Planet Positions is a simple tool for getting the position of planets in the solar system. It returns the position of planets in the solar system.
To use this API, you need an API key. You can get one by creating a free account and visiting your dashboard.
This is a required header on every request. Your API Key is found from within your dashboard
This is an optional header. Set the value to application/json, application/xml, or application/yaml
date(required)The date and time to get planetary position data for (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)
latnumber(required)The latitude of the observer to get planetary position data for
lonnumber(required)The longitude of the observer to get planetary position data for
altnumber(required)The altitude of the observer to get planetary position data for (in meters)
planetstring(required)The planet to get planetary position data for (e.g. sun, moon, mercury, venus, mars, jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune, pluto)
Sample Request
import requests
url = "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/planetpositions"
payload = { "planet": "Moon", "date": "2025-04-15 10:37:00", "lat": 37.7749, "lon": -122.4194, "alt": 52 }
headers = {
"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
}
response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
print(response.json())
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
var client = new HttpClient();
var request = new HttpRequestMessage
{
Method = HttpMethod.Post,
RequestUri = new Uri("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/planetpositions"),
Headers =
{
{ "x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY" }
},
Content = new StringContent("{ \"planet\": \"Moon\", \"date\": \"2025-04-15 "10:37:00\"", \"lat\": 37.7749, \"lon\": -122.4194, \"alt\": 52 }")
{
Headers =
{
ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/json")
}
}
};
using (var response = await client.SendAsync(request))
{
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
Console.WriteLine(body);
}
const data = JSON.stringify({ "planet": "Moon", "date": "2025-04-15 10:37:00", "lat": 37.7749, "lon": -122.4194, "alt": 52 });
const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.withCredentials = true;
xhr.addEventListener('readystatechange', function () {
if (this.readyState === this.DONE) {
console.log(this.responseText);
}
});
xhr.open('POST', 'https://api.apiverve.com/v1/planetpositions');
xhr.setRequestHeader('x-api-key', 'YOUR_API_KEY');
xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
xhr.setRequestHeader('Accept', 'application/json');
xhr.send(data);
const request = require('request');
const options = {
method: 'POST',
url: 'https://api.apiverve.com/v1/planetpositions',
headers: {
'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
Accept: 'application/json'
},
body: { "planet": "Moon", "date": "2025-04-15 10:37:00", "lat": 37.7749, "lon": -122.4194, "alt": 52 },
json: true
};
request(options, function (error, response, body) {
if (error) throw new Error(error);
console.log(body);
});
HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
.uri(URI.create("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/planetpositions"))
.header("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
.header("Content-Type", "application/json")
.header("Accept", "application/json")
.method("POST", HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString("{ \"planet\": \"Moon\", \"date\": \"2025-04-15 "10:37:00\"", \"lat\": 37.7749, \"lon\": -122.4194, \"alt\": 52 }"))
.build();
HttpResponse response = HttpClient.newHttpClient().send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
System.out.println(response.body());
import Foundation
let headers = [
"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
]
let parameters = ["planet" : "Moon", "date" : "2025-04-15 10:37:00", "lat" : 37.7749, "lon" : -122.4194, "alt" : 52,] as [String : Any]
let postData = JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: parameters, options: [])
let request = NSMutableURLRequest(url: NSURL(string: "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/planetpositions")! as URL,
cachePolicy: .useProtocolCachePolicy,
timeoutInterval: 10.0)
request.httpMethod = "POST"
request.allHTTPHeaderFields = headers
request.httpBody = postData as Data
let session = URLSession.shared
let dataTask = session.dataTask(with: request as URLRequest, completionHandler: { (data, response, error) -> Void in
if (error != nil) {
print(error as Any)
} else {
let httpResponse = response as? HTTPURLResponse
print(httpResponse)
}
})
dataTask.resume()
curl --request POST \
--url https://api.apiverve.com/v1/planetpositions \
--header 'Accept: application/json' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
--data '{ "planet": "Moon", "date": "2025-04-15 10:37:00", "lat": 37.7749, "lon": -122.4194, "alt": 52 }'
Sample Response
{
"status": "ok",
"error": null,
"data": {
"planet": "Moon",
"isBelowHorizon": false,
"date": "2025-04-15T10:37:00Z",
"observer": {
"latitude": 37.7749,
"longitude": -122.4194
},
"rightAscension": {
"hours": 15,
"minutes": 13,
"seconds": 11
},
"declination": {
"degrees": -23,
"minutes": 10,
"seconds": 56
},
"distance": {
"km": 402457.36,
"lightTravelSeconds": 1.342,
"astronomicalUnits": 0.003
},
"siderealTime": {
"hours": 16,
"minutes": 2,
"seconds": 42
},
"hourAngle": {
"hours": 0,
"minutes": 49,
"seconds": 31
},
"vectors": {
"x": -0.0016452947779903913,
"y": -0.0018463324771434563,
"z": -0.0010590407236111441
}
},
"code": 200
}
<Root>
<status>ok</status>
<error />
<data>
<planet>Moon</planet>
<isBelowHorizon>false</isBelowHorizon>
<date>2025-04-15T10:37:00Z</date>
<observer>
<latitude>37.7749</latitude>
