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Codes and Tools

Owned by Jessica Lu
Last updated: Feb 16, 2023
2 min read

The MU Lab develops tools for studies of resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way, microlensing, orbits, and high-precision astrometry from space-based telescopes and with adaptive optics on ground-based telescopes. Some of our tools are listed below.

SPISEA - Stellar Population Interface for Stellar Evolution and Atmospheres

SPISEA (docs) is an python package that generates single-age, single-metallicity populations (i.e. star clusters). It gives the user control over many parameters:

  • Cluster characteristics (age, metallicity, mass, distance)

    • Total extinction, differential extinction, and extinction law

    • Stellar evolution and atmosphere models

    • Stellar multiplicity and Initial Mass Function

    • Initial-Final Mass Relation

    • Photometric filters

  • Here is a brief list of things that SPISEA can do:

    • make a cluster isochrone in many filters using different stellar models

    • make a star cluster at any age with an unusual IMF and multiplicity

    • make a spectrum of a star cluster in integrated light

PopSyCLE - Population Synthesis for Compact-object Lensing Events

PopSyCLE is a python add-on to the Galaxia modeling code that will make a fake Milky Way populated with stars, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. The synthetic population can be “observed” for microlensing events.

  • Running galaxia-v3 and run.py on PopSyCLE

NIRC2 and OSIRIS Image Reduction Pipeline

The KAI (Keck AO Imager) Imager Pipeline is a python-based (with IRAF dependencies) data reduction pipeline for the NIRC2 and OSIRIS adaptive optics imagers at the W. M. Keck Observatory. This pipeline was built to construct images of star fields to be used for high-precision photometry and astrometry. It does typical image reduction tasks as well as correcting for differential atmospheric refraction, instrumental distortions, and unique instrumental aspects of each instrument (e.g. noisy columns in NIRC2). When combined with StarFinder or AIROPA, this pipeline will also extract positions and fluxes from the images. The code is currently still in alpha-testing.

FlyStar

FlyStar is a tool for cross-matching and transforming starlists for high-precision astrometry projects. It is currently under development and alpha-testing.

AIROPA

AIROPA is a source extraction package to handle Anisoplanatic and Instrumental Reconstruction of Off-Axis PSFs for AO.

BAGLE - Bayesian Analysis of Gravitational Lensing Events

BAGLE allows modeling of gravitational microlensing events both photometrically and astrometrically. Supported microlensing models include:

  • PSPL: point-source, point-lens with parallax

  • PSBL: point-source, binary-lens

  • FSPL: finite-source, point-lens (currently testing further)

All models support fitting data with single or multi-band photometry only, astrometry only, or joint fitting of photometry and astrometry (recommended).