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The Astropy Project : Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package*

The Astropy Collaboration, Adrian M. Price-Whelan(Flatiron Institute), Pey Lian Lim(Space Telescope Science Institute), N. Earl(University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Nathaniel Starkman(University of Toronto), Larry Bradley(Space Telescope Science Institute), David L. Shupe(California Institute of Technology), Aarya A. Patil(University of Toronto), Lía Corrales(University of Michigan), C. E. Brasseur(University of St Andrews), Maximilian Nöthe(TU Dortmund University), Axel Donath(Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian), Erik J. Tollerud(Space Telescope Science Institute), Brett M. Morris(University of Bern), Adam G. Ginsburg(University of Florida), Eero Vaher(Lund University), Benjamin Alan Weaver(NSF NOIRLab), James Tocknell(Australian Astronomical Optics), William Brian Jamieson(Space Telescope Science Institute), M. H. van Kerkwijk(University of Toronto), Thomas Robitaille, Bruce Merry(South African Radio Astronomy Observatory), Matteo Bachetti(Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari), Hans Moritz Günther(Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Thomas L. Aldcroft(Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian), Jaime A. Alvarado-Montes(Macquarie University), Anne M. Archibald(Newcastle University), Attila Bódi(Konkoly Observatory), Shreyas Bapat(Indian Institute of Technology Mandi), Geert Barentsen(Bay Area Environmental Research Institute), Juanjo Bazán(Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), Manish Biswas(Savitribai Phule Pune University), Médéric Boquien(Universidad de Antofagasta), D. J. Burke(Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian), Daria Cara(Wake Forest University), Mihai Cara(Space Telescope Science Institute), Kyle E. Conroy(Space Telescope Science Institute), Simon Conseil(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Matthew Craig(Minnesota State University Moorhead), Cross, Robert M., Kelle L. Cruz(American Museum of Natural History), Francesco D’Eugenio(University of Cambridge), Nadia Dencheva(Space Telescope Science Institute), Hadrien A. R. Devillepoix(Curtin University), Jörg P. Dietrich, Arthur Davis Eigenbrot(National Solar Observatory), T. Erben(University of Bonn), Leonardo Ferreira(University of Nottingham), Daniel T. Foreman-Mackey(Flatiron Institute), Ryan Fox, Nabil Freij(Lockheed Martin (United States)), Suyog Garg(The University of Tokyo), Robel Geda(Princeton University), Lauren Glattly, Yash Gondhalekar(Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani - Goa Campus), Karl D. Gordon(Space Telescope Science Institute), David Grant(University of Bristol), P. Greenfield(Space Telescope Science Institute), Austen M. Groener(Drexel University), S. Guest(Rutherford Appleton Laboratory), S. Gurovich(Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), R. Handberg(Aarhus University), Akeem Hart, Zac Hatfield-Dodds(Australian National University), D. Homeier, G. Hosseinzadeh(University of Arizona), Tim Jenness(University of Arizona), Craig K. Jones(Johns Hopkins University), P. Joseph(Indian Institute of Astrophysics), John Bryce Kalmbach(University of Washington), E. Karamehmetoglu(Aarhus University), Mikołaj Kałuszyński(Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center), Michael S. P. Kelley(University of Maryland, College Park), Nicholas S. Kern(Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Wolfgang Kerzendorf(Michigan State University), Eric W. Koch(Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian), Shankar Kulumani(Johns Hopkins University), Antony Lee(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Chun Ly(University of Arizona), Zhiyuan Ma(University of Massachusetts Amherst), C. D. MacBride(Queen's University Belfast), Jakob M. Maljaars(Science and Technology Corporation (Netherlands)), Demitri Muna(The University of Texas at San Antonio), Nicholas A. Murphy(Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian), Henrik Norman, Richard O’Steen(Space Telescope Science Institute), Kyle A. Oman(Durham University), Camilla Pacifici(Space Telescope Science Institute), S. Pascual(Universidad Complutense de Madrid), J. Pascual-Granado(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía), Rohit R. Patil(Syracuse University), Gabriel I. Perren(Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Timothy E. Pickering(University of Arizona), Tushar Rastogi, Benjamin R. Roulston(Boston University), Daniel F. Ryan(American University), Eli S Rykoff(SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory), J. Sabater(Royal Observatory), Parikshit Sakurikar(International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad), Jesús J. Salgado(SKA Observatory)
January 1, 2022Durham Research Online (Durham University)5,052 citations
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Abstract

