This book provides a solid foundation in the Python programming language, numerical methods, and data analysis, all embedded within the context of astronomy and astrophysics. It not only enables students to learn programming with the aid of examples from these fields but also provides ample motivation for engagement in independent research. The book opens by outlining the importance of computational methods and programming algorithms in contemporary astronomical and astrophysical research, showing why programming in Python is a good choice for beginners. The performance of basic calculations with Python is then explained with reference to, for example, Kepler’s laws of planetary motion and gravitational and tidal forces. Here, essential background knowledge is provided as necessary. Subsequent chapters are designed to teach the reader to define and use important functions in Python and to utilize numerical methods to solve differential equations and landmark dynamical problems in astrophysics. Finally, the analysis of astronomical data is discussed, with various hands-on examples as well as guidance on astronomical image analysis and applications of artificial neural networks.

Bringing together idiomatic Python programming, foundational numerical methods, and physics applications, this is an ideal standalone textbook for courses on computational physics. All the frequently used numerical methods in physics are explained, including foundational techniques and hidden gems on topics such as linear algebra, differential equations, root-finding, interpolation, and integration. The second edition of this introductory book features several new codes and 140 new problems (many on physics applications), as well as new sections on the singular-value decomposition, derivative-free optimization, Bayesian linear regression, neural networks, and partial differential equations. The last section in each chapter is an in-depth project, tackling physics problems that cannot be solved without the use of a computer. Written primarily for students studying computational physics, this textbook brings the non-specialist quickly up to speed with Python before looking in detail at the numerical methods often used in the subject.

For the last twenty years astronomy has been developing dramatically. Until the nineteen-fifties, telescopes, spectrometers, and photographic plates consti tuted a relatively simple set of tools which had been refined to a high degree of perfection by the joint efforts of physicists and astronomers. Indeed these tools helped at the birth of modern astrophysics: the discovery of the expan sion of the Universe. Then came radioastronomy and the advent of electronics; the last thirty years have seen the application to astrophysics of a wealth of new experimental techniques, based on the most advanced fields of physics, and a constant interchange of ideas between physicists and astronomers. Last, but not least, modern computers have sharply reduced the burden of dealing with the information painfully extracted from the skies, whether from ever scarce photons, or from the gigantic data flows provided by satellites and large telescopes. The aim of this book is not to give an extensive overview of all the tech niques currently in use in astronomy, nor to provide detailed instructions for preparing or carrying out an astronomical project. Its purpose is methodologi cal: photons are still the main carriers of information between celestial sources and the observer. How we are to collect, sample, measure, and store this infor mation is the unifying theme of the book. Rather than the diversity of tech niques appropriate for each wavelength range, we emphasize the physical and mathematical bases which are common to all wavelength regimes.

As telescopes, detectors, and computers grow ever more powerful, the volume of data at the disposal of astronomers and astrophysicists will enter the petabyte domain, providing accurate measurements for billions of celestial objects. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the cutting-edge statistical methods needed to efficiently analyze complex data sets from astronomical surveys such as the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, the Dark Energy Survey, and the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. It serves as a practical handbook for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in physics and astronomy, and as an indispensable reference for researchers. Statistics, Data Mining, and Machine Learning in Astronomy presents a wealth of practical analysis problems, evaluates techniques for solving them, and explains how to use various approaches for different types and sizes of data sets. For all applications described in the book, Python code and example data sets are provided. The supporting data sets have been carefully selected from contemporary astronomical surveys (for example, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey) and are easy to download and use. The accompanying Python code is publicly available, well documented, and follows uniform coding standards. Together, the data sets and code enable readers to reproduce all the figures and examples, evaluate the methods, and adapt them to their own fields of interest. Describes the most useful statistical and data-mining methods for extracting knowledge from huge and complex astronomical data sets Features real-world data sets from contemporary astronomical surveys Uses a freely available Python codebase throughout Ideal for students and working astronomers

Scientific Python is taught from scratch in this book via copious, downloadable, useful and adaptable code snippets. Everything the working scientist needs to know is covered, quickly providing researchers and research students with the skills to start using Python effectively.

Statistics, Data Mining, and Machine Learning in Astronomy is the essential introduction to the statistical methods needed to analyze complex data sets from astronomical surveys such as the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, the Dark Energy Survey, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. Now fully updated, it presents a wealth of practical analysis problems, evaluates the techniques for solving them, and explains how to use various approaches for different types and sizes of data sets. Python code and sample data sets are provided for all applications described in the book. The supporting data sets have been carefully selected from contemporary astronomical surveys and are easy to download and use. The accompanying Python code is publicly available, well documented, and follows uniform coding standards. Together, the data sets and code enable readers to reproduce all the figures and examples, engage with the different methods, and adapt them to their own fields of interest. An accessible textbook for students and an indispensable reference for researchers, this updated edition features new sections on deep learning methods, hierarchical Bayes modeling, and approximate Bayesian computation. The chapters have been revised throughout and the astroML code has been brought completely up to date. Fully revised and expanded Describes the most useful statistical and data-mining methods for extracting knowledge from huge and complex astronomical data sets Features real-world data sets from astronomical surveys Uses a freely available Python codebase throughout Ideal for graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and working astronomers

The international Workshop on "Data Analysis in Astronomy" was in tended to give a presentation of experiences that have been acqui red in data analysis and image processing, developments and appli cations that are steadly growing up in Astronomy. The quality and the quantity of ground and satellite observations require more so phisticated data analysis methods and better computational tools. The Workshop has reviewed the present state of the art, explored new methods and discussed a wide range of applications. The topics which have been selected have covered the main fields of interest for data analysis in Astronomy. The Workshop has been focused on the methods used and their significant applications. Results which gave a major contribution to the physical interpre tation of the data have been stressed in the presentations. Atten tion has been devoted to the description of operational system for data analysis in astronomy. The success of the meeting has been the results of the coordinated effort of several people from the organizers to those who presen ted a contribution and/or took part in the discussion. We wish to thank the members of the Workshop scientific committee Prof. M. Ca paccioli, Prof. G. De Biase, Prof. G. Sedmak, Prof. A. Zichichi and of the local organizing committee Dr. R. Buccheri and Dr. M.C. Macca rone together with Miss P. Savalli and Dr. A. Gabriele of the E. Majo rana Center for their support and the unvaluable part in arranging the Workshop.