🔭 SIMBAD Astronomical Objects Scraper

🚀 Export astronomical objects in seconds. Pull stars, galaxies, quasars, clusters, and nebulae from the SIMBAD database with coordinates, object type, magnitudes, parallax, radial velocity, and dozens of cross identifiers per object.

🕒 Last updated: 2026-06-05 · 📊 25 fields per record · queries the full SIMBAD catalog of 19+ million objects · global all-sky coverage

SIMBAD (Set of Identifications, Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data), maintained by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS), is the reference database for objects beyond the Solar System. This Actor queries the official SIMBAD TAP service using ADQL and returns clean, structured records ready for analysis.

Coverage: stars, double and multiple stars, variable stars, white dwarfs, galaxies, quasars, active galactic nuclei, galaxy clusters, star clusters, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, supernova remnants, HII regions, and more. Each record carries equatorial coordinates in degrees, the object type, spectral and morphological types when known, optical and infrared magnitudes (U, B, V, R, G, J, H, K), parallax, radial velocity, redshift, proper motion, and the full list of cross identifiers (HD, HIP, Gaia, 2MASS, TYC, NGC, and many catalog designations).

🎯 Target Audience	💡 Primary Use Cases
Astronomers and astrophysicists	Building target lists and observing plans
Data scientists and researchers	Cross matching catalogs by identifier
Educators and students	Teaching datasets and class projects
Planetarium and outreach teams	Populating sky atlases and visualizations
Amateur astronomers	Finding objects by type, position, or brightness

📋 What the SIMBAD Astronomical Objects Scraper does

This Actor talks to the SIMBAD TAP sync endpoint and runs an ADQL query against the basic table joined with the allfluxes table. You can supply your own ADQL query for full control, or use the built in filters to select by object type, by text contained in the main identifier, and to require a measured V magnitude. For every returned object the Actor also fetches the complete list of cross identifiers from the ident table, so you get every catalog name an object is known by.

🎬 Full Demo (🚧 Coming soon)

⚙️ Input

Field	Type	Description
adqlQuery	string	Optional custom ADQL query. Overrides the filters when provided.
objectType	select	Filter by SIMBAD object type code (G, QSO, PM*, EB*, and more).
nameContains	string	Return only objects whose main identifier contains this text.
requireMagnitude	boolean	Keep only objects that have a measured V band magnitude.
maxItems	integer	Maximum number of objects to return.

Example 1 — default run (mixed object types):

{
  "maxItems": 10
}

Example 2 — galaxies with a custom ADQL query:

{
  "adqlQuery": "SELECT TOP 50 b.oid, b.main_id, b.ra, b.dec, b.otype, b.otype_txt, b.sp_type, b.morph_type, b.plx_value, b.plx_err, b.rvz_radvel, b.rvz_redshift, b.pmra, b.pmdec, b.nbref, f.U, f.B, f.V, f.R, f.G, f.J, f.H, f.K FROM basic AS b LEFT JOIN allfluxes AS f ON b.oid = f.oidref WHERE b.otype = 'G' AND b.morph_type IS NOT NULL"
}

⚠️ Good to Know: when you provide a custom adqlQuery, keep the b.oid and b.main_id columns in your SELECT so the Actor can attach cross identifiers and build the SIMBAD link. Many fields are populated only for certain object types. Morphological type is set for galaxies, while spectral type and parallax are set for stars, so a field can be null for objects where it does not apply.

📊 Output

Field	Type	Description
🌟 mainId	string	Primary SIMBAD identifier for the object
🔭 objectType	string	SIMBAD object type code (otype)
📝 objectTypeText	string	Object type text label
↔ ra	number	Right ascension in degrees (ICRS, J2000)
↕ dec	number	Declination in degrees (ICRS, J2000)
🌈 spectralType	string	MK spectral type when known
🌀 morphType	string	Morphological type when known
✨ magU..magK	number	Magnitudes in U, B, V, R, G, J, H, K bands
📐 parallax	number	Trigonometric parallax in mas
📐 parallaxError	number	Parallax uncertainty in mas
💨 radialVelocity	number	Radial velocity in km/s
🔴 redshift	number	Redshift value
➡ properMotionRa	number	Proper motion in RA in mas/yr
⬆ properMotionDec	number	Proper motion in Dec in mas/yr
📚 referenceCount	number	Number of bibliographic references
🔗 crossIds	array	All catalog cross identifiers
🔗 simbadUrl	string	Direct link to the SIMBAD object page
🕒 scrapedAt	string	ISO timestamp of the run
❌ error	string	Error message, null on success

Real sample records:

{
  "mainId": "BD+37  4133",
  "objectType": "**",
  "objectTypeText": "**",
  "ra": 314.92613800000004,
  "dec": 37.87467169999999,
  "spectralType": "A0",
  "magV": 9.826,
  "magR": 9.659,
  "magJ": 8.463,
  "magH": 8.073,
  "magK": 7.974,
  "referenceCount": 3,
  "crossIds": ["TIC 196017734", "WISE J205942.23+375228.8", "AG+37 2059", "BD+37  4133", "SAO  70769", "2MASS J20594224+3752287"],
  "simbadUrl": "https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=BD%2B37%20%204133",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-05T15:56:40.781Z",
  "error": null
}

