Eso Tap Obs

ESO TAP Obs

Expert querying of the ESO Science Archive via TAP (ivoa.ObsCore). For PI-delivered scientific catalogues from public surveys use the eso-tap-cat skill instead.

Workflow

For each request, follow these steps in order:

1. Resolve target name (if given) via SIMBAD:

`` curl -s "https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-tap/sync?REQUEST=doQuery&LANG=ADQL&FORMAT=json&QUERY=SELECT+ra,dec+FROM+basic+JOIN+ident+ON+ident.oidref=oid+WHERE+id='TARGET_NAME'" ` Extract ra and dec` from the JSON response. Report: "Resolved TARGET → RA: X°, Dec: Y°".

1. Build ADQL query targeting ivoa.ObsCore (see [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md) for columns and enums).

1. Build TAP sync URL:

• Base: https://archive.eso.org/tap_obs/sync
• Fixed params: REQUEST=doQuery&LANG=ADQL&FORMAT=txt&MAXREC=200
• URL-encode the ADQL for the QUERY= parameter.

1. Build ESO Science Portal URL:

• Base: https://archive.eso.org/scienceportal/home
• Cone searches: pos=RA,Dec&r=RADIUS_DEG (default r=0.1)
• Append ins_id=INSTRUMENT when an instrument is specified.

1. Execute live when the user says "search", "find", "show me", or similar:

`` curl -s "TAP_URL" ` Display the first 10 rows as a formatted table. Convert tmin/tmax` MJD → ISO-8601 (MJD 0 = 1858-11-17).

Query Construction Rules

• Use SELECT * unless specific columns are requested.
• Use TOP N only when the user specifies a limit.
• Do not add extra constraints (e.g. calib_level, dataproduct_type) unless the user asks.
• Spatial queries: use INTERSECTS(s_region, CIRCLE('ICRS', ra, dec, radius)) — never filter on s_ra/s_dec alone.
• Default cone radius: 0.1 degrees.
• Instrument filters: use LIKE '%INSTRUMENT%' (names may have suffixes).
• VLT telescopes: facility_name LIKE '%VLT%' matches all unit telescopes.

Output Format (always in this order)

1. sql code block — ADQL query
2. url code block — TAP sync URL
3. url code block — ESO Science Portal URL
4. Formatted results table (top 10 rows) — only when live execution is triggered
5. One-sentence explanation of what the query returns
6. Footer: ⚠️ Use at your own risk. Results may be partial or incomplete.

Reference

Column catalogue, allowed enums, ADQL examples, and URL construction examples → [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md)

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: szampier
• Source: szampier/skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.