AIPS
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The Astronomical Image Processing System provides facilities for calibration, editing, image formation, image enhancement, and analysis of images and other astronomical data. A major focus is on reduction of data from both single-dish and aperture synthesis radio telescopes. Although the tools provided in AIPS/AIPS++ are mainly designed for processing data from varieties of radio telescopes, the package is expected to also be useful for processing other types of astronomical data and images. However, the reduction of most data from imaging array detectors is performed using IRAF instead.
AIPS++ is structured as a toolkit at the lower levels, while AIPS is a comprehensive collection of more monolithic applications. In general, the counterpart of an AIPS task is an AIPS++ tool function, although the toolkit structure of AIPS++ will generally mean that these functions are more fine-grained, except for the more integrated tools at the higher levels (such as map). The counterparts of AIPS adverbs are the parameters of AIPS++tool functions. The command-line interpreter in AIPS is POPS, while the counterpart in AIPS++ is Glish. The code used as standard in most astronomical institutes is AIPS, as AIPS++ is usually not yet considered sufficiently reliable.
Like most research astronomy software, it is available for all major operating systems except Microsoft Windows. To new postgraduate students, AIPS is such an idiosyncratic piece of software that a rich and varied niche humour [1] has developed around it.
[edit] AIPS++/CASA
On August 25, 2004 the AIPS++ code base was re-organized to a more modular structure; since then it is referred to as CASA ("Common Astronomy Software Applications"). CASA consists of a suite of C++ libraries derived from the original AIPS++ tasks. The Glish scripting system is being replaced by Python bindings, a system known as "CASApy".
[edit] References
- AIPS++ Mission Statement
- The AIPS++ System Manual describes the "nuts & bolts" of the AIPS++ System; how it is put together and how it is intended to run.
- Software Dictionary AIPS/AIPS++
