Cube Analysis and Rendering Tool for Astronomy (CARTA) is a next generation image visualization and analysis tool designed for ALMA, VLA, and SKA pathfinders.
CARTA adopts a client-server architecture which is suitable for visualizing images with large file sizes (GB to TB).
CARTA has two flavors: Desktop version and Server version. The former is suitable for single-user usage with a laptop, a desktop, or a remote server in the “remote” execution mode. The later is suitable for institution-wide deployment to support multiple users with user authentication and additional server-side features.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Memory-efficient when loading images – with ~1 GB of ram, a 16000 pixel x 16000 pixel image or a 16000 pixel x 16000 pixel x 1000 channel cube (~1 TB in size) can be loaded in seconds.
- Parallelization and GPU-accelerated rendering – parallelization with CPUs is invoked in data processing. GPU-accelerated rendering is adopted for tiled raster images, contour images, and catalog overlays.
- Spectral line cube analysis tools – flexible multi-profile plotting capability is supported. Analysis tools such as profile fitting, profile smoothing, moment map generator, and spectral line query and labelling are out of box.
- Customizable and reusable GUI layouts and preferences – highly customizable and reusable graphical user interface for various use cases.
- Efficient catalog processing and rendering – catalogs with millions of sources can be loaded and rendered in seconds. Catalog files are processed with parallelization techniques and are rendered with GPU acceleration.
- Efficient visualization with HDF5 (IDIA schema) images – the HDF5 format with the IDIA schema improves the user’s experience of viewing large image cubes significantly.
Website: cartavis.org
Support: GitHub Code Repositories
Developer: Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Department of Physics, University of Alberta
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
CARTA is written in C++ and TypeScript. Learn C++ with our recommended free books and free tutorials. Learn TypeScript with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Astronomical Data Analysis Tools | |
|---|---|
| Astropy | Collection of Python software packages for astronomy |
| CARTA | Cube Analysis and Rendering Tool for Astronomy |
| AstroImageJ | Powerful tool for astronomical image analysis and precise photometry |
| TOPCAT | Tool for OPerations on Catalogues And Tables |
| astroML | Python module for machine learning and data mining |
| DS9 | Astronomical imaging and data visualization application |
| Siril | Astronomical image (pre-)processing software |
| Skyfield | Pure-Python astronomy package |
| Sherpa | Modeling and fitting application for Python |
| IRAF | Image Reduction and Analysis Facility |
| PyRAF | Python-based IRAF command language |
| THELI | Tool for the automated reduction of astronomical images |
| ASTAP | Astrometric STAcking Program |
| ORSA | Framework for celestial mechanics investigations |
| CRUSH | Data reduction and imaging for select astronomical cameras |
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