Content deleted Content added
Added reference to WSRT web pages |
Added reference to ACA AIPS pages |
||
Line 20:
Development of AIPS started at [[NRAO]] in 1978, two years before the VLA became fully operational. Originally written in [[FORTRAN 66]],<ref>{{cite conference|last1=Wells|first1=Donald|title=NRAO's Astronomical Image Processing System|conference=Data Analysis in Astronomy|date=1985|page=202|publisher=[[Kluwer]]}}</ref> AIPS has used [[FORTRAN 77]] since 1989.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Greisen|first1=Eric|editor1-last=Heck|editor1-first=André|title=AIPS, the VLA, and the VLBA|journal=Information Handling in Astronomy - Historical Vistas|page=114|date=2003}}</ref> The very first AIPS installation was on a [[MODCOMP]] computer, but the package's portability has led to it being installed on many different systems. Pre-compiled versions are today available for users of [[Linux]] and [[MacOS|Mac OS]].<ref name="AIPSFAQ">{{cite web|last1=Greisen|first1=Eric|title=The AIPS FAQ|url=http://www.aips.nrao.edu/aips_faq.html|website=AIPS|publisher=NRAO}}</ref> Since 2018, a pre-compiled version is no longer available for [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]] and users must now build AIPS from source.
Over the years, the capabilities of AIPS have greatly expanded. Initial usage was focused on the VLA, but it has gone on to be used to reduce data from practically all radio interferometers, including [[MERLIN]] and the [[GMRT]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncra.tifr.res.in/ncra/gmrt/gmrt-users/aips-help|title=AIPS Info|website=GMRT|publisher=NCRA|access-date=2021-07-07}}</ref> and, to a lesser extent, the [[Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope|WSRT]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.astron.nl/radio-observatory/astronomers/analysis-wsrt-data/analysis-wsrt-dzb-data-classic-aips/analysis-wsrt-d|title=Analysis of WSRT DZB data with classic AIPS|website=WSRT|publisher=ASTRON|access-date=2021-07-07}}</ref> and [[Australia Telescope Compact Array|ATCA]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.atnf.csiro.au/computing/software/atca_aips/atcal_html.html|title=Analysis of ATCA data|website=Australia Telescope Compact Array|publisher=ATNF|access-date=2021-07-07}}</ref>. The ability to calibrate VLBI data (including [[space VLBI]]) was added in the 1990s, primarily to support operations with the [[Very Long Baseline Array|VLBA]], but in the process becoming the main data-reduction package for the [[European VLBI Network|EVN]] and combined VLBA/EVN observations (Global VLBI). Single-dish support was also added in the 1980s, with particular application to NRAO's [[ARO 12m Radio Telescope|12-m radio telescope]] and the 91-m transit telescope.
AIPS has now been in use for nearly 40 years and has even outlived its supposed replacement [[AIPS++]], which was eventually rebranded as CASA.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jaeger|first1=Shannon|title=The Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA)|journal=Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems ASP Conference Series|date=2008|volume=394|page=623|bibcode=2008ASPC..394..623J|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2008ASPC..394..623J}}</ref> CASA has gone on to be the main data-reduction package for the upgraded VLA (EVLA) and [[Atacama Large Millimeter Array|ALMA]], but AIPS remains able, to a large degree, to process data from these state-of-the-art instruments. Despite its age and limited resources, AIPS remains widely used and under active development. AIPS is free software and is covered by the terms of the [[GNU General Public License]].
| |||