Awesome Astronomy

An awesome list of resources for professional astronomers. Everyone is invited to contribute by pull request.

Contents

• Blogs
• Codes
• Conferences
• Datasets
• Social Media
• Projects

Blogs

• AAS Policy Blog Josh Shiode
• AstroBetter Kelle Cruz and many other contributors
• Astrobiased Eli Bressert
• astrobites The astro-ph reader's digest
• AstroWright Jason Wright
• dan foreman-mackey Daniel Foreman-Mackey
• Hogg Blog David W. Hogg
• gully Michael Gully-Santiago
• Pythonic Perambulations Jacob T. VanderPlas
• SarahAskew Sarah Kendrew

Codes

All codes are in Python unless otherwise noted

General purpose

• Andy Casey's ads - Python tool for ADS
• Astronomy Source Code Library - A free online registry for source codes of interest to astronomers and astrophysicists.
• Continuum Anaconda - Install, update, manage Python environments.
• AplPy - a Python module for astronomical imaging data.
• Astropy - Core package for Astronomy in Python.
• Astropy tutorials - Tutorials for the Astropy Project
• AstroML - Companion textbook Statistics, Data Mining, and Machine Learning in Astronomy.
• celerite - Scalable 1D Gaussian Processes in C++, Python, and Julia
• Emcee - Seriously kick-ass MCMC.
• ExoData - Open Exoplanet Catalogue interface and exploratory analysis tool.
• fast-histogram - Fast 1D and 2D histogram functions in Python
• IDL NASA'S IDL Astronomy User's Library - large libary with plenty of very useful code for astronomers
• The LSST Stack Conda-installable codes for working with LSST simulation data and some existing data. Detrending & Analysis
• sncosmo - Python library for supernova cosmology
• Pandas Profiling - Create HTML profiling reports from pandas DataFrame objects.
• Python Data Science Handbook - Python Data Science Handbook: full text in Jupyter Notebooks
• PyCBC - For GW Astronomy

Astrometry / Kinematic / RV / Galactic / Gaia

• Banyan Sigma - A Bayesian classifier to identify members of the 27 nearest young associations within 150 pc of the Sun
• Barycorrpy - Calculate the barycentric velocity correction for a star with an accuracy well below 1 cm/s.
• gaia on tap - Python utilities and examples for accessing Gaia data using the Table Access Protocol (TAP)
• gaia tools - Tools for working with the ESAGaia data and related data sets
• gala - Galactic and gravitational dynamics in Python
• GalPy - Galactic Dynamics in python.
• Luminosity Calibration Tutorial - Tutorial on use of parallaxes in luminosity calibration; accompanies a Gaia DR2 paper on the proper use of parallaxes (Luri et al. in prep)
• vaex - Lazy Out-of-Core DataFrames for Python, visualize and explore big tabular data at a billion rows per second.
• ExoSOFT - Solves for the orbital elements of any single companion, provided observed radial velocity and/or astrometry.
• pyaneti - A multi-planet Radial Velocity and Transit fit software
• PyGaia - Python toolkit for basic Gaia data simulation, manipulation, and analysis
• radvel - General Toolkit for Modeling Radial Velocity Data

Spectroscopy

• Apogee - Tools for dealing with APOGEE data
• Chimera - Atmospheric retrieval code from Mike Line
• The Cannon - a data-driven method for determining stellar parameters and abundances from stellar spectra.
• The Payne - Artificial Neural-Net compression and fitting of synthetic spectral grids.
• PSOAP - Tools for data-driven spectra models with Gaussian processes. Pronounced "soap."
• pydis - A simple longslit spectroscopy pipeline in Python
• pyspeckit - Python Spectroscopic Toolkit
• sick - the spectroscopic inference crank
• Specmatch Empirical - tool to extract the fundamental properties (effective temperature, radius, and metallicity) by comparing a target star's spectrum to a library of spectra from stars with known properties.
• Specmatch Synthetic - tool to extract the fundamental properties (effective temperature, radius, and metallicity) by comparing a target star's spectrum to synthetic spectra.
• specviz - An interactive astronomical 1D spectra analysis tool.
• specutils - Astropy affiliated package for 1D spectral operations.
• splat - SpeX Prism Spectral Analysis Toolkit
• Starfish - Tools for Flexible Spectroscopic Inference
• TelFit - Telluric fitting made easy
• wobble - Precise data-driven RV fitting, now with tellurics!

Photometry and source detection

• image registration - Image Registration for Astronomy.
• juliaCeleste.jl - Scalable inference for a generative model of astronomical images.
• Dust Maps - A uniform interface for a number of 2D and 3D maps of interstellar dust reddening/extinction.
• fsps - Flexible Stellar Population Synthesis
• LA Cosmicx - A fast implementation of the LA Cosmic algorithm
• R ProFound - Source finding and extraction
• PSFutils - Open-source Python package to provide convenience tools for working with point-spread functions.
• Synphot - Synthetic photometry using Astropy
• NOAO Source Catalog - Source catalog of all NOAO imaging data
• sep - Python and C library for source extraction and photometry
• sewpy - Source Extractor Wrapper for Python

Visualization

• astro_animations - Various animations used for teaching introductory astronomy concepts
• gifsicle - Create, manipulate, and optimize GIF images and animations
• holoviews - Stop plotting your data - annotate your data and let it visualize itself.
• aplpy - Astronomical Plotting Library in Python
• spectrify - Reverse engineer astronomical spectra into pretty rainbow pictures with Python
• ztv - An astronomical image viewer written in Python.

Kepler/K2/TESS

Detrending

• PyKE - Kepler, K2 & TESS Data Analysis Tools
• everest - De-trending of K2 Light curves
• k2sc - K2 systematics correction using Gaussian processes
• nutella - Great (point) spreads for beautiful Kepler/K2 inference
• skope - Synthetic K2 Objects for PLD Experimentation
• k2phot - public k2phot code from Erik Petigura
• K2-CPM - K2 Causal Pixel Model
• halophot - K2 Halo Photometry for very bright stars
• cave - Crowded Aperture Variability Extraction
• celerite-asteroseis - Transit fitting and basic time-domain asteroseismology using celerite and ktransit
• k2photometry - Read, reduce and detrend K2 photometry and search for transiting planets
• keplersmear - Make light curves from Kepler and K2 collateral data
• OxKeplerSC - Kepler jump and systematics correction using Variational Bayes and shrinkage priors.
• K2Pipeline - Data reduction and detrending pipeline for K2 data in Matlab
• PySysRem - A Python implementation of the SysRem algorithm from Tamuz, Mazeh, and Zucker (2004)
• kali - A library to model a time series as a Continuous-time ARMA process

Full Frame Images

• f3 - Full Frame Fotometry from the Kepler Full Frame Images
• FFIorBUST - Make really bad light curves from the Kepler Full Frame Images
• kepcal - Self calibration using the Kepler FFIs

Data Access

• kplr - Tools for working with Kepler data using Python
• kepFGS - Tools to use the Kepler and K2 Fine Guidance Sensor data.
• k2plr - Fork of dfm/kplr with added k2 functionality

Metadata

• kadenza - Converts raw cadence target data from the Kepler space telescope into FITS files.
• k2-quality-control - Automated quality control of Kepler/K2 data products.
• SuperstampFITS - Create individual FITS files of K2 superstamp regions.
• keputils - Basic module for interaction with KOI and Kepler-stellar tables.

Planet Search / Characterization

• PyTransit - Fast and easy transit light curve modeling using Python and Fortran.
• batman - Fast transit light curves models in Python.
• ktransit - A simple exoplanet transit modeling tool in python
• planetplanet - A general photodynamical code for exoplanet light curves
• ketu - I can haz planetz?
• ttvfast-python - Python interface to the TTVFast library
• fortran TTVFast - TTVFast efficiently calculates transit times for n-planet systems and the corresponding radial velocities.
• terra - Transit Detection Code
• pysyzygy - A fast and general planet transit (syzygy) code written in C and in Python
• k2ps - K2 Planet Search
• lcps - A tool for pre-selecting light curves with possible transit signatures
• PyOrbit - PyORBIT: a code for exoplanet orbital parameters and stellar activity.
• exocartographer - A forward-modeling tool for constraining surface maps orbital parameters of exoplanets from time-resolved photometry
• Spiderman - A fast code to simulate secondary transits and phase curves
• ExoCTK - The Exoplanet Characterization Tool Kit, an open-source, modular data analysis package focused primarily on atmospheric characterization of exoplanets

