Presubmission inquiry for Stingray

[matteobachetti]

Submitting Author: Name @matteobachetti
Package Name: Stingray
One-Line Description of Package: A spectral-timing software package for astrophysical X-ray (and other) data
Repository Link (if existing): github.com/stingraysoftware/stingray

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Code of Conduct & Commitment to Maintain Package

• I agree to abide by pyOpenSci's Code of Conduct during the review process and in maintaining my package after should it be accepted.
• I have read and will commit to package maintenance after the review as per the pyOpenSci Policies Guidelines.

Description

• Include a brief paragraph describing what your package does:

Stingray is a Python library for "spectral timing", i.e. time-series analysis techniques that can be used to study how variability changes or correlates between different energy bands/wavelengths. It is Astropy-affiliated, and with an ever growing user base now comprising hundreds of researchers around the globe.

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checks that satisfy community requirements. If your package fits into an
existing community please check below:

• Astropy:My package adheres to Astropy community standards
• Pangeo: My package adheres to the Pangeo standards listed in the pyOpenSci peer review guidebook

Scope

• Please indicate which category or categories.
  Check out our package scope page to learn more about our
  scope. (If you are unsure of which category you fit, we suggest you make a pre-submission inquiry):

  • Data retrieval
  • Data extraction
  • Data processing/munging
  • Data deposition
  • Data validation and testing
  • Data visualization
  • Workflow automation
  • Citation management and bibliometrics
  • Scientific software wrappers
  • Database interoperability

Domain Specific

• Geospatial

• Education

• Explain how and why the package falls under these categories (briefly, 1-2 sentences). Please note any areas you are unsure of:

This package is mostly focused on the analysis of new data from high-energy missions. We added data validation and testing because it can be used as a quick look tool to point out possible anomalies in observations (e.g. solar or other background flares).

• Who is the target audience and what are the scientific applications of this package?

The target audience is principally researchers and students of X-ray and multi-wavelength astronomy.
This package fills a void for a free and open source (spectral-)timing package for X-ray astronomy. XRONOS, formerly maintained by HEASARC, is currently unmaintained, and the analysis of high-energy timeseries is done mostly with proprietary software or mission-specific packages. We provide a Python package that eases the learning curve for newcomers, also thanks to extensive tutorials based on Jupyter notebooks, and provides experts with a powerful, robust library for their analysis. We provide software to analyze astronomical time series and do a number of things, including periodicity searches, time lag calculations, covariance spectra, power spectral modeling.

• Are there other Python packages that accomplish similar things? If so, how does yours differ?

Our package is arguably the most well-known Python package for X-ray spectral timing.

• Any other questions or issues we should be aware of:

We are alread Astropy-affiliated, and we wish to update the affiliation through the PyOpenSci infrastructure and standards. We have a 2019 JOSS paper, that we would like to update.

P.S. Have feedback/comments about our review process? Leave a comment here

[hamogu]

I've talked with the authors of stingray on the astropy side and I'm absolutely sure that stingray is in scope for PyOpenSci.

[Batalex]

Superseded by #201.