pyROX: Rapid Opacity X-sections

TL;DR

pyROX is a Python package that efficiently computes molecular and atomic opacity cross-sections, supporting both small-scale workstation and large-scale cluster computations, aiding astronomers in atmospheric analysis.

Contribution

It introduces pyROX, a user-friendly, versatile tool for calculating opacities from line lists, including collision-induced absorption, with parallel processing capabilities.

Findings

Supports CPU-based calculations for small line lists

Easily parallelized for large datasets on clusters

Includes comprehensive tutorials and documentation

Abstract

In recent years, significant advances have been made in exoplanet and brown dwarf observations. By using state-of-the-art models, astronomers can determine properties of their atmospheres, such as temperatures, the presence of clouds, or the chemical abundances of molecules and atoms. Accurate and up-to-date opacities are crucial to avoid inconclusive or biased results, but it can be challenging to compute opacity cross-sections from the line lists provided by various online databases. We introduce pyROX, an easy-to-use Python package to calculate molecular and atomic cross-sections. Since pyROX works on CPUs, it can compute a small line list on a regular workstation, but it is also easily parallelised on a cluster for larger line lists. In addition to line opacities, pyROX also supports calculations of collision-induced absorption. Tutorials are provided in the online documentation which explain the configuration parameters and different functionalities of pyROX.