Population Statistics

• VESPA - Calculating false positive probabilities for transit signals
• kepler-robovetter - The Kepler Prime Robovetter
• koi-fpp - False positive probabilities for all KOIs
• KeplerPORTS - The Kepler Pipeline
• Kepler-FLTI - Kepler Prime Flux-Level Transit Injection

Positional

• K2fov - Check whether targets are in the field of view of NASA's K2 space telescope
• K2ephem - Check whether a Solar System body is (or was) observable by NASA's K2 mission.
• k2-pix - Overlay a sky survey image on a K2 target pixel stamp
• k2flix - Create quicklook movies from the pixel data observed by Kepler/K2/TESS
• k2mosaic - Mosaic Target Pixel Files (TPFs) obtained by NASA's Kepler/K2 missions into images and movies.
• tvguide - A tool for determining whether stars and galaxies are observable by TESS.

Science / Astrophysics

• isochrones - Pythonic stellar model grid access; easy MCMC fitting of stellar properties
• ldtk - Python toolkit for calculating stellar limb darkening profiles
• isoclassify - Perform stellar classifications using isochrone grids
• appaloosa - Python-based flare finding code for Kepler light curves.
• pymacula - Python wrapper for Macula analytic starspot code
• MulensModel - Microlensing Modelling package
• animate_spots - Make frames for animated gifs/movies showing a rotating spotted star
• spotrod - A semi-analytic model for transits of spotted stars -- C implementation and Python API
• decatur - Tidal Synchronization of Kepler Eclipsing Binaries

Other

• PandExo - A Community Tool for Transiting Exoplanet Science with the JWST & HST
• kepler_orrery - Make a Kepler orrery gif or movie of all the Kepler multi-planet systems
• koi3278 - Analysis files for the KOI-3278 system
• trappist1 - TRAPPIST-1 photometry with K2

Instrumentation

• binaryoffset - Detecting and Correcting the Binary Offset Effect in CCDs
• INDI - INDI is a standard for astronomical instrumentation control
• astroberry-server - astronomy desktop system for Raspberry Pi 3 based on INDI

Conferences

• International Astronomy Meetings - List of all planned Astronomy Conferences
• Python in Astronomy - A conference series focusing on the use, development, and community surrounding Python packages for all types of Astronomy.

Datasets

• AAVSO APASS Optical all sky data.
• AAVSO Data - Long time baseline data for variable stars.
• AllWISE - Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer.
• AstroML - Tools and data sets, including SDSS, LINEAR light curves, LIGO data.
• Gaia Archive - Gaia data for one billion stars.
• GALEX SQL query - Galex data.
• Hipparcos - Subset of HYG.
• HYG- Database containing all stars in Hipparcos, Yale Bright Star, and Gliese catalogs (almost 120,000 stars, 14 MB).
• LINEAR - 7194 LINEAR variables with light curve classification.
• MAST - The Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes houses astronomical data sets in the optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared parts of the spectrum
• NOAO Data Lab - Offers large datasets now being generated by instruments on NOAO and other wide-field telescopes.
• OGLE - Variable stars towards OGLE-III fields in the Magellanic Clouds and Galactic bulge
• Open Astronomy Catalogs - Databases of supernovae, tidal disruptions, kilonovae, and high-velocity stars.
• Open Exoplanet Catalogue - An open source database of all discovered extrasolar planets.
• Research-based Science Education for Undergraduates - Curated datasets on 7 projects designed for undergraduates.
• SDSS SQL query - Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
• SDSS for Teachers - Includes basic projects and advanced projects
• Supernova Cosmology Project The Union2.1 SN Ia compilation of 883 SNe from 19 datasets.

Future Datasets

• ARCHES - XMM-Newton cross match database
• Pan-Starrs - Public data release coming soon.

Social Media

• Astronomer's Facebook Group - Closed group for professional astromers, with over 8000 members.
• Astronomers on Twitter - List of Astronomers on Twitter with over 1000 followers.
• Astromers.io - "A nice place for astronomers, and those working in the sphere of professional astronomy"
• Community.lsst.org - A community forum for using/developing LSST software and doing science with LSST.
• Python Users in Astronomy - A closed group for python users in astronomy.

Projects

• Project Panoptes - A citizen science project that aims to make it easy for anyone to build a low cost, robotic telescope that can be used to detect transiting exoplanets.

Licensed Creative Commons Zero.

This exists because they told me to do it.