Falak (Astronomy)

Falak (Astronomy) — connector documentation

• MCP endpoint: https://falak.connectorbay.com/mcp
• REST API: POST https://falak.connectorbay.com/v1/tools/{tool_name}, described by the OpenAPI 3.1 spec at https://falak.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
• Transport: Streamable HTTP, stateless, MCP specification 2025-06-18 or later
• Authentication: none required. An optional Authorization: Bearer <key> raises rate limits.
• Health: https://falak.connectorbay.com/health · Tool schemas: https://falak.connectorbay.com/tools.json
• Publisher: Unify Dynamics LLC · connectorbay.com/falak · agent@connectorbay.com

What Falak (Astronomy) is for

"Falak" (فلك) is the Arabic word for the celestial sphere, or astronomy itself — the root behind "ilm al-falak" ("the science of the stars"). Most people who look up at Aldebaran, Altair or Vega have no idea they are saying Arabic words, or that the astronomer who first catalogued many of them, Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, watched the sky from Isfahan a thousand years ago. This connector is a hand-curated, fully local reference on that specific history: the Arabic-origin names still used for bright stars, the astronomers of the Islamic Golden Age who built on and corrected Ptolemy, the astrolabe they refined into the era's most versatile instrument, and how naked-eye moon-phase observation was used to keep a calendar before telescopes existed.

What it does

One star's Arabic-origin name etymology, literal meaning, and which constellation it is in, across 28 well-documented bright stars (star_name_info); search by partial name, alias, constellation or a word from the etymology (star_search); one historically significant Islamic Golden Age astronomer's dates, birthplace and key contributions — al-Battani, al-Sufi, Ibn al-Shatir, al-Biruni, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, al-Zarqali, and Ulugh Beg (astronomer_info); all seven listed with a one-line summary each (astronomers_list); what an astrolabe is, its historical purposes (astronomy, timekeeping, navigation, and prayer-time/qibla calculation) and its basic construction (astrolabe_guide); a constellation's Arabic-origin name and etymology where the historical Arabic astronomical tradition named or renamed it, and which Arabic-named stars it contains (constellation_info); traditional naked-eye moon-phase observation methods historically used for lunar calendar-keeping, framed astronomically rather than as a religious ruling (moon_phase_observation_guide); a general historical note on the Islamic Golden Age's astronomical scholarship and its documented transmission to European astronomy (historical_context_info); and a glossary of core terms — astrolabe, zij, azimuth, nadir, zenith, alidade, muwaqqit, hilal, and more (astronomy_glossary).

What it is not

Not a live sky-position or stargazing tool — it has no ephemeris and computes nothing for "tonight"; for current planet positions, ISS passes and live sky conditions, see the sibling skywatch connector, and for constellation mythology (primarily Greek), see starlore. This connector's angle is specifically the Arabic-origin etymology and Islamic Golden Age history that those two do not cover. It is also not a religious text: moon_phase_observation_guide describes the astronomical observation method behind calendar-keeping, not a religious ruling on when a lunar month starts, and astrolabe_guide describes prayer-time and qibla calculation only as a documented historical use of the instrument, cross-referencing rather than duplicating the religious-calendar content already covered by the dedicated salah connector.

Tools

Stars

star_name_info — A star's Arabic-origin name etymology, literal meaning, and which constellation it is in — covers 28 bright stars still known today by their Arabic-derived names. Use for "what does Aldebaran mean", "why is it called Betelgeuse", "what constellation is Altair in". Args: name.

star_search — Search all covered stars by partial name, alias, constellation, or a word from their etymology or meaning. Use for "which stars are in Orion", "stars whose name means eagle", "Arabic star names in Ursa Major". Args: query.

Astronomers

astronomer_info — One historically significant Islamic Golden Age astronomer's dates, birthplace and key contributions, verified against public history-of-science reference sources. Use for "who was al-Battani", "what did al-Biruni discover", "when did Ibn al-Shatir live". Args: name.

astronomers_list — Lists all seven covered Islamic Golden Age astronomers with a one-line summary each. Use for "which astronomers do you cover", "list Islamic Golden Age astronomers".

Instruments & observation

astrolabe_guide — What an astrolabe is, its historical purposes (astronomy, timekeeping, navigation and surveying, and prayer-time/qibla calculation), and its basic construction (mater, climate plates, rete, alidade, throne). Use for "what is an astrolabe", "how does an astrolabe work", "what are the parts of an astrolabe".

moon_phase_observation_guide — Traditional naked-eye moon-phase observation methods historically used for lunar calendar-keeping — the synodic month, the phase sequence, and how the young crescent (hilal) was traditionally sighted. Astronomical and historical framing, not a religious ruling. Use for "how did people track moon phases before telescopes", "what is the hilal", "how long is a lunar month".

Constellations & history

constellation_info — A constellation's Arabic-origin name and etymology where the historical Arabic astronomical tradition named or renamed it, and which Arabic-named stars it contains. Use for "what's the Arabic name for Orion", "why is Ursa Major called al-Dubb al-Akbar", "is there an Arabic name for the Big Bear". Args: name.

historical_context_info — A general historical note on the Islamic Golden Age's astronomical scholarship — the translation movement, the House of Wisdom, major observatories (Baghdad, Maragheh, Samarkand) — and its documented transmission to European astronomy, including Copernicus's use of al-Battani's work. Use for "how did Islamic astronomy influence Europe", "what was the House of Wisdom", "did Copernicus use Islamic astronomy".

