Questions tagged [software]
Questions about computer programs that assist modeling and observing the dynamics of astronomy.
78
questions
1
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1answer
201 views
What objects can I search for using astropy.coordinates?
The spectacular Python package astropy allows the user to search for a celestial object using astropy.coordinates, querying ...
3
votes
1answer
60 views
What image analysis approaches/algorithms are used to detect near-Earth objects?
Disclaimer: I am not an astronomer or astrophysicist. I'm a computer scientist.
Astronomers collect vast amounts of image data through astronmical surveys.
The data is then analysed for signs of ...
2
votes
0answers
25 views
Frame used for RGB cube in SAOImage
I have RGB FITS images with NAXIS=3 so I read them into SAOImage (ds9 8.2.1). I use this command line:
$ ds9 -rgbcube myimage.fits
Doing so, the window is split in ...
3
votes
0answers
38 views
Is there software that will let me calculate things like lunar phases and the position of bodies in the sky in a custom solar system?
I am constructing a fictional solar system and want to be able to calculate astronomical events and locations, like lunar phases and eclipses, plus the positions of other astronomical bodies in the ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views
Would it be a good idea to dockerize softwares in order to conduct hands-on tutorial sessions? [closed]
I am going to organize a tutorial in which I intend to train students on semi numerical simulations for reionization. Is it a good idea to supply use Docker to supply the codes?
What do you think ...
2
votes
2answers
77 views
Basic, learning examples of applications of CFD and MHD in astrophysics, and current research directions using these techniques?
I am an undergraduate in Physics, and I have an opportunity to work with a some of my seniors to learn Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).
I would like to choose my ...
1
vote
0answers
22 views
Filtering local region in SIMBAD
I am completely new to astrophysics and currently writing a paper on Cepheid variables for high school physics.
I would like to filter out all Cepheid variables in the local system which I would ...
2
votes
1answer
75 views
Installing IRAF
Recently I asked this question on IRAF like software that can be run in a window but it seems it is not possible. So I installed window subsystem for linux. I followed these steps to install IRAF.
...
1
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1answer
73 views
IRAF Like software that work on Window
My professor asks to me install IRAF for the photometry project but We have a hard time installing it and also I'm more comfortable with the Windows environment (because there is other software that ...
3
votes
1answer
48 views
Star Map Vs Star Catalogue vs Planetarium Software
What is the difference between a star map, star catalogue and the sky provided by planetarium software? I have read the wiki but was having a hard time understanding how the data, accuracy and detail ...
1
vote
2answers
64 views
Opening VLA Export Format data on Windows
I recently downloaded some data from the NRAO archive.
It came as a file in the "VLA export format" with the extension .xp1. From what I gather I can open this using some software called ...
9
votes
4answers
716 views
Is there a term for "path of the Sun at a given point of the Earth"
I want to buy a house and I'm asking myself what quantity of daylight the various sides of the house receive.
I know the house is roughly oriented in the east-west direction.
But I'd like to know the ...
4
votes
0answers
46 views
How to place an observer in a cosmological simulation
Suppose I have a cosmological simulation with points in xyz space at a certain redshift in a cube like this:
And I have these for many cubes of different redshifts say from z=0 to z=2. Now I want to ...
3
votes
1answer
150 views
Mathamatica vs Sympy and Astropy to solve basic astronomy problems: solving linear equations and unit conversion
I realize this may be slightly off topic, but I also believe this is probably the best way to get an answer to my question:
What is the best combination of software packages / programming languages to ...
2
votes
0answers
51 views
How to I calcuate observed position of the Sun and Moon using the SOFA C library?
There are a number of answers on here that skirt the topic, but no concrete answers.
I currently have an implementation based on "Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus" for stars, moon, and ...
1
vote
0answers
50 views
Variation in g acceleration due to gravity
I want to find a routine which will enable me to calculate the variations in g
as a result of the motion of sun and moon. I need to have the date as a variable.
I realise that Dennis Milbert's earth ...
5
votes
0answers
40 views
Search satellite locations on the sky by date and coordinates
I would like to know what satellites, asteroids, comets, etc passed through a certain coordinate or region on the sky at a certain date. I have found sites like NASA's HORIZONS, but this searches for ...
