SpecpolFlow: a new software package for spectropolarimetry using Python

TL;DR

SpecpolFlow is an open-source Python package that streamlines the analysis of stellar spectropolarimetric data, offering tools for data processing, visualization, and magnetic field measurement, with comprehensive tutorials and active maintenance.

Contribution

It introduces a fully Pythonic, user-friendly workflow for spectropolarimetric analysis, supporting multiple instruments and providing extensive documentation and tutorials.

Findings

Supports data normalization, visualization, and LSD profile extraction.

Enables calculation of longitudinal magnetic fields from spectropolarimetric data.

Provides a flexible, open-source toolset for stellar spectropolarimetry.

Abstract

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.