Astronomical Python: An Introduction to Modern Scientific Programming

Over the past two decades, Python has become the de facto standard language of data science both in industry and astronomy (with the exception of simulations and other extreme scale computing problems). This course text is a full introduction to programming in Python with an explicit focus on astrophysical applications. The book covers the fundamentals of Python, including the native data types and operations, and how the language, interpreter, and operating system work together. Leaning heavily on standard packages used in astronomy, the book covers the installation and basic structure of the language and libraries; script writing, conditional statements, loops, and other code structures that allow for complex outcome management; the creation and use of functions and classes within Python; the creation of packages and the methods for re-using, importing, and otherwise standardizing code; and plotting. Finally, the book contains several higher level chapters that carry students from the beginner stage of programming into the intermediate.

Key Features

• Provides a comprehensive but accessible introduction to astronomy with Python for beginner undergraduate students
• Includes modern, worked out examples using real astronomical data
• Includes interactivity, including with various coding examples