From rhook at eso.org Mon Dec 5 04:50:31 2005 From: rhook at eso.org (Richard Hook) Date: Mon, 05 Dec 2005 10:50:31 +0100 Subject: [AstroPy] PyMidas - a Python interface to ESO-MIDAS In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <43940D67.7060707@eso.org> PyMidas - a Python interface to ESO-MIDAS We are pleased to announce a new interface between Python and the major ESO legacy general purpose data processing system, MIDAS. This software is called PyMidas and is now available as a first public release from www.eso.org/sampo/pymidas or with the latest distributions of MIDAS at http://www.eso.org/projects/esomidas/. PyMidas was developed by the Sampo project (*). PyMidas allows the large body of applications in MIDAS to be integrated with modern data reduction and analysis. It allows scripting in Python to evoke MIDAS commands, but still allows full use of the original MIDAS system, using identical syntax, and allows flexible mixing with other Python-based systems, in particular access to IRAF through PyRAF. PyMidas may be thought of as an equivalent of PyRAF, except for MIDAS rather than IRAF, although it is implemented rather differently. PyMidas is distributed with MIDAS releases and will also be part of future ESO Scisoft software bundle (www.eso.org/scisoft) releases. Note that PyMidas is an experimental product from a pilot project and is not supported ESO software The Sampo Team, ESO/Helsinki (pymidas at eso.org) * Finland joined the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in June 2004 and part of the joining fee was a contribution "in kind" of significant software effort which forms a project called Sampo (www.eso.org/sampo). Sampo is looking at the future needs of the ESO user community in the areas of data reduction and analysis and will perform several pilot projects to assess different approaches and technologies that will be needed to cope with data from ESO facilities during the next decade and beyond. PyMidas is the first Sampo pilot project. For more details about Sampo and its roll in ESO's plans for software support of the community in the future please see the ESO Messenger, issue 120, page 17 (http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/pubs/messenger/archive/no.120-jun05/messenger-no120.pdf