diff --git a/src/databases.cpp b/src/databases.cpp
index 57044c45..92f5c0a8 100644
--- a/src/databases.cpp
+++ b/src/databases.cpp
@@ -373,6 +373,23 @@ TrackingSortedDatabase::TrackingSortedDatabase(const unsigned char *buffer) {
     }
 }
 
+int16_t square(int16_t base) {
+    return base * base;
+}
+
+std::vector<int16_t> TrackingSortedDatabase::QueryNearestStars(const Catalog c, const Vec3 point, int16_t radius) {
+    std::vector<int16_t> query_ind;
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < indices.size(); i++) {
+        CatalogStar s = c[i];
+        if (square(s.spatial.x - point.x) + square(s.spatial.y - point.y) + square(s.spatial.z - point.z) <= square(radius)) {
+            query_ind.push_back(i);
+        }
+    }
+
+    return query_ind;
+}
+
 
 }
 
diff --git a/src/databases.hpp b/src/databases.hpp
index 512ad95d..e9cf4689 100644
--- a/src/databases.hpp
+++ b/src/databases.hpp
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ class TrackingSortedDatabase {
 public:
     TrackingSortedDatabase(const unsigned char *databaseBytes);
     const static int32_t magicValue = 0x2536f0A9;
+    std::vector<int16_t> QueryNearestStars(const Catalog c, const Vec3 point, int16_t radius);
 
 private:
     int16_t length;                     // length of catalog