3
votes
1answer
267 views
Easy interactive visualization of orbital elements
To get a grip on orbital elements, I'd like to play with a ready interactive visualization like in Universe Sandbox. E.g. drag the inclination slider and see immediately what happens to the satellite ...
1
vote
1answer
74 views
Accurate catalogue of the Stars according to Hemisphere
I am in the need for an accurate catalogue of the stars in the Hemisphere I am currently in (or the one that I chose) and their positions at any time of the year.
The more accurate the catalogue is, ...
1
vote
1answer
140 views
MOOG 2019 and gfortran
I've been trying to install MOOG Nov2019 (utexas, Wiki) on my desktop running OpenSUSE 13.1. I have the SM and X11 library paths copied into the makefile, and I am 3-sigma confident that they are the ...
2
votes
0answers
53 views
Software apps for calculating distances between planets
Are there somewhere any software apps for calculating distances between any planets in our solar system?
2
votes
0answers
48 views
Is there any synthetic spectrum software for neutron star?
Is there any software that can calculate the emergent spectrum of a neutron star photosphere, for Teff is about 1e7K, density is above 1e21-1e22 cm^-3 ? Output line wavelength is about 0-100A is ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
trouble installing drizzlepac
I'm trying to install drizzlepac to follow this tutorial on aligning hst images: https://spacetelescope.github.io/notebooks/notebooks/DrizzlePac/align_to_catalogs/align_to_catalogs.html
However, I get ...
2
votes
2answers
86 views
Tools for simulation of theoretical astronomical problems?
I tried looking around for open source tools that would allow me to run simulations and build on top of the code with my own need(mainly mathematical simulations, but 3D visuals would be a bonus.), ...
16
votes
3answers
3k views
Is there an online planetarium where the observer is on another celestial body?
I know about in-the-sky.org and its online planetarium feature, but that's from the Earth's perspective. Is there a planetarium (preferably online but if not, that's fine) where the observer is on ...
2
votes
0answers
39 views
GPU-based astronomical software for MacOS/AMD/OpenCL environment
I notice that most astronomical software that uses GPUs to accelerate computation makes use of Nvidia's CUDA toolkit. Are there established software packages that, instead, can be used on a modern Mac ...
2
votes
0answers
138 views
"Real time" Stellarium Scripting?
I'm getting into scripting in Stellarium, and it's fairly similar to the scripting language used in a real Planetarium I used to work in, which used DigitalSky2, if memory serves. In the Planetarium I ...
3
votes
2answers
295 views
Convert Stellarium video capture to 360 for youtube
I am wanting to capture video of Stellarium (I can already do this with CamStodio) and somehow convert this into a video usable for the YouTube 360 (or VR!) capability.
Even if it can be converted ...
2
votes
0answers
54 views
Is science data from astronomical telescopes analyzed with something analogous to "optical character recognition"?
Do people manually input the science data from telescopes into databases or does some software automatically collect the data from telescopes and put it in servers and databases?
I'd imagine there's ...
3
votes
2answers
117 views
Is looking through a telescope to do astronomy a thing of the past?
Do astronomers actually look through a telescope with the naked eye or do they mostly look the the data generated by telescopes on computers?
Are they mostly working behind the computer and pencil ...
1
vote
4answers
157 views
Is this render of a ringed planet's shadow accurate?
I've noticed that when it's the equinox on this planet I'm making, the sun seems to cast a double shadow on the planet. How come the planet's ring seems to make two shadows with a space in between, ...
2
votes
1answer
185 views
How to install Distro Astro operating system?
I've recently started a project on Galaxy spectroscopy for which I had to use IRAF software. During the search for IRAF software, I came across a platform which said that Distro Astro is a very good ...
6
votes
2answers
1k views
How (the heck) does Astrometry.net work?
What magic is this?
This answer to my question Astronomy detective question: what part of the sky are these photos of? What are a few of the stars? nails it, and the output (linked there) contains ...
