astronomy-mcp-server: list visible bodies
astronomy_list_visibleThe 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, along with its angular distance from the Sun. The whole sky is gated by the Sun's altitude into daylight / civil / nautical / astronomical twilight / dark, returned alongside the list, and each note says when daylight, civil twilight, or the Sun's glare hides or dims that body. 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.
Tool call template
Replace each placeholder with a value matching the input schema. Only required parameters are included; add optional parameters as needed.
{
"id": 1,
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"arguments": {
"latitude": "<latitude>",
"longitude": "<longitude>"
},
"name": "astronomy_list_visible"
}
}Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| time | No | Evaluation instant as an ISO 8601 UTC string, e.g. "2024-08-12T05:00:00Z". Defaults to now. A single instant, not a window. A value with no zone designator is read as UTC, not the local zone of the server process. | |
| latitude | Yes | Observer latitude in decimal degrees, north positive. | |
| timezone | No | IANA timezone for localized output, e.g. "America/Los_Angeles". When omitted, output is UTC-only. | |
| elevation | No | Observer elevation in meters above sea level. Default 0. | |
| longitude | Yes | Observer longitude in decimal degrees, east positive. | |
| min_altitude | No | Minimum altitude in degrees to include a body. Default 0 (above the horizon); use e.g. 5 to require clearance. | |
| include_stars | No | Include the bundled bright stars alongside planets. Default false. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| error | No | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. | |
| bodies | No | Every body (and optional star) above the minimum-altitude filter, ranked brightest-and-highest first. | |
| total_count | No | Number of bodies returned above the minimum-altitude filter. | |
| sky_condition | No | Sky condition derived from the Sun's altitude — the gate for whether faint objects are observable. | |
| sun_altitude_degrees | No | The Sun's altitude in degrees that produced the sky condition. |