The Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL) is an online registry of scientist-written software used in astronomy or astrophysics research. The primary objective of the ASCL is to make the software used in research available for examination to improve the transparency of research. [1]
Entries in the ASCL are indexed by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) and Web of Science's Data Citation Index and because each code is assigned a unique ascl ID, software can be cited in a journal paper even when there is no citable paper describing the code. Web of Science and ADS indexing makes research software more discoverable. Additionally, ADS can link some papers which use codes to the code entries, which makes it easier to examine the computational methods used. ADS also tracks citations for software (assuming the citations are formatted correctly), which can help research software authors for whom citations are an important measure.
Entries in the ASCL include the name, description, author of the code, ascl ID, and either a link to a download site for the software or an attached archive file for the software so the code can be downloaded directly from the ASCL. A link to a paper describing or using the software is usually included as well to demonstrate that the software has been used in refereed research. [2]
Peter Teuben, University of Maryland, Chair
Bruce Berriman, California Institute of Technology
Jessica Mink, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Robert J. Nemiroff, Michigan Technological University
Rein Warmels, European Southern Observatory
Lior Shamir, Lawrence Technological University
Keith Shortridge, Australian Astronomical Observatory
John Wallin, Middle Tennessee State University
Previous Advisory Committee Members
Mark Taylor, University of Bristol, UK (2011–2018)
Thomas Robitaille, Freelance (2016)
Robert J. Hanisch, National Institute of Standards and Technology (2011–2015) [9]
Editor: Alice Allen
Associate Editor: Kim DuPrie
Assistant Editor: Catherine Gosmeyer
Designer/Developer: Judy Schmidt [9]
Teegarden's Star is an M-type red dwarf in the constellation Aries, 12.5 light-years from the Solar System. Although it is near Earth it is a dim magnitude 15 and can only be seen through large telescopes. This star was found to have a very large proper motion of about 5 arcseconds per year. Only seven stars with such large proper motions are currently known.
The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is an online database of over 16 million astronomy and physics papers that are both from peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed sources. Abstracts are available online for free for almost all articles, and fully scanned articles are available in Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), and Portable Document Format (PDF) for older articles. It was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and it is managed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a digitized version of several photographic astronomical surveys of the night sky, produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute between 1983 and 2006.
Struve 2398 is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Draco. Struve 2398 is star number 2398 in the Struve Double Star Catalog of Russian-German astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve. The astronomer's surname, and hence the star identifier, is sometimes indicated by a Greek sigma, Σ; hence, this system can be listed with the identifier Σ 2398. Although the components are too faint to be viewed with the naked eye, this star system is among the closest to the Sun. Parallax measurements by the Gaia spacecraft give them an estimated distance of 11.5 light-years away.
Mu Boötis, Latinized from μ Boötis, consists of a pair of double stars in the northern constellation of Boötes, 120 light-years from the Sun.
ADS 16402 is a binary star system, composed of two sun-like stars located approximately 525 light-years away in the constellation Lacerta. It was first identified as a binary star by John Herschel in 1831. The two stars are separated by 11.26 arcseconds which leads to a projected separation of roughly 1500 astronomical units at the distance of ADS 16402. The star system is estimated to be 1.9 ± 0.6 billion years old. The secondary star ADS 16402 B is also designated HAT-P-1.
ADS 48 is a multiple star system in the constellation of Andromeda consisting of 7 stars. The components, in order from A to G, have apparent visual magnitudes of 8.826, 8.995, 13.30, 12.53, 11.68, 9.949, and 13.00.
Michael J. Kurtz is an astrophysicist at Harvard University, He has held the title of Astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian since 1983, and the additional post of Computer Scientist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory since 1984. He is especially known both for his research into the distribution of galaxies, and for his creation of the Astrophysics Data System.
KPD 1930+2752 is a binary star system including a subdwarf B star and a probable white dwarf with relatively high mass. Due to the nature of this astronomical system, it seems like a likely candidate for a potential type Ia supernova, a type of supernova which occurs when a white dwarf star takes on enough matter to approach the Chandrasekhar limit, the point at which electron degeneracy pressure would not be enough to support its mass. However, carbon fusion would occur before this limit was reached, releasing enough energy to overcome the force of gravity holding the star together and resulting in a supernova.
HD 85951, formally named Felis, is a solitary orange hued star in the constellation Hydra. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.94, making it faintly visible to the naked eye under ideal conditions. Based on parallax measurements, the object is about 570 light-years away from the Sun and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 50 km/s.
RR Ursae Minoris, abbreviated RR UMi, is a binary star system in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It can be viewed with the naked eye, typically having an apparent visual magnitude of around 4.710. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 10.0 mas as seen from Earth's orbit, it is located 330 light years away. The system is moving further from the Sun with a heliocentric radial velocity of +6 km/s.
2MASS J03552337+1133437 is a nearby brown dwarf of spectral type L5γ, located in constellation Taurus at approximately 29.8 light-years from Earth.
Astropy is a collection of software packages written in the Python programming language and designed for use in astronomy. The software is a single, free, core package for astronomical utilities due to the increasingly widespread usage of Python by astronomers, and to foster interoperability between various extant Python astronomy packages. Astropy is included in several large Python distributions; it is part of package managers for Linux and macOS, the Anaconda Python Distribution, Enthought Canopy and Ureka.
Robert J. Nemiroff is an Astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at Michigan Technological University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 1987 and his B.S. from Lehigh University in Engineering Physics in 1982. He is an active researcher with interests that include gamma-ray bursts, gravitational lensing, and cosmology, and is the cofounder and coeditor of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), the home page of which receives over a million hits a day, approximately 20% of nasa.gov traffic. He is married and has one daughter.
QS Telescopii is a faint, well-studied binary star system in the southern constellation Telescopium. It is composed of a white dwarf and main sequence donor star, locked into a close, circular orbit facing one another. Known as polars, material from the donor star does not form an accretion disk around the white dwarf, but rather streams directly onto it. This is due to the presence of the white dwarf's strong magnetic field. The pair undergo frequent shifts between a high and low accretion states, and it shifts between single and double accretion poles. The main pole is partially self-eclipsing.
WR 137 is a variable Wolf-Rayet star located around 6,000 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus.
FF Andromedae is a spectroscopic binary in the constellation Andromeda. It has a typical apparent visual magnitude of 10.4, but undergoes flare events that can increase its brightness by about a magnitude.
Kepler-429 is a variable subdwarf B star in the constellation Lyra, about 5,900 light years away.