.. astroobs

:Name: astroobs
:Website: https://github.com/ceyzeriat/astroobs
:Author: Guillaume Schworer
:Version: 1.3.3beta

.. image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg
    :target: https://github.com/ceyzeriat/astroobs/blob/master/LICENSE.txt

Astroobs provides astronomy ephemeris (airmass, azimuth, altitude, moon separation, etc) of a night sky target as a function of the date-time and the longitude/latitude of the observer.
A list of international observatories is provided as well as a SIMBAD-querier to easily import targets.
This package is based on pyephem ephemeris calculations. The main difference with this latter package is that astroobs provides a very straight-forward library for the observer to get the critical information in order to plan an observation.
It also provides convenient turn-key tools to convert epochs and plot diagrams.
It is released under the MIT license.

.. code-block:: python

    import astroobs.obs as obs

    o=obs.Observation('vlt', local_date=(2015, 1, 1), moonAvoidRadius=15, horizon_obs = 40)
    o.add_target('aldebaran')
    o.add_target('canopus')
    o.plot(legend=True)

.. image:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ceyzeriat/astroobs/master/img/obs_ex.png
   :align: center

.. code-block:: python

    aldebaran = o.targets[0]
    aldebaran.whenobs(o, (2015,1,1), (2015, 2, 1))

.. image:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ceyzeriat/astroobs/master/img/aldebaran_when.png
   :align: center

Documentation
=============

Refer to this page, http://pythonhosted.org/astroobs/astroobs.html


Requirements
============

astroobs requires the following Python packages:

* NumPy: for basic numerical routines
* Astropy: for angle units
* pyephem: for the calculations of ephemeris
* matplotlib: for plotting
* pytz: for timezones management
* re, os, sys, datetime, time: for basic stuff

astroobs is tested on Linux and Python 2.7 only, but should cross-plateform without too many issues.

Installation
============

If you use anaconda, the easiest and fastest way to get the package up and running is to
install astroobs using `conda <http://conda.io>`_::

  $ conda install astroobs --channel astroobs

You can also install astroobs from PyPI using pip, given that you already
have all the requirements::

  $ pip install astroobs

You can also download astroobs source from GitHub and type::

  $ python setup.py install


It is recommended that you **never ever use sudo** with distutils, pip,
setuptools and friends in Linux because you might seriously break your
system [1_][2_][3_][4_]. Options are `per user directories`_, `virtualenv`_
or `local installations`_.

.. _1: http://wiki.python.org/moin/CheeseShopTutorial#Distutils_Installation
.. _2: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4314376/how-can-i-install-a-python-egg-file/4314446#comment4690673_4314446
.. _3: http://workaround.org/easy-install-debian
.. _4: http://matplotlib.1069221.n5.nabble.com/Why-is-pip-not-mentioned-in-the-Installation-Documentation-tp39779p39812.html

.. _`per user directories`: http://stackoverflow.com/a/7143496/554319
.. _`virtualenv`: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/virtualenv
.. _`local installations`: http://stackoverflow.com/a/4325047/554319

Contributing
============

Code writing
------------

Code contributions are welcome! Just send a pull request on GitHub and we will discuss it. In the `issue tracker`_ you may find pending tasks.

Bug reporting
-------------

If you think you've found one please refer to the `issue tracker`_ on GitHub.

.. _`issue tracker`: https://github.com/ceyzeriat/astroobs/issues

Additional options
------------------

You can either send me an e-mail or add it to the issues/wishes list on GitHub.

Citing
======

If you use astroobs on your project, please
`drop me a line <mailto:{my first name}.{my family name}@obspm.fr>`, you will get fixes and additional options earlier.

License
=======

astroobs is released under the MIT license, hence allowing commercial use of the library. Please refer to the LICENSE.txt file.
