astropy / astropy/astroplan

astroplan and exposure time calculator (ETC) functionality

Open
#480 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Dominant language
Python
Stars
225
Forks
121
Avg merge
28m
Merged PRs (30d)
1

Description

This is more of a prompt for discussion on how the `astroplan` community would like to incorporate exposure time calculator (ETC) functionality into the `astropy` etc ecosystem.

One way to help frame the discussion is to consider two (of many?) possible options:

1. build the capability into `astroplan` directly, e.g.: https://github.com/astropy/astroplan/pull/420
2. spin it off into its own module, which allows for more functionality to be developed, image simulations, spectroscopy mode, etc. See the `gunagala` module for an example of this idea: https://gunagala.readthedocs.io/en/develop/

What do people think of this? Is `astroplan` the right place for an ETC? Or is an independent, `astropy`-affiliated module like `gunagala` the place to spend effort? Or does the community want both?

Note, I'm leading the project ( https://huntsman.space/ ) that in part inspired @AnthonyHorton to create `gunagala`. I am considering whether to seek FTE resources to bring `gunagala` up to the level of an `astropy` affiliated package.

Thanks in advance for sharing any thoughts or ideas you might have.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

Start by reading the proposed astroplan implementation in pull request #420 and the gunagala documentation linked in the issue. Compare the scope of an ETC inside astroplan with an independent affiliated package, including the possible image-simulation and spectroscopy extensions. Done means reaching and documenting a community decision about the package location and intended scope.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
backend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
15/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.