The IDL Astronomy User's Library
The IDL Astronomy Users Library is a central
repository for low-level astronomy software
written in the commercial language IDL.
The Library is not meant to be an integrated
package, but rather is a
collection of procedures from which users can pick
and choose (and possibly
modify) for their own use. Submitted procedures
are given a cursory testing,
but are basically stored in the Library as
submitted. Instrument-specific software is
generally not
included in the IDL Astronomy Library, but can be
found at the Links to
Other Astronomy and IDL related sites.
The entire contents of the Library can be
downloaded in a tar file or in a .zip file
from the
the download site .
Additional
software, not included in the tar files, is
available in a
contrib directory.
Individual procedures can be copied by browsing
through a list of
one-line descriptions. Changes to the
contents of the Library are
recorded in a news
file. A versioned copy of the library is
available on
GitHub, and one can also be download the Library with the command
git clone git://github.com/wlandsman/IDLAstro.git
Some routines in the IDL Astronomy
Library make use of programs in the
Coyote
Graphics Library, which must be downloaded
separately. Alternatively, one can download
coyote_astron.tar.gz which contains a
subset of the Coyote procedures needed for the
Astronomy library. We also suggest downloading the
MPFIT curve
fitting routines developed by Craig Markwardt, although it is currently only
used by one Astronomy Library routine
(
SOLVE_ASTRO ) .
Documentation is available describing the
various options for working with FITS data in IDL.
The IDL Astronomy Library requires at least IDL
V6.4.
However, separate (frozen) versions of the
Library that work with earlier
versions of IDL are available at the /old download site.
The success of the IDL Astronomy User's
Library depends on the willingness
of users to give as well as take. Please inform
Wayne Landsman of any
possible contributions to the Library,
programming bugs or documentation
errors, or of relevant web sites.
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