{
  "mainId": "HD 200207",
  "objectType": "*",
  "objectTypeText": "*",
  "ra": 315.22241304871994,
  "dec": 37.65310830967999,
  "spectralType": "G5",
  "magB": 9.09,
  "magV": 8.11,
  "magG": 7.84362,
  "magJ": 6.335,
  "parallax": 3.4084,
  "parallaxError": 0.0195,
  "radialVelocity": 5.22,
  "redshift": 0.000017412197361732495,
  "properMotionRa": 19.017,
  "properMotionDec": 3.95,
  "referenceCount": 11,
  "crossIds": ["TIC 269497348", "Gaia DR3 1871684217181831424", "HD 200207", "HIP 103706", "SAO  70788", "2MASS J21005337+3739112"],
  "simbadUrl": "https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=HD%20200207",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-05T15:56:40.959Z",
  "error": null
}

{
  "mainId": "BD+37  4147",
  "objectType": "*",
  "objectTypeText": "*",
  "ra": 315.46926444354995,
  "dec": 37.6922044829,
  "spectralType": "F2",
  "magB": 10.3,
  "magV": 9.92,
  "magG": 9.830046,
  "magJ": 9.079,
  "parallax": 1.7737,
  "parallaxError": 0.0126,
  "properMotionRa": -0.883,
  "properMotionDec": -3.495,
  "referenceCount": 3,
  "crossIds": ["TIC 314385101", "Gaia DR3 1871705417141219712", "BD+37  4147", "TYC 3168-19-1", "2MASS J21015262+3741318"],
  "simbadUrl": "https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=BD%2B37%20%204147",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-05T15:56:41.117Z",
  "error": null
}

✨ Why choose this Actor

• Queries the official SIMBAD TAP service, the same data professional astronomers rely on.
• Full ADQL passthrough for advanced queries plus simple filters for everyone else.
• Cross identifiers attached automatically, so you can cross match against any catalog.
• Clean field names and consistent structure for every object type.
• No API keys to manage. The Actor handles the endpoint and a mirror host for resilience.

📈 How it compares to alternatives

Approach	Cross IDs	ADQL control	Structured output	Maintenance
This Actor	Yes, every object	Full	Yes	None for you
Manual web form export	Limited	Partial	Tedious	Manual
Raw TAP scripting	You build it	Full	You build it	You maintain it

🚀 How to use

1. Sign up for a free Apify account using this link.
2. Open the SIMBAD Astronomical Objects Scraper.
3. Choose an object type or paste your own ADQL query, and set how many objects you want.
4. Click Start and watch records arrive in your dataset.
5. View the results in the table or pull them through the Apify API for your pipeline.

💼 Business use cases

Research and survey planning

Need	How this helps
Target selection	Filter by type, brightness, or position
Catalog cross match	Map objects across HD, Gaia, 2MASS, and more

Data products and tooling

Need	How this helps
Sky atlas content	Populate maps with coordinates and types
Reference enrichment	Attach magnitudes and parallax to your objects

Education and outreach

Need	How this helps
Class datasets	Ready made tables of real astronomical objects
Planetarium shows	Curated object lists by type and visibility

Engineering and analytics

Need	How this helps
Pipeline ingestion	Stable structured records for your warehouse
Quality checks	Compare your catalog against SIMBAD values

🔌 Automating SIMBAD Astronomical Objects Scraper

Connect the Actor to Make, Zapier, Slack, Airbyte, GitHub, and Google Drive through the Apify integrations. Trigger runs on a schedule, push fresh object lists to a spreadsheet, post new matches to a Slack channel, or sync results into your database with the Apify API and webhooks.

🌟 Beyond business use cases

• Research: assemble samples for population studies and statistics.
• Personal: plan a night of observing around bright objects in your sky.
• Non-profit: build open teaching resources for astronomy clubs.
• Experimentation: prototype cross matching and classification models.

🤖 Ask an AI assistant

Paste your results into ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Microsoft Copilot and ask it to group objects by type, summarize the magnitude distribution, or suggest follow up queries.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What is SIMBAD? SIMBAD is the astronomical database maintained by CDS in Strasbourg, the reference for objects outside the Solar System.

Do I need an API key? No. The Actor uses the public TAP service and falls back to a mirror host automatically.

Can I write my own query? Yes. Provide an ADQL query in the input and it overrides the filters.

Which coordinate system is used? Right ascension and declination are in degrees, ICRS, epoch J2000.

Why are some fields null? Many measurements apply only to certain object types. Morphological type is set for galaxies, while spectral type and parallax are set for stars.

What magnitudes are included? U, B, V, R, G, J, H, and K when available for the object.

What are cross identifiers? Every alternative catalog name for an object, such as HD, HIP, Gaia, 2MASS, and TYC designations.

How many objects can I get? Free accounts return up to 10 objects per run. Paid accounts can return up to 1,000,000.

Can I filter by object type without ADQL? Yes. Use the object type selector and the identifier text filter.

Is the data official? Yes. It comes straight from the SIMBAD TAP service operated by CDS.

🔌 Integrate with any app

Use the Apify API, webhooks, and scheduler to plug the Actor into your stack. Run it on a cadence, react to finished runs, and deliver objects wherever your team works.

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💡 Pro Tip: browse the complete ParseForge collection.

🆘 Need Help? Open our contact form

⚠️ Disclaimer: independent tool, not affiliated with SIMBAD or CDS Strasbourg. Only publicly available data collected.