Related papers: The Astropy Problem
Debian Astro is a Debian Pure Blend that aims to distribute the available astronomy software within the Debian operating system. Using Debian as the foundation has unique advantages for end-users and developers such as an easy installation…
We present the Skysoft project (http://www.skysoft.org). Skysoft is a YAASD (Yet Another Astronomical Software Directory), but with a different overall approach. To be useful, Skysoft needs to be a long-lived project, setting little…
We present Artificial Stellar Populations (ArtPop), an open-source Python package for synthesizing stellar populations and generating artificial images of fully populated stellar systems. The code is designed to be intuitive to use and as…
Infrastructures are not inherently durable or fragile, yet all are fragile over the long term. Durability requires care and maintenance of individual components and the links between them. Astronomy is an ideal domain in which to study…
SciPy is an open source scientific computing library for the Python programming language. SciPy 1.0 was released in late 2017, about 16 years after the original version 0.1 release. SciPy has become a de facto standard for leveraging…
Support for early career astronomers who are just beginning to explore astronomy research is imperative to increase retention of diverse practitioners in the field. Since 2010, Astrobites has played an instrumental role in engaging members…
We explore how astronomers take observational data from telescopes, process them into usable scientific data products, curate them for later use, and reuse data for further inquiry. Astronomers have invested heavily in knowledge…
Different research communities are involved in planetary coordinate standardization. Geologists and Remote Sensing specialists work on extending Earth standards to Planets using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and coordinate…
In the past 15 years, the number of known planets outside of our solar system has grown from about 200 to more than 5000. During that time, we have conducted one of the longest crowdfunding campaigns in history, a nonprofit adopt a star…
Making online resources more accessible to physically challenged library users is a topic deserving informed attention from astronomy librarians. Recommendations like WCAG 2.0 standards and section 508, in the United States, have proven…
The historical development of ground based astronomical telescopes leads us to expect that space-based astronomical telescopes will need to be operational for many decades. The exchange of scientific instruments in space will be a…
Modern astronomy increasingly depends on computational thinking. Although some astronomy courses for undergraduates use computing, high school astronomy courses often have little computing. Created as a part of a research experience for…
Over the next decade we will witness the development of a new infrastructure in support of data-intensive scientific research, which includes Astronomy. This new networked environment will offer both challenges and opportunities to our…
AsaPy is a custom-made Python library designed to simplify and optimize the analysis of aerospace simulation data. Instead of introducing new methodologies, it excels in combining various established techniques, creating a unified,…
We review the relatively new, internet-enabled, and rapidly-evolving field of citizen science, focusing on research projects in stellar, extragalactic and solar system astronomy that have benefited from the participation of members of the…
A large number of computational scientific research projects make use of open source software packages. However, the development process of such tools frequently differs from conventional software development; partly because of the nature…
(Abridged) In this white paper, we outline the major barriers to access within the educational and professional practice of astronomy. We present current best practices for inclusivity and accessibility, including classroom practices,…
We present the open source Astrophysical Multi-purpose Software Environment (AMUSE, www.amusecode.org), a component library for performing astrophysical simulations involving different physical domains and scales. It couples existing codes…
Astrocomp is a joint project, developed by the INAF-Astrophysical Observatory of Catania, University of Roma La Sapienza and Enea. The project has the goal of providing the scientific community of a web-based user-friendly interface which…
The advent of increasingly large and complex datasets has fundamentally altered the way that scientists conduct astronomy research. The need to work closely to the data has motivated the creation of online science platforms, which include a…