Reference

astronomy_glossary — Definitions of core historical-astronomy terms (astrolabe, zij, azimuth, nadir, zenith, alidade, muwaqqit, hilal, rubu/sine quadrant, qibla, ecliptic, elongation), noting Arabic etymology where it applies. Use for "what does azimuth mean", "what is a muwaqqit", "what does zij mean". Args: term.

Conventions

• Read-only. Every tool reads public data or computes; nothing is written anywhere and nothing about the user is stored.
• Result envelope. ok: true with data, or ok: false with a structured error (bad_input, not_found, upstream_error). degraded lists optional sources that were unreachable.
• Rate limits. Free tier 60 tool calls/minute and 300/day per user (keyed on the user identifier supplied by the host agent, else client IP); Pro keys raise this. Over-limit calls return HTTP 429 with Retry-After. initialize and tools/list are never counted.

Support

agent@connectorbay.com · connectorbay.com/falak/support

Falak (Astronomy) — Privacy Policy

Effective 24 September 2026. Unify Dynamics LLC ("we", "us"), Menlo Park, California.

What Falak (Astronomy) is. Falak (Astronomy) is a connector (an MCP server and REST API) that AI assistants and personal agents call on your behalf for a hand-curated reference on the historical Islamic Golden Age astronomy tradition — Arabic-origin star names, historically significant astronomers, the astrolabe, traditional moon-phase observation, constellation etymology, and historical context. You interact with your assistant; the assistant sends us only the arguments needed for that one lookup.

What we receive. The arguments of each tool call — a star name, an astronomer's name, a constellation name, a glossary term, or a search query — the technical headers needed to serve the request (an IP address or a client identifier supplied by the assistant, and a Pro API key if you have one), and standard server logs.

Everything is answered from a bundled, hand-curated reference file and nothing is stored. No request is forwarded to any third party — there is no upstream call at all, live or otherwise — and no query is logged in request bodies, recorded, or used to train anything.

What we do not receive or store. We do not receive your conversation with the assistant or your name, and we do not build a profile from your queries: each request is answered independently and nothing carries over between requests. Rate-limit counters (a client identifier and timestamps) are held in memory for at most 24 hours. Hosting-provider access logs, which contain IP addresses and request paths but not request bodies, are retained for up to 30 days for security and abuse prevention.

Sub-processors. None — the entire dataset is bundled with the server and answered locally. Hosting: Vercel (United States regions).

Legal bases and your rights. Our processing is necessary to provide the service you request through your assistant. Because we store no personal data beyond short-lived logs, requests to access, correct or delete personal data are usually satisfied automatically; you can still contact agent@connectorbay.com and we will respond within 30 days. We do not sell or share personal information and do not use your data to train models.

Children. Falak (Astronomy) is a general-audience service operated by the adult using the assistant.

Changes. We will post changes here with a new effective date.

Falak (Astronomy) — Terms of Service

Effective 24 September 2026. These terms govern use of the Falak (Astronomy) connector ("the Service") operated by Unify Dynamics LLC ("we", "us").

1. The Service. Falak (Astronomy) returns a hand-curated reference on the historical Islamic Golden Age astronomy tradition — Arabic-origin star names, historically significant astronomers, the astrolabe, traditional moon-phase observation, constellation etymology, and historical context — from data cross-checked against public astronomy and history-of-science reference sources at build time. It is accessed through an AI assistant or directly over MCP or HTTP.
2. A historical and astronomical reference, not a live sky tool or a religious text. Falak (Astronomy) is an independent reference tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by any government, cultural institution, or religious body. It computes no live sky positions (see the sibling skywatch connector for that). moon_phase_observation_guide describes the astronomical observation method behind lunar calendar-keeping, not a religious ruling on calendar dates, and astrolabe_guide describes prayer-time and qibla calculation only as a documented historical use of the instrument — for religious-calendar specifics, see the dedicated salah connector.
3. Historical scholarship, cross-checked but not infallible. Dates, biographical details and etymologies for this era are drawn from the best publicly available historical scholarship at build time; where sources disagree (as they sometimes do for medieval dates), the Service notes this or uses the most commonly cited figure rather than presenting a single account as beyond dispute.
4. Acceptable use. Automated use within the published rate limits is welcome.
5. Availability. The Service is provided "as is" without warranty. We may change, limit or discontinue it at any time.
6. Data. Our Privacy Policy describes what we process. In short: your query is answered from a bundled reference file, and nothing is stored.
7. Pro keys. Optional Pro API keys are issued at our discretion, are personal to the holder and may be revoked for abuse.
8. Liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Unify Dynamics LLC is not liable for any loss arising from use of or reliance on the Service. Our total liability is limited to US $100.
9. Governing law. California law; venue in San Mateo County, California.
10. Contact. Unify Dynamics LLC · agent@connectorbay.com · https://connectorbay.com/falak

Falak (Astronomy) support

Email agent@connectorbay.com. We answer within two business days.

• MCP endpoint: https://falak.connectorbay.com/mcp
• REST API: https://falak.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
• Live status: https://falak.connectorbay.com/health

When you report a problem, include the question you asked your agent, roughly when, and which agent you used (for example Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini). Never send us passwords, account numbers or ID numbers. Falak (Astronomy) never asks for them.