COBS - Comet OBServation database

COBS API help

Orbital Elements API

Version: 1.2 (2024 Mar 29)

Orbital Elements API provides a method of requesting machine-readable data for a set of comet orbital elements in different formats to be used with astronomical software.

HTTP Request

GET https://cobs.si/api/elements.api

Example Queries

https://cobs.si/api/elements.api?format=mpc&type=C&mag=obs
https://cobs.si/api/elements.api?format=ephem&type=P&is-observed=true&mag=orb
https://cobs.si/api/elements.api?format=mpc&id=2410&mag=obs
https://cobs.si/api/elements.api?format=ephem&des=2023A3&mag=obs

Query Parameters

All parameters are optional. If non are specified the list of all comets will be returned by the query.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
format	string	mpc	orbital elements output format: mpc - 1-line mpc format ephem - ephem format
id	int		comet object ID
des	string		object designation (e.g., 141P, 73P-C, C/1995 O1); comet designations can be entered as a short MPC comet name (e.g., 141P, 73P/C, C/1995 O1) or as ICQ comet name (e.g., 0141, 0073a, 1995O1)
type	char		comet type (e.g. P, N, C, I, A or M)
mag	string	orb	source obs magnitude parameters: obs - calculated based on observations orb - taken from mpc orbital elements
is-observed	boolean	false	include only comets that have observations stored in COBS database
is-active	boolean	true	include only comets that are active in the COBS database

Normal Data Payload

The orbital elements API always returns the data payload in a text file.
The following example query https://cobs.si/api/elements.api?format=mpc&type=P&mag=orb returns the orbital element of all periodic comets in COBS database in MPC 1-line format.


0001P         1986 02 17.8000  0.600835  0.966381  112.0045   59.0786  162.2117  20220509   4.0  6.0  1P/Halley                                                98, 1083
0002P         2023 10 20.9817  0.335205  0.848964  186.9365  334.3748   11.5636  20220509  11.4  4.2  2P/Encke                                                 MPEC 2021-TD0
0004P         2021 09  8.8590  1.618955  0.576704  207.0142  192.9279    8.0085  20220509   8.8  4.1  4P/Faye                                                  MPEC 2022-J42
0006P         2021 09 17.7481  1.354497  0.612673  178.0829  138.9336   19.5122  20220509  -0.7 16.0  6P/d'Arrest                                              MPEC 2022-ED3
0007P         2021 05 27.0834  1.233506  0.638495  172.5743   93.3487   22.3646  20220509  12.5  3.8  7P/Pons-Winnecke                                         MPEC 2021-Y10
0008P         2021 08 27.7290  1.025953  0.820189  207.4849  270.2001   54.9129  20220509   6.9  6.9  8P/Tuttle                                                MPEC 2022-HC2
0009P         2022 03 04.9489  1.544233  0.509152  179.3490   68.7140   10.4700  20220121   5.5 10.0  9P/Tempel
0010P         2021 03 24.2438  1.412626  0.538469  195.4991  117.8097   12.0392  20220121   5.0 10.0  10P/Tempel

HTTP Response Codes

All errors are returned via appropriate HTTP response codes.

HTTP Code	Description	Typical Usage
200	OK	normal successful result for a query: object data returned (an error message is returned if the object was not found)
400	Bad Request	the request contained invalid keywords and/or content: details returned
500	Internal Server Error	the database is not available at the time of the request

Change Log

Version 1.2 (2024 Mar)

Added options to select individual comets by designation or object id

Version 1.1 (2022 Feb)

Added an option to select magnitude parameter source

Version 1.0 (2022 May)

Initial release

Orbital Elements API

Version: 1.2 (2024 Mar 29)

Orbital Elements API provides a method of requesting machine-readable data for a set of comet orbital elements in different formats to be used with astronomical software.

