Astromatic

Astromatic
Name	Astromatic
Developer	Point Source Astrophysics Group; contributors from European Southern Observatory, Space Telescope Science Institute, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Released	1998
Latest release version	2019.1
Programming language	C (programming language), Perl, Python (programming language), Fortran
Operating system	Unix-like systems, Linux, macOS
Genre	Astronomical data processing, photometry, astrometry
License	Open-source (various: GNU General Public License variants)

Astromatic

Astromatic is a suite of open-source astronomical software tools designed for automated image processing, source extraction, photometry, and astrometry used by observatories, survey teams, and research institutes. Originating in the late 1990s, it integrates with pipelines operated by organizations such as European Southern Observatory, Space Telescope Science Institute, and survey projects like Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Pan-STARRS. The toolkit has influenced workflows at facilities including Subaru Telescope, Very Large Telescope, and Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope.

History

Astromatic emerged in the context of large-scale survey development during the era of Two Micron All Sky Survey and early Sloan Digital Sky Survey operations. Its early authors were active collaborators with teams at European Southern Observatory and the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, responding to needs identified in projects like COSMOS field, Hubble Space Telescope parallel surveys, and Canada-France Redshift Survey. Throughout the 2000s the suite evolved alongside instrumentation upgrades at Mount Palomar Observatory and Kitt Peak National Observatory, with iterative releases timed to support campaigns such as CFHTLS and imaging follow-ups for Kepler field studies. Contributions from staff associated with Space Telescope Science Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy further broadened functionality for precision photometry required by programs including GOODS and CANDELS.

Software and Components

The Astromatic suite bundles several interoperable applications widely adopted by survey pipelines. Core components include a source detection program originally developed for deep fields and bolstered by algorithms used in SExtractor-style detection, a catalog merging utility used in cross-matching with catalogs such as Gaia (spacecraft), and a background modeling tool implemented for montage-style mosaics like those produced for Spitzer Space Telescope and WISE. The suite interfaces with calibration utilities employed by Hubble Space Telescope archive teams and photometric zeropoint services maintained by projects like Pan-STARRS1 Surveys (PS1). Additional modules handle point-spread-function fitting analogous to techniques used by DAOPHOT and catalog ingestion routines compatible with Virtual Observatory standards.

Architecture and Technologies

Astromatic is implemented in compiled languages such as C (programming language) and Fortran for performance-critical algorithms, with scripting glue in Perl and Python (programming language) for pipeline orchestration. Its architecture favors modular command-line tools that integrate with job schedulers used at centers such as National Radio Astronomy Observatory and European Grid Infrastructure. File I/O follows conventions from observatories like European Southern Observatory and adheres to formats compatible with Flexible Image Transport System conventions used by NASA/IPAC archives. The suite supports parallel execution paradigms employed by survey processing centers at institutions such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Fermilab, enabling scalable workflows for projects including Dark Energy Survey and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope preparations.

Applications and Use Cases

Astromatic tools are applied across observational astronomy tasks: deep-field source catalogs for programs like UltraVISTA, transient detection pipelines affiliated with Zwicky Transient Facility, and photometric redshift precursor catalogs used by Euclid (spacecraft) science teams. Ground-based follow-up for missions such as Kepler and TESS has relied on Astromatic-like extraction and calibration routines for target characterization. Its components support cross-matching with legacy surveys including Two Micron All Sky Survey, WISE, and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and feed downstream analysis performed by groups working on Large Magellanic Cloud mapping, stellar population synthesis in clusters like M13, and weak-lensing pipelines developed for CFHTLenS and DES Science Verification.

Community and Development

Development has been driven by an international user and contributor base spanning research centers such as Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. Collaborative contributions occur through mailing lists patterned after those of SExtractor and code repositories inspired by models used at GitHub and institutional mirrors hosted by Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Workshops and training sessions at conferences including American Astronomical Society meetings and International Astronomical Union symposia have disseminated best practices. User support networks intersect with catalog services at VizieR and pipeline teams at facilities like Subaru Telescope’s Suprime-Cam and Hyper Suprime-Cam projects.

Licensing and Distribution

Astromatic components have been released under open-source licenses comparable to the GNU General Public License family, with redistribution models aligning with policies at archives such as Space Telescope Science Institute and distribution mirrors used by projects like AstroPy and AstroGrid. Binary and source packages are packaged for Linux distributions commonly used at observatories, and source tarballs have historically been distributed via institutional servers similar to those of European Southern Observatory and research group pages at Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille.

Category:Astronomy software