NASA Exoplanet Archive Scraper

NASA Exoplanet Archive Scraper

Scrape confirmed exoplanet data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive by discovery method, host star, or year, up to a million planets per run. Every planet comes with its orbital period, radius, mass, and discovery details. No API key or login required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The NASA Exoplanet Archive is the definitive catalog for confirmed worlds outside our solar system, but its web interface requires manual browsing and single-page exports. This actor reads the public query service directly, letting you filter the entire confirmed planet database by detection technique, host star name, or discovery year, and returns each match in one flat row. You get the raw data scientists use, without writing a single line of code.

Who uses it	What they scrape NASA Exoplanet Archive for
Astronomy educators	Build a classroom dataset of exoplanets discovered by the transit method
Data journalists	Compile a list of recent exoplanet discoveries for a story on space exploration
Planetary science students	Download a sample of planets orbiting Sun-like stars for a research project
Citizen scientists	Check for new worlds confirmed around a specific star this year
Space bloggers	Pull the latest confirmed exoplanets for a monthly roundup post

What it does

This Actor collects confirmed exoplanets from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, filters them by discovery method, year, or host star, and returns each planet as a flat row.

• 🔭 Discovery method filter: Narrow results to planets found by Transit, Radial Velocity, Microlensing, Imaging, and more.
• 🌟 Host star search: Retrieve every planet orbiting a named star, like Kepler-11 or TOI-1136.
• 📅 Discovery year filter: Limit the output to planets confirmed in a specific calendar year, from 1989 onward.
• 📊 Flat table output: Each exoplanet is one row with its key physical and orbital parameters, ready for analysis in any spreadsheet or database.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with NASA Exoplanet Archive data

🔭 Study detection techniques.

A graduate student runs the actor with 'Transit' as the discovery method to collect all transit-detected exoplanets for a machine learning classification model.

🌟 Monitor a single star system.

A citizen scientist sets the host star to 'TRAPPIST-1' to pull every confirmed planet in that system and track the latest published parameters.

📅 Track the year in exoplanets.

A journalist runs the actor with the current discovery year to get a complete list of new confirmations for an annual astronomy feature article.

📊 Build a curated research sample.

An educator combines a discovery year range with the 'Radial Velocity' method to create a clean dataset for a university exoplanet physics lab exercise.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key or registration	The NASA Exoplanet Archive public query interface is accessed directly with zero authentication.
Full confirmed planet catalog	Reads the same database used by researchers, with over 5,500 confirmed exoplanets available.
Multi-parameter filtering	Combine detection technique, host star, and discovery year in a single run for precise subsets.
Scalable up to a million	Set a max items limit from 1 to 1,000,000 to control dataset size per run.

How it compares

These three actors all scrape the NASA Exoplanet Archive, but they offer different filtering options and output details.

Feature	ParseForge	NASA Exoplanet Archive Scraper	Nasa Exoplanet Scraper
Filter by discovery method	Yes, all 12 methods including Astrometry and Disk Kinematics	Yes	Not listed
Filter by host star name	Yes, exact star name lookup	Yes	Not listed
Filter by discovery year	Yes, any year from 1989 to 2030	Not listed	Not listed
Search for potentially habitable planets	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
Full orbital and physical parameters	Yes, mass, radius, orbital period, and more	Not listed	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a discovery method, a host star name, and a discovery year, alone or in combination, and filters run as each planet is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "discoveryMethod": "Any Method",
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "discoveryMethod": "Any Method",
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0008 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.08
1,000 results	$0.80
10,000 results	$8.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the NASA Exoplanet Archive Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to NASA Exoplanet Archive through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/nasa-exoplanet-archive-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

I got zero results.

This usually happens when a filter is too restrictive. Try setting the discovery method to 'Any Method', clearing the host star name, and removing the discovery year. Then add back filters one at a time to see which one eliminates your matches.

The run returns fewer planets than expected.

Check that your max items limit is set high enough. Also verify that the host star name is spelled correctly and matches the exact NASA Exoplanet Archive identifier, as the filter is case insensitive but exact.

The discovery year filter seems to miss some planets.

The discovery year field corresponds to the year a planet was confirmed, not the year its host star was observed. A planet announced in early January might appear under the previous year's catalog entry if the official confirmation date lagged.

I cannot find a specific planet by its common name.

The host star filter searches by the stellar name, not the planet designation. For a planet like 'Proxima Centauri b', enter the star name 'Proxima Centauri' to retrieve all its confirmed worlds.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What data does the NASA Exoplanet Archive scraper return?	It returns a flat table of confirmed exoplanets with values like planet name, host star, orbital period, radius, mass, discovery method, and discovery year. The exact fields are listed in the output sample on this page.
Do I need a NASA API key to use this actor?	No. The actor reads the public query interface of the NASA Exoplanet Archive, which does not require an API key, registration, or authentication.
How many exoplanets can I scrape in one run?	You can set the maximum up to 1,000,000 planets. The confirmed planet catalog currently contains over 5,500 entries, so practical limits are well within that range.
Can I filter by discovery method?	Yes. The actor provides a dropdown with all supported methods including Transit, Radial Velocity, Microlensing, Imaging, and several timing and astrometry techniques. Choose 'Any Method' to skip filtering.
Can I search for planets around a specific star?	Yes. Enter the host star name in the dedicated field, for example 'Kepler-11' or 'TOI-1136', and the actor returns only planets orbiting that star.
Does this include exoplanet candidates or only confirmed planets?	This actor targets the confirmed planets table. The NASA Exoplanet Archive also lists candidates, but the scraper returns only the confirmed catalog.
What output formats are supported?	You can export your dataset in CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML directly from the Apify platform after the run completes.
Is the data up to date?	Yes. The actor queries the live NASA Exoplanet Archive database on each run, so you always receive the latest published planet parameters and new confirmations.
Can I filter by discovery year?	Yes. Set the discovery year field to any year from 1989 through 2030, and the actor returns only planets confirmed in that calendar year.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.