HTTP Request

GET https://cobs.si/api/elements.api

Example Queries

Query Parameters

All parameters are optional. If non are specified the list of all comets will be returned by the query.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
format	string	mpc	orbital elements output format: mpc - 1-line mpc format ephem - ephem format
id	int		comet object ID
des	string		object designation (e.g., 141P, 73P-C, C/1995 O1); comet designations can be entered as a short MPC comet name (e.g., 141P, 73P/C, C/1995 O1) or as ICQ comet name (e.g., 0141, 0073a, 1995O1)
type	char		comet type (e.g. P, N, C, I, A or M)
mag	string	orb	source obs magnitude parameters: obs - calculated based on observations orb - taken from mpc orbital elements
is-observed	boolean	false	include only comets that have observations stored in COBS database
is-active	boolean	true	include only comets that are active in the COBS database

Normal Data Payload


0001P         1986 02 17.8000  0.600835  0.966381  112.0045   59.0786  162.2117  20220509   4.0  6.0  1P/Halley                                                98, 1083
0002P         2023 10 20.9817  0.335205  0.848964  186.9365  334.3748   11.5636  20220509  11.4  4.2  2P/Encke                                                 MPEC 2021-TD0
0004P         2021 09  8.8590  1.618955  0.576704  207.0142  192.9279    8.0085  20220509   8.8  4.1  4P/Faye                                                  MPEC 2022-J42
0006P         2021 09 17.7481  1.354497  0.612673  178.0829  138.9336   19.5122  20220509  -0.7 16.0  6P/d'Arrest                                              MPEC 2022-ED3
0007P         2021 05 27.0834  1.233506  0.638495  172.5743   93.3487   22.3646  20220509  12.5  3.8  7P/Pons-Winnecke                                         MPEC 2021-Y10
0008P         2021 08 27.7290  1.025953  0.820189  207.4849  270.2001   54.9129  20220509   6.9  6.9  8P/Tuttle                                                MPEC 2022-HC2
0009P         2022 03 04.9489  1.544233  0.509152  179.3490   68.7140   10.4700  20220121   5.5 10.0  9P/Tempel
0010P         2021 03 24.2438  1.412626  0.538469  195.4991  117.8097   12.0392  20220121   5.0 10.0  10P/Tempel

HTTP Response Codes

All errors are returned via appropriate HTTP response codes.

HTTP Code	Description	Typical Usage
200	OK	normal successful result for a query: object data returned (an error message is returned if the object was not found)
400	Bad Request	the request contained invalid keywords and/or content: details returned
500	Internal Server Error	the database is not available at the time of the request

Change Log

Version 1.2 (2024 Mar)

Added options to select individual comets by designation or object id

Version 1.1 (2022 Feb)

Added an option to select magnitude parameter source

Version 1.0 (2022 May)

Initial release

Orbital Elements API

Version: 1.2 (2024 Mar 29)

Orbital Elements API provides a method of requesting machine-readable data for a set of comet orbital elements in different formats to be used with astronomical software.

HTTP Request

GET https://cobs.si/api/elements.api

Example Queries

Query Parameters

All parameters are optional. If non are specified the list of all comets will be returned by the query.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
format	string	mpc	orbital elements output format: mpc - 1-line mpc format ephem - ephem format
id	int		comet object ID
des	string		object designation (e.g., 141P, 73P-C, C/1995 O1); comet designations can be entered as a short MPC comet name (e.g., 141P, 73P/C, C/1995 O1) or as ICQ comet name (e.g., 0141, 0073a, 1995O1)
type	char		comet type (e.g. P, N, C, I, A or M)
mag	string	orb	source obs magnitude parameters: obs - calculated based on observations orb - taken from mpc orbital elements
is-observed	boolean	false	include only comets that have observations stored in COBS database
is-active	boolean	true	include only comets that are active in the COBS database

