SpecpolFlow: a new software package for spectropolarimetry using Python
Spectropolarimetry, the observation of polarization and intensity as a function of wavelength, is a powerful tool in stellar astrophysics. It is particularly useful for characterizing stars and circumstellar material, and for tracing the influence of magnetic fields on a host star and its environment. Maintaining modern, flexible, and accessible computational tools that enable spectropolarimetric studies is thus essential. The SpecpolFlow package is a new, completely Pythonic workflow for analyzing stellar spectropolarimetric observations. Its suite of tools provides a user-friendly interface for working with data from an assortment of instruments and telescopes. SpecpolFlow contains tools for spectral normalization and visualization, the extraction of Least-Squares Deconvolution (LSD) profiles, the generation and optimization of line masks for LSD analyses, and the calculation of longitudinal magnetic field measurements from the LSD profiles. It also provides Python classes for the manipulation of spectropolarimetric products. The SpecpolFlow website includes an array of tutorials that guide users through common analysis cases using the software. SpecpolFlow is distributed as a free, open-source package, with fully documented tools (via an API and command line interface) which are actively maintained by a team of contributors.
Authors
- B. Zaire (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9328-9530)
- Christiana Erba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1299-8878)
- V. Pétit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5633-7548)
- Robin Moore
- C. P. Folsom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9023-7890)
- Tali Natan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7703-6701)
- Shaquann Seadrow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0308-2497)
- M. E. Oksala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2580-1464)
- Patrick Stanley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0378-0140)
- Marisol Catalan Olais (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2442-6235)
- Federico Villadiego Forero
Institutions
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- California Lutheran University (US)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- Observatoire de Paris (FR)
- Tartu Observatory (EE)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Sorbonne Paris Cité (FR)
- Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR)
- Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique (FR)
- University of Delaware (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Open Source Software
- Published
- 2025-07-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.07891
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Solid-state spectroscopy and crystallography
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.62
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Delaware Space Grant Consortium
- UK Research and Innovation
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme