<s>
Astropy	B-Application
is	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
software	B-Application
packages	I-Application
written	O
in	O
the	O
Python	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
and	O
designed	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
astronomy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
is	O
a	O
single	O
,	O
free	B-Application
,	O
core	O
package	O
for	O
astronomical	O
utilities	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
increasingly	O
widespread	O
usage	O
of	O
Python	B-Language
by	O
astronomers	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
foster	O
interoperability	O
between	O
various	O
extant	O
Python	B-Language
astronomy	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astropy	B-Application
is	O
included	O
in	O
several	O
large	O
Python	B-Language
distributions	O
;	O
it	O
is	O
part	O
of	O
package	B-Application
managers	I-Application
for	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
the	O
Anaconda	B-Application
Python	I-Application
Distribution	I-Application
,	O
Enthought	B-Language
Canopy	I-Language
and	O
Ureka	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
the	O
turn	O
of	O
the	O
millennium	O
the	O
Space	O
Telescope	O
Science	O
Institute	O
(	O
STScI	O
)	O
started	O
development	O
of	O
Python-based	O
utilities	O
to	O
extend	O
or	O
substitute	O
existing	O
astronomical	O
data	O
analysis	O
tools	O
on	O
a	O
modern	O
,	O
object-oriented	B-Language
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
the	O
first	O
projects	O
were	O
a	O
replacement	O
of	O
the	O
command	O
language	O
for	O
the	O
Image	B-Application
Reduction	I-Application
and	I-Application
Analysis	I-Application
Facility	I-Application
(	O
IRAF	B-Application
)	O
with	O
a	O
Python	B-Language
frontend	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
existing	O
Numeric	O
module	O
for	O
handling	O
vectors	O
and	O
arrays	O
in	O
Python	B-Language
turned	O
out	O
to	O
be	O
inadequate	O
for	O
large	O
astronomical	O
datasets	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
library	O
better	O
tuned	O
for	O
large	O
array	O
sizes	O
was	O
subsequently	O
developed	O
at	O
STScI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
libraries	O
were	O
merged	O
into	O
a	O
new	O
array	O
package	O
by	O
Travis	O
Oliphant	O
in	O
2005	O
–	O
2006	O
,	O
creating	O
NumPy	B-Application
,	O
now	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
for	O
numerical	O
data	O
handling	O
in	O
Python	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
following	O
years	O
the	O
existing	O
software	B-Application
packages	I-Application
maintained	O
by	O
STScI	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
their	O
stsci_python	O
suite	O
were	O
ported	O
to	O
NumPy	B-Application
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
,	O
together	O
with	O
the	O
more	O
extensive	O
SciPy	B-Application
computing	O
environment	O
,	O
provided	O
a	O
platform	O
to	O
develop	O
customized	O
scripts	O
and	O
applications	O
for	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
astronomical	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
Python	B-Language
in	O
astronomy	O
had	O
reached	O
significant	O
levels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
2012	O
Astronomy	O
meeting	O
,	O
42%	O
of	O
attendees	O
preferred	O
Python	B-Language
according	O
to	O
an	O
informal	O
survey	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
astronomy-related	O
Python	B-Language
packages	O
have	O
been	O
developed	O
over	O
the	O
years	O
,	O
albeit	O
without	O
cooperation	O
or	O
coordination	O
,	O
which	O
led	O
to	O
duplication	O
and	O
difficult	O
interoperability	O
between	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Astropy	I-Application
project	I-Application
started	O
in	O
2011	O
,	O
motivated	O
by	O
these	O
difficulties	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
desire	O
to	O
unite	O
developers	O
in	O
astronomy	O
to	O
coordinate	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
unified	O
set	O
of	O
Python	B-Language
modules	O
for	O
astronomers	O
,	O
and	O
reduce	O
the	O
confusion	O
of	O
available	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Space	O
Telescope	O
Science	O
Institute	O
,	O
operators	O
of	O
the	O
Hubble	O
Space	O
Telescope	O
,	O
are	O
merging	O
the	O
work	O
on	O
Astropy	B-Application
into	O
stsci_python	O
releases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PyFITS	O
and	O
PyWCS	O
will	O
be	O
maintained	O
solely	O
within	O
Astropy	B-Application
,	O
with	O
separate	O
releases	O
of	O
these	O
packages	O
stopping	O
,	O
after	O
the	O
next	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PyFITS	O
has	O
been	O
included	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	B-Application
Astropy	I-Application
project	I-Application
,	O
and	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
the	O
next	O
release	O
of	O
STScI_Python	O
will	O
depend	O
on	O
Astropy	B-Application
for	O
the	O
PyFITS	O
library	O
instead	O
of	O
using	O
this	O
standalone	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
data	B-Application
mining	I-Application
toolkit	O
for	O
exploring	O
large	O
data	O
cubes	O
in	O
radioastronomy	O
from	O
facilities	O
like	O
ALMA	O
or	O
CARMA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
are	O
intended	O
to	O
help	O
beginners	O
learn	O
how	O
Astropy	B-Application
works	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
.Astronomy	O
4	O
meeting	O
(	O
9	O
–	O
11	O
July	O
2012	O
)	O
held	O
a	O
session	O
on	O
Astropy	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
World	O
coordinate	O
system	O
(	O
WCS	O
)	O
support	O
,	O
implementing	O
PyWCS	O
,	O
the	O
Python	B-Language
wrapper	O
to	O
WCSLIB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WCSLIB	O
is	O
a	O
C	B-Language
library	O
which	O
implements	O
the	O
WCS	O
standard	O
in	O
the	O
Flexible	O
Image	O
Transport	O
System	O
(	O
FITS	O
)	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
table	O
formats	O
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
major	O
part	O
of	O
the	B-Application
Astropy	I-Application
project	I-Application
is	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
"	O
affiliated	O
packages	O
”	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
affiliated	O
package	O
is	O
an	O
astronomy-related	O
Python	B-Language
package	O
that	O
is	O
not	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
astropy	B-Application
core	O
but	O
has	O
been	O
suggested	O
for	O
inclusion	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
’s	O
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
packages	O
are	O
intended	O
to	O
improve	O
reuse	O
,	O
interoperability	O
,	O
and	O
interface	O
standards	O
for	O
Python	B-Language
astronomy	O
and	O
astrophysics	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astropysics	O
:	O
library	O
of	O
IDL	B-Language
astronomy	O
routines	O
converted	O
to	O
Python	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
kcorrect	O
:	O
Python	B-Language
bindings	O
to	O
kcorrect	O
code	O
of	O
Blanton	O
et	O
al	O
.	O
</s>