11
votes
2answers
3k views
On the consistency of different well-polished astronomy software
I have purchased a custom wedding band from a seller that claims the ring will show the constellations visible at the horizon on a specific date at a certain date and time.
However, I have fired up ...
2
votes
0answers
87 views
Is there any free stacking program that stack images which are not aligned?
I liked to photo deep-sky-objects and planets with my camera Canon sx130. But I have never stacked images because they were too much apart. I was looking for some free astronomy stacking program for ...
3
votes
1answer
137 views
How do I calculate Allan Variance (maybe for pulsars)?
I am studying pulsar timing this summer and have come across many Allan Deviation plots that include several popular clocks alongside pulsar measurements, like this one by N. Ashby and D.A. Howe:
I ...
2
votes
1answer
183 views
How do I download PSRCHIVE and Tempo2 for pulsar timing on Mac Mojave?
I am fairly new to pulsar astronomy, and I need to download PSRCHIVE and then Tempo2. I have followed the instructions online here:
PulsarAstronomy.net
I'm also pretty new to linux commands/Mac ...
2
votes
0answers
131 views
Covariance matrix not calculated when fitting gaussians?
So I am using Astropy's basic models.Gaussian1D model and a fitter = fitting.LevMarLSQfitter() to fit 3 Gaussian pulses with some added random noise. The fit is good, but when I type
fitter.fit_info, ...
1
vote
0answers
31 views
Stellarium script for sunrise times affected by topography
I customised my own landscape with stellarium, created my own horizon with the polyline setting like horizon_Geneve.txt file.
Manually, I can increase/decrease time to see when the sun's upper limb ...
6
votes
1answer
77 views
Is there any star recognition framework/library available?
Being a daytime software engineer and a sparetime photographer, I was looking for a nice DIY project for the next weeks. I finally decided to build a star tracker with a camera mount, so that I can ...
2
votes
1answer
467 views
Comparing accuracy in Starry Night and Alcyone Software
From what I understand,
Starry night (https://starrynight.com/starry-night-7-professional-astronomy-telescope-control-software.html) is more focussed on simulating the night sky whereas
Alcyone (...
2
votes
1answer
237 views
Measure an angle in the sky from a photo?
Let's say I have an picture of the sky or of an landscape and I want to measure an angle in the celestial sphere. Is there any software for that? In real life I would use the empirical hand gestures ...
5
votes
4answers
597 views
Measurement uncertainty of the computed center of gravity from pixel image
Establishing the position of celestial bodies (stars, and other objects) is based on imaging technology. Depending on the resolution of the imaging sensor used, an object is identified by a group of ...
2
votes
2answers
119 views
Stuck with SDSS data [closed]
I want to do project on astronomical dataset. Regarding that project, I try SDSS who give public dataset but it is quite complicated for me. I gone through public dataset and downloaded some .FITS ...
0
votes
1answer
57 views
Graphics packages for publishing [closed]
What are the most popular packages used to create graphs for astronomy journal papers?
Looking at various journals, the styles of the graphs appear to be quite uniform but I can't identify the package(...
2
votes
1answer
287 views
Instead of using flexible mirrors, could software be used for adaptive optics?
Telescopes that use adaptive optics now use flexible mirrors to adjust for distortions in the atmosphere. The mirrors are flexed in real time to account for the distortions. I am wondering if it ...
0
votes
2answers
2k views
Astronomy as a profession for moderately good software engineer [closed]
I'm a software engineer (a moderately good one). I like programming, mathematics and I love everything about astronomy.
What would be best way to go ahead?
3
votes
2answers
436 views
Why is the moon phase not in sync with the moon's illuminated fraction?
I am using the following R script to plot the moon phase and the moon's illuminated fraction:
...
0
votes
4answers
827 views
Obtaining deltaT for use in software
I'm currently developing a javascript application in which I want to calculate the approximate position of the sun. This works quite fine but requires the value for deltaT (TT-UT) to be set depending ...
1
vote
2answers
224 views
Is there a MATLAB equivalent of PyEphem?
Many people on the Astronomy stack exchange use the PyEphem package for the Python programmimg language to perform astronomical computations. Are the underlying numerical routines (from XEphem) ...