Full list of authors: Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Lim, Pey Lian; Earl, Nicholas; Starkman, Nathaniel; Bradley, Larry; Shupe, David L.; Patil, Aarya A.; Corrales, Lia; Brasseur, C. E.; Noethe, Maximilian; Donath, Axel; Tollerud, Erik; Morris, Brett M.; Ginsburg, Adam; Vaher, Eero; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Tocknell, James; Jamieson, William; van Kerkwijk, Marten H.; Robitaille, Thomas P.; Merry, Bruce; Bachetti, Matteo; Gunther, H. Moritz; Aldcroft, Thomas L.; Alvarado-Montes, Jaime A.; Archibald, Anne M.; Bodi, Attila; Bapat, Shreyas; Barentsen, Geert; Bazan, Juanjo; Biswas, Manish; Boquien, Mederic; Burke, D. J.; Cara, Daria; Cara, Mihai; Conroy, Kyle E.; Conseil, Simon; Craig, Matthew W.; Cross, Robert M.; Cruz, Kelle L.; D'Eugenio, Francesco; Dencheva, Nadia; Devillepoix, Hadrien A. R.; Dietrich, Jorg P.; Eigenbrot, Arthur Davis; Erben, Thomas; Ferreira, Leonardo; Foreman-Mackey, Daniel; Fox, Ryan; Freij, Nabil; Garg, Suyog; Geda, Robel; Glattly, Lauren; Gondhalekar, Yash; Gordon, Karl D.; Grant, David; Greenfield, Perry; Groener, Austen M.; Guest, Steve; Gurovich, Sebastian; Handberg, Rasmus; Hart, Akeem; Hatfield-Dodds, Zac; Homeier, Derek; Hosseinzadeh, Griffin; Jenness, Tim; Jones, Craig K.; Joseph, Prajwel; Kalmbach, J. Bryce; Karamehmetoglu, Emir; Kaluszynski, Mikolaj; Kelley, Michael S. P.; Kern, Nicholas; Kerzendorf, Wolfgang E.; Koch, Eric W.; Kulumani, Shankar; Lee, Antony; Ly, Chun; Ma, Zhiyuan; MacBride, Conor; Maljaars, Jakob M.; Muna, Demitri; Murphy, N. A.; Norman, Henrik; O'Steen, Richard; Oman, Kyle A.; Pacifici, Camilla; Pascual, Sergio; Pascual-Granado, J.; Patil, Rohit R.; Perren, Gabriel, I; Pickering, Timothy E.; Rastogi, Tanuj; Roulston, Benjamin R.; Ryan, Daniel F.; Rykoff, Eli S.; Sabater, Jose; Sakurikar, Parikshit; Salgado, Jesus; Sanghi, Aniket; Saunders, Nicholas; Savchenko, Volodymyr; Schwardt, Ludwig; Seifert-Eckert, Michael; Shih, Albert Y.; Jain, Anany Shrey; Shukla, Gyanendra; Sick, Jonathan; Simpson, Chris; Singanamalla, Sudheesh; Singer, Leo P.; Singhal, Jaladh; Sinha, Manodeep; Sipocz, Brigitta M.; Spitler, Lee R.; Stansby, David; Streicher, Ole; Sumak, Jani; Swinbank, John D.; Taranu, Dan S.; Tewary, Nikita; Tremblay, Grant R.; De Val-Borro, Miguel; Vasovic, Zlatan; Van Kooten, Samuel J.; Verma, Shresth; Cardoso, Jose Vinicius de Miranda; Williams, Peter K. G.; Wilson, Tom J.; Winkel, Benjamin; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Xue, Rui; Yoachim, Peter; Zhang, Chen; Zonca, Andrea; Astropy Project Contributors; TARDIS Collaboration; Astropy Coordination Comm.--This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Analysis

Why This Paper Matters

The Astropy Project represents a critical case study in how large-scale, community-driven open-source software can be sustained and grown over time. In an era where scientific research increasingly relies on software, Astropy provides a model for collaborative development that spans institutions, career stages, and geographic boundaries. The paper's focus on the v5.0 release of the core package underscores the project's maturity and its ongoing commitment to improving the tools available to astronomers.

Beyond astronomy, Astropy's approach to governance, community engagement, and technical infrastructure offers valuable lessons for any open-source scientific project. The paper documents the strategies that have allowed Astropy to maintain a vibrant contributor community while ensuring the reliability and usability of its software. This is particularly relevant as the research community grapples with challenges of software sustainability and reproducibility.

Technical Contributions

  • Community Governance Model: Astropy employs a coordinated committee and a formal enhancement proposal process (APE) to manage contributions and decision-making, ensuring transparency and inclusivity.
  • Core Package v5.0: The release includes performance optimizations, new subpackages, and improved interoperability with other astronomical software and data formats.
  • Infrastructure for Collaboration: The project maintains robust continuous integration, documentation, and testing frameworks that lower the barrier for new contributors.
  • Sustainability Practices: The paper outlines funding models, mentorship programs, and outreach efforts that have helped sustain the project over more than a decade.

Results

The paper does not present quantitative benchmarks but highlights the project's growth: Astropy v5.0 incorporates contributions from hundreds of developers and is used across thousands of research projects. The release includes enhancements such as improved unit handling, faster I/O operations, and expanded cosmological calculations. The project's success is evidenced by its widespread adoption and the active participation of its community.

Significance

Astropy's significance extends beyond its technical capabilities. It has become a cornerstone of modern astronomical research, enabling reproducible science and reducing duplicated effort. The project's emphasis on community building and sustainability provides a blueprint for other scientific software initiatives. As AI and machine learning increasingly intersect with astronomy, Astropy's role as a data manipulation and analysis tool will likely grow, making its continued development and community health ever more important. The paper's documentation of best practices in open-source governance and collaboration is a valuable resource for the broader research software engineering community.

open-sourceastronomypythonsoftware-engineeringcommunity-governancescientific-computingpackage-release

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