eXtended CASA Line Analysis Software Suite (XCLASS)

TL;DR

XCLASS is an advanced software suite integrated with CASA that models molecular spectra and optimizes parameters for astronomical data analysis, enhancing capabilities for interferometric and single dish observations.

Contribution

It introduces new functions for spectral modeling and an interface for parameter optimization, improving analysis of molecular line data in astronomy.

Findings

Enables synthetic spectra calculation considering dust and source size

Provides an integrated database of molecular data from CDMS and JPL

Includes an optimization tool for best-fit model parameters

Abstract

The eXtended CASA Line Analysis Software Suite (XCLASS) is a toolbox for the Common Astronomy Software Applications package (CASA) containing new functions for modeling interferometric and single dish data. Among the tools is the myXCLASS program which calculates synthetic spectra by solving the radiative transfer equation for an isothermal object in one dimension, whereas the finite source size and dust attenuation are considered as well. Molecular data required by the myXCLASS program are taken from an embedded SQLite3 database containing entries from the Cologne Database for Molecular Spectroscopy CDMS) and JPL using the Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Center (VAMDC) portal. Additionally, the toolbox provides an interface for the model optimizer package Modeling and Analysis Generic Interface for eXternal numerical codes (MAGIX), which helps to find the best description of observational data using myXCLASS (or another external model program), i.e., finding the parameter set that most closely reproduces the data.