An open textbook

Coding Essentials for Astronomers

Foundational Python, scientific computing, and tooling guidance presented as an open textbook for astronomers — twenty-two lectures with runnable code and real outputs.

Lectures

Runnable

Code & Outputs

Slides

For every lecture

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About this book

This repository presents the complete lecture materials for Coding Essentials for Astronomers, a comprehensive open textbook covering Python programming, scientific computing, and modern data analysis techniques specifically tailored for astronomical research. Every lecture is rendered with its code and real outputs preserved inline, paired with slides and, for most, an AI quiz bot.

Python programming patterns applied to observational and simulation workflows.
Numerical, visualization, and automation techniques for modern data volumes.
Data analysis techniques across all modalities: images, spectra, and time series.
Best practices for collaboration, version control, and human–AI co-development.

Table of Contents

Author

Yuan-Sen TingThe Ohio State University

Written in collaboration with Claude (Anthropic); all material is designed, curated, and reviewed by the author.