Normal Data Payload


0001P         1986 02 17.8000  0.600835  0.966381  112.0045   59.0786  162.2117  20220509   4.0  6.0  1P/Halley                                                98, 1083
0002P         2023 10 20.9817  0.335205  0.848964  186.9365  334.3748   11.5636  20220509  11.4  4.2  2P/Encke                                                 MPEC 2021-TD0
0004P         2021 09  8.8590  1.618955  0.576704  207.0142  192.9279    8.0085  20220509   8.8  4.1  4P/Faye                                                  MPEC 2022-J42
0006P         2021 09 17.7481  1.354497  0.612673  178.0829  138.9336   19.5122  20220509  -0.7 16.0  6P/d'Arrest                                              MPEC 2022-ED3
0007P         2021 05 27.0834  1.233506  0.638495  172.5743   93.3487   22.3646  20220509  12.5  3.8  7P/Pons-Winnecke                                         MPEC 2021-Y10
0008P         2021 08 27.7290  1.025953  0.820189  207.4849  270.2001   54.9129  20220509   6.9  6.9  8P/Tuttle                                                MPEC 2022-HC2
0009P         2022 03 04.9489  1.544233  0.509152  179.3490   68.7140   10.4700  20220121   5.5 10.0  9P/Tempel
0010P         2021 03 24.2438  1.412626  0.538469  195.4991  117.8097   12.0392  20220121   5.0 10.0  10P/Tempel

HTTP Response Codes

All errors are returned via appropriate HTTP response codes.

HTTP Code	Description	Typical Usage
200	OK	normal successful result for a query: object data returned (an error message is returned if the object was not found)
400	Bad Request	the request contained invalid keywords and/or content: details returned
500	Internal Server Error	the database is not available at the time of the request

Change Log

Version 1.2 (2024 Mar)

Added options to select individual comets by designation or object id

Version 1.1 (2022 Feb)

Added an option to select magnitude parameter source

Version 1.0 (2022 May)

Initial release

Orbital Elements API

Version: 1.2 (2024 Mar 29)

Orbital Elements API provides a method of requesting machine-readable data for a set of comet orbital elements in different formats to be used with astronomical software.

HTTP Request

GET https://cobs.si/api/elements.api

Example Queries

Query Parameters

All parameters are optional. If non are specified the list of all comets will be returned by the query.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
format	string	mpc	orbital elements output format: mpc - 1-line mpc format ephem - ephem format
id	int		comet object ID
des	string		object designation (e.g., 141P, 73P-C, C/1995 O1); comet designations can be entered as a short MPC comet name (e.g., 141P, 73P/C, C/1995 O1) or as ICQ comet name (e.g., 0141, 0073a, 1995O1)
type	char		comet type (e.g. P, N, C, I, A or M)
mag	string	orb	source obs magnitude parameters: obs - calculated based on observations orb - taken from mpc orbital elements
is-observed	boolean	false	include only comets that have observations stored in COBS database
is-active	boolean	true	include only comets that are active in the COBS database

Normal Data Payload


0001P         1986 02 17.8000  0.600835  0.966381  112.0045   59.0786  162.2117  20220509   4.0  6.0  1P/Halley                                                98, 1083
0002P         2023 10 20.9817  0.335205  0.848964  186.9365  334.3748   11.5636  20220509  11.4  4.2  2P/Encke                                                 MPEC 2021-TD0
0004P         2021 09  8.8590  1.618955  0.576704  207.0142  192.9279    8.0085  20220509   8.8  4.1  4P/Faye                                                  MPEC 2022-J42
0006P         2021 09 17.7481  1.354497  0.612673  178.0829  138.9336   19.5122  20220509  -0.7 16.0  6P/d'Arrest                                              MPEC 2022-ED3
0007P         2021 05 27.0834  1.233506  0.638495  172.5743   93.3487   22.3646  20220509  12.5  3.8  7P/Pons-Winnecke                                         MPEC 2021-Y10
0008P         2021 08 27.7290  1.025953  0.820189  207.4849  270.2001   54.9129  20220509   6.9  6.9  8P/Tuttle                                                MPEC 2022-HC2
0009P         2022 03 04.9489  1.544233  0.509152  179.3490   68.7140   10.4700  20220121   5.5 10.0  9P/Tempel
0010P         2021 03 24.2438  1.412626  0.538469  195.4991  117.8097   12.0392  20220121   5.0 10.0  10P/Tempel

HTTP Response Codes

All errors are returned via appropriate HTTP response codes.