<longitude>-122.4194</longitude>
</observer>
<rightAscension>
<hours>15</hours>
<minutes>13</minutes>
<seconds>11</seconds>
</rightAscension>
<declination>
<degrees>-23</degrees>
<minutes>10</minutes>
<seconds>56</seconds>
</declination>
<distance>
<km>402457.36</km>
<lightTravelSeconds>1.342</lightTravelSeconds>
<astronomicalUnits>0.003</astronomicalUnits>
</distance>
<siderealTime>
<hours>16</hours>
<minutes>2</minutes>
<seconds>42</seconds>
</siderealTime>
<hourAngle>
<hours>0</hours>
<minutes>49</minutes>
<seconds>31</seconds>
</hourAngle>
<vectors>
<x>-0.0016452947779903913</x>
<y>-0.0018463324771434563</y>
<z>-0.0010590407236111441</z>
</vectors>
</data>
<code>200</code>
</Root>
status: ok
error:
data:
planet: Moon
isBelowHorizon: false
date: 2025-04-15T10:37:00.0000000Z
observer:
latitude: 37.7749
longitude: -122.4194
rightAscension:
hours: 15
minutes: 13
seconds: 11
declination:
degrees: -23
minutes: 10
seconds: 56
distance:
km: 402457.36
lightTravelSeconds: 1.342
astronomicalUnits: 0.003
siderealTime:
hours: 16
minutes: 2
seconds: 42
hourAngle:
hours: 0
minutes: 49
seconds: 31
vectors:
x: -0.00164529477799039
y: -0.00184633247714346
z: -0.00105904072361114
code: 200
{
"$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#",
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"status": {
"type": "string"
},
"error": {},
"data": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/Data"
},
"code": {
"type": "integer"
}
},
"definitions": {
"Data": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"planet": {
"type": "string"
},
"isBelowHorizon": {
"type": "boolean"
},
"date": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date-time"
},
"observer": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/Observer"
},
"rightAscension": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/RightAscension"
},
"declination": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/Declination"
},
"distance": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/Distance"
},
"siderealTime": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/RightAscension"
},
"hourAngle": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/RightAscension"
},
"vectors": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/Vectors"
}
}
},
"Observer": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"latitude": {
"type": "number"
},
"longitude": {
"type": "number"
}
}
},
"RightAscension": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"hours": {
"type": "integer"
},
"minutes": {
"type": "integer"
},
"seconds": {
"type": "integer"
}
}
},
"Declination": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"degrees": {
"type": "integer"
},
"minutes": {
"type": "integer"
},
"seconds": {
"type": "integer"
}
}
},
"Distance": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"km": {
"type": "number"
},
"lightTravelSeconds": {
"type": "number"
},
"astronomicalUnits": {
"type": "number"
}
}
},
"Vectors": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"x": {
"type": "number"
},
"y": {
"type": "number"
},
"z": {
"type": "number"
}
}
}
}
}
The Planet Positions API supports the following response content types:
application/json, application/xml, application/yaml
You can specify the response content type by setting the Accept header in your request. If you don't specify a content type, the API will default to application/json.
The Planet Positions API uses an API Key to authenticate requests. You can view and manage your API key by visiting your dashboard.
Your API keys carry many privileges. To keep them from being abused, please do not share the keys on client-side code or Github etc. Keep them very secure.
All requests made to the API must contain the header x-api-key in each of your requests. API requests without authentication will fail.
All API requests must also be made over secure HTTPS. Requests made over plain HTTP will fail.
| Error Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 401 | Your request was made with invalid credentials. This error also appears when you don't pass the x-api-key header in your request.
|
{
"status": "error",
"data": null,
"error": "tokens have been depleted",
"code": 429
}
Each subscription has its own monthly token limit. Your token count is based on your subscription plan. If you reach your limits, don't worry. You can always upgrade or downgrade at any time. View Pricing
When you reach your limit, the service will stop responding and typically return an HTTP 429 response status code. The error will also contain a detailed JSON.
The Planet Positions API uses the following error code:
| Error Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 429 | You have exceeded your rate limit and further requests will be denied until the next cycle. |
For reference, the Planet Positions API uses the following error codes:
| Error Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Code | Message |
| 200 | The request was successful. The response will include the requested data. |
| 400 | The request was invalid. The response will include a message that explains the error. |
| 401 | The request was not authorized. Usually, this means that the API key is missing or invalid. |
| 403 | This means that the request was trying to access a resource that it does not have permission to access. |
| 404 | This means that the resource you are trying to access does not exist. |
| 429 | This means that you have reached the rate limit. The response will include a Retry-After header that indicates how many seconds you need to wait before making a new request. |
| 500 | This means that there was an error on the server side. We are alerted when this happens and we will work to fix it as soon as possible. |