster", "Coma Supercluster"])
>>> clusters[["main_id", "ra", "dec", "user_specified_id"]]
<Table length=4>
       main_id            ra     dec   user_specified_id
                         deg     deg
        object         float64 float64       object
---------------------- ------- ------- -----------------
  NAME Boss Great Wall   163.0    52.0   Boss Great Wall
  NAME Great Attractor   158.0   -46.0   Great Attractor
                            --      --      Giga Cluster
NAME Coma Supercluster  170.75    23.9 Coma Supercluster

`query_region`

Query SIMBAD in a cone around the specified coordinates.

Simbad.query_region(coordinates, radius=<Quantity 2. arcmin>, *, criteria=None, get_query_payload=False, async_job=False, equinox=None, epoch=None, cache=None)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_region",
    params={"coordinates": "<coordinates>"},
)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`coordinates` (required)	str or `astropy.coordinates` object		The identifier or coordinates around which to query.
`radius`	str or `Quantity`	`<Quantity 2. arcmin>`	the radius of the region. Defaults to 2 arcmin.
`criteria`	str	`None`	Criteria to be applied to the query. These should be written in the ADQL syntax in a single string.
`get_query_payload`	bool	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload. Defaults to `False`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.
`equinox`		`None`
`epoch`		`None`
`cache`		`None`

Returns

Table — The result of the query to SIMBAD.

Examples

Look for largest galaxies in two cones

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> from astropy.coordinates import SkyCoord
>>> simbad = Simbad()
>>> simbad.ROW_LIMIT = 5
>>> simbad.add_votable_fields("otype", "dim")
>>> coordinates = SkyCoord([SkyCoord(186.6, 12.7, unit=("deg", "deg")),
...                         SkyCoord(170.75, 23.9, unit=("deg", "deg"))])
>>> result = simbad.query_region(coordinates, radius="2d5m",
...                              criteria="otype = 'Galaxy..' AND galdim_majaxis>8.5")
>>> result.sort("galdim_majaxis", reverse=True)
>>> result["main_id", "otype", "galdim_majaxis"]
<Table length=5>
  main_id    otype  galdim_majaxis
                        arcmin
   object    object    float32
------------ ------ --------------
LEDA   41362    GiC           11.0
       M  86    GiG          10.47
LEDA   40917    AG?           10.3
       M  87    AGN           9.12
   NGC  4438    LIN           8.91

Notes

It is very inefficient to call this within a loop. Creating an SkyCoord object with a list of coordinates will be way faster.

`query_tap`

Query SIMBAD TAP service.

Simbad.query_tap(query: str, *, maxrec=10000, async_job=False, get_query_payload=False, **uploads)

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="query_tap",
    params={"query": "<query>"},
)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`query` (required)	str		A string containing the query written in the Astronomical Data Query Language (ADQL).
`maxrec`	int, default: 10000	`10000`	The number of records to be returned. Its maximum value is given by `hardlimit`.
`async_job`	bool	`False`	When set to `True`, the query will be executed in asynchronous mode. This is better for very long queries, as it prevents transient failures to abort the query execution. Defaults to `False`.
`get_query_payload`	bool, default=False	`False`	When set to `True` the method returns the HTTP request parameters without querying SIMBAD. The ADQL string is in the 'QUERY' key of the payload.
`**uploads`	`Table` \| `VOTableFile` \| `DALResults`		Any number of local tables to be used in the query. In the query, these tables are referred as TAP_UPLOAD.table_alias where TAP_UPLOAD is imposed and table_alias is the keyword name you chose. The maximum number of lines for the uploaded tables is 200000.

Returns

Table — The response returned by Simbad.

Notes

A TAP (Table Access Protocol) service allows to query data tables with queries written in ADQL (Astronomical Data Query Language), a flavor of the more general SQL (Structured Query Language). For more documentation about writing ADQL queries, you can read its official documentation (ADQL documentation) or the Simbad ADQL cheat sheet. See also: a graphic representation of Simbad's tables and their relations.

See Also

list_tables : The list of SIMBAD's tables. list_columns : SIMBAD's columns list, can be restricted to some tables and some keyword. list_linked_tables : Given a table, expose non-obvious possible joins with other tables.

Examples

To see the five oldest papers referenced in SIMBAD

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.query_tap("SELECT top 5 bibcode, title "
...                  "FROM ref ORDER BY bibcode")
<Table length=5>
      bibcode       ...
       object       ...
------------------- ...
1850CDT..1784..227M ...
1857AN.....45...89S ...
1861MNRAS..21...68B ...
1874MNRAS..34...75S ...
1877AN.....89...13W ...

Get the type for a list of objects

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> Simbad.query_tap("SELECT main_id, otype"
...                  " FROM basic WHERE main_id IN ('m10', 'm13')")
<Table length=2>
main_id otype
 object object
------- ------
  M  10    GlC
  M  13    GlC

Upload a table to use in a query

>>> from astroquery.simbad import Simbad
>>> from astropy.table import Table
>>> letters_table = Table([["a", "b", "c"]], names=["alphabet"])
>>> Simbad.query_tap("SELECT TAP_UPLOAD.my_table_name.* from TAP_UPLOAD.my_table_name",
...                  my_table_name=letters_table)
<Table length=3>
alphabet
  str1
--------
       a
       b
       c

`reset_votable_fields`

Reset the output of the query_*** methods to default.

Simbad.reset_votable_fields()

Call via MCP

astroquery_execute(
    module_name="simbad",
    function_name="reset_votable_fields",
    params={},
)

They will be included in the output of the following methods:

query_object,
query_objects,
query_region,
query_catalog,
query_hierarchy,
query_bibobj,
query_criteria.

Parameters

No parameters.

Auto-generated from source docstrings on each release. Do not edit here — changes are overwritten.

astroquery-mcp v0.1.0

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Archive SIMBAD

Functions

add_votable_fields

clear_cache

get_field_description

get_votable_fields

list_columns

list_linked_tables

list_tables

list_votable_fields

list_wildcards

query_bibcode

query_bibobj

query_catalog

query_criteria

query_hierarchy

query_object

query_objectids

query_objects

query_region

query_tap

reset_votable_fields

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Clone this wiki locally

`add_votable_fields`

`clear_cache`

`get_field_description`

`get_votable_fields`

`list_columns`

`list_linked_tables`

`list_tables`

`list_votable_fields`

`list_wildcards`

`query_bibcode`

`query_bibobj`

`query_catalog`

`query_criteria`

`query_hierarchy`

`query_object`

`query_objectids`

`query_objects`

`query_region`

`query_tap`

`reset_votable_fields`