HTTP Code	Description	Typical Usage
200	OK	normal successful result for a query: object data returned (an error message is returned if the object was not found)
400	Bad Request	the request contained invalid keywords and/or content: details returned
500	Internal Server Error	the database is not available at the time of the request

Change Log

Version 1.2 (2024 Mar)

Added options to select individual comets by designation or object id

Version 1.1 (2022 Feb)

Added an option to select magnitude parameter source

Version 1.0 (2022 May)

Initial release

Orbital Elements API

Version: 1.2 (2024 Mar 29)

Orbital Elements API provides a method of requesting machine-readable data for a set of comet orbital elements in different formats to be used with astronomical software.

HTTP Request

GET https://cobs.si/api/elements.api

Example Queries

Query Parameters

All parameters are optional. If non are specified the list of all comets will be returned by the query.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
format	string	mpc	orbital elements output format: mpc - 1-line mpc format ephem - ephem format
id	int		comet object ID
des	string		object designation (e.g., 141P, 73P-C, C/1995 O1); comet designations can be entered as a short MPC comet name (e.g., 141P, 73P/C, C/1995 O1) or as ICQ comet name (e.g., 0141, 0073a, 1995O1)
type	char		comet type (e.g. P, N, C, I, A or M)
mag	string	orb	source obs magnitude parameters: obs - calculated based on observations orb - taken from mpc orbital elements
is-observed	boolean	false	include only comets that have observations stored in COBS database
is-active	boolean	true	include only comets that are active in the COBS database

Normal Data Payload


0001P         1986 02 17.8000  0.600835  0.966381  112.0045   59.0786  162.2117  20220509   4.0  6.0  1P/Halley                                                98, 1083
0002P         2023 10 20.9817  0.335205  0.848964  186.9365  334.3748   11.5636  20220509  11.4  4.2  2P/Encke                                                 MPEC 2021-TD0
0004P         2021 09  8.8590  1.618955  0.576704  207.0142  192.9279    8.0085  20220509   8.8  4.1  4P/Faye                                                  MPEC 2022-J42
0006P         2021 09 17.7481  1.354497  0.612673  178.0829  138.9336   19.5122  20220509  -0.7 16.0  6P/d'Arrest                                              MPEC 2022-ED3
0007P         2021 05 27.0834  1.233506  0.638495  172.5743   93.3487   22.3646  20220509  12.5  3.8  7P/Pons-Winnecke                                         MPEC 2021-Y10
0008P         2021 08 27.7290  1.025953  0.820189  207.4849  270.2001   54.9129  20220509   6.9  6.9  8P/Tuttle                                                MPEC 2022-HC2
0009P         2022 03 04.9489  1.544233  0.509152  179.3490   68.7140   10.4700  20220121   5.5 10.0  9P/Tempel
0010P         2021 03 24.2438  1.412626  0.538469  195.4991  117.8097   12.0392  20220121   5.0 10.0  10P/Tempel

HTTP Response Codes

All errors are returned via appropriate HTTP response codes.

HTTP Code	Description	Typical Usage
200	OK	normal successful result for a query: object data returned (an error message is returned if the object was not found)
400	Bad Request	the request contained invalid keywords and/or content: details returned
500	Internal Server Error	the database is not available at the time of the request

Change Log

Version 1.2 (2024 Mar)

Added options to select individual comets by designation or object id

Version 1.1 (2022 Feb)

Added an option to select magnitude parameter source

Version 1.0 (2022 May)

Initial release