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I'm trying to get some data about the moon from SIMBAD (specifically, radiation spectrum in certain wavelengths), and I encountered an unexpected problem: I can't find the Moon.

In SIMBAD, I can search using several different methods. Since I'm looking for a specific object in the sky, I thought the best method would be just to search for the moon by its name, using "Query by identifiers".

It may sound silly, but the problem is I don't know what is the nomenclature of the moon, nor how to find it. Using the obvious guesses ("Moon", "Luna", etc.) gave me nothing. What am I missing here? Does identifier mean something else than what I thought?

P.S. This problem also occurred to me while searching for the Sun, which signals to me that I'm probably missing something critical here...

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    $\begingroup$ You don’t really need Simbad for this - your best bet is probably searching NASA ADS for “moon” or “lunar” along with other relevant keywords. $\endgroup$
    – Eric Jensen
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 2:17

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If you look on the main SIMBAD page, you will see the following in the box titled "Content":

The SIMBAD astronomical database provides basic data, cross-identifications, bibliography and measurements for astronomical objects outside the solar system.

(emphasis mine)

The Moon and the Sun are inside the Solar System, thus they are out-of-scope for SIMBAD.

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  • $\begingroup$ Ok, I feel pretty silly right now. Thanks! $\endgroup$
    – Yoav Zack
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 20:49

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