First Light for 4MOST! The 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) has captured its very first spectra! Video Credit: AIP/R. de Jong, AIP/K. Riebe, AIP/A. Saviauk, CRAL/J.-K. Krogager

site visit at the ELT - it is taking shape!

Das Ende einer Ära, die letzte gedruckte #taz in der S-Bahn.

Today, a new #PyRAF version 2.2.3 was released. This is a maintenance release which makes PyRAF compliant to #Python 3.13. Uploaded to PyPI and to #Debian unstable. github.com/iraf-communi... #IRAF

We continue our presentation of 4MOST surveys: The Thousands an One Magellanic Clounds fields Low and High Resolution Survery (1001MC) #WorldSpaceWeek #4MOST #magellanicclouds #extragalactic #telescope #astronomy #astrophysics #observatory

An era is coming to an end (at least for me). I had my first contact with the internet in 1992, namely with #usenet. I have remained (more or less) loyal to it to this day. Now the most respected #nntp server has announced that will shut down: 😢 news.individual.net

#Belarus The regime must reveal information about Mikalai Statkevich. Where is he? How is his health? Why was he released and was later driven away? This is unacceptable and very worrying that the regime is hiding him. Is he alive?

Leute, es ist eine Meme! 🙃 bsky.app/search?q=thi...

Welcome to the official 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) Bluesky account! Stay tuned for our first-light events coming very soon, and updates on all of the amazing science we will be completing over the years to come! 📷: Y. Beletsky/ESO #4most #ESO #telescope #astronomy

#Belarus Excruciating. This is reportedly opposition leader Mikalai Statkevich in the neutral zone between Belarus and Lithuania. Freed after over five years in prison, he is protesting his de facto deportation. The regime must stop expelling Belarusian citizens from their own country!

1/Heute vor fünf Jahren, am 7.9.2020, wurde die belarussische Freiheitskämpferin Maria Kolesnikowa von der belarussischen Diktatur festgenommen. Sie ist bis heute eingesperrt, war 600 Tage in Einzelhaft. Mit ihr schmachten weit mehr als 1150 Menschen aus politischen Gründen

1/Die SED-Diktatur war mehr als Stasi und ein paar durchgeknallte SED-Funktionäre. Diktatur funktioniert, weil viele, ganz viele, sehr viele auf allen Ebenen mitmachen – die meisten wollen davon nichts mehr hören und wissen. Kommunistische Diktatur heißt, Gesellschaft töten,

Spot a logo that gives off superhero vibes? 😉 Meet "Fantastic 4MOST", which will soon join our league of extraordinary instruments. @4most-eu.bsky.social comes packed with superpowers. Discover them: www.eso.org/public/image... 📷 ESO/4MOST/Steffen Frey 🔭 🧪 #instrumentation

Heute wurde am AIP im Rahmen des #PrideMonth die #vielfalt gefeiert! 🏳️‍🌈✨ Mit einen Rainbow-Food-Contest, einem Büchertausch und einem inspirierenden Talk über LGBT+ Inklusivität in der Wissenschaft wurde der #Pride Day zelebriert. 💬📚🧁

Neu bei @riffreporter.bsky.social „Asyl für #arXiv: Deutsche Bibliothek schützt Wissenschaftsplattform vor Trumps Angriffen“. Interview mit Lambert Heller, warum sein Team ein Backup des wichtigsten Preprintservers angelegt hat. www.riffreporter.de/de/wissen/ar... #wisskomm

Hochwertige Ausrüstung 🛠️ für ein Riesenteleskop 🔭: der hochauflösende Spektrograph ANDES für das #ELT. Dr. Michael Weber stellt in seinem Vortrag der virtuellen #BabelsbergerSternennächte ✨ das Instrument und einige seiner wissenschaftlichen Ziele vor. youtu.be/xoo5NO4XvZc

Sechs Jahre Kinderfußball. Sechs Jahre die 2014er. Was für eine Reise! Danke für alles: Die tollen Erinnerungen, die Begeisterung, den Mut, das Vertrauen und das Miteinander! 🥰

Jüngst wurde mir geraten, in meinen Vorlesungen doch Hoffnung & Perspektive zu vermitteln. Gerade künftige Absolventen würden ja mal gebraucht. Aber ich kann das nicht sagen. Nicht mehr. Meine ehrlichsten drei Minuten dazu gab's voriges Semester. Da nun lange Videos gehen, poste ich es hier nochmal.

With the upcoming #DebianTrixie release, you can install the standard software for astronomy just with one click during the installation! Test the first release candidate of the installer: www.debian.org/devel/debian... #AstronomySoftware #Debian

After a long break, the Babelsberg Starry Night finally took place live at the AIP again yesterday 🌟

The Astropy Project is made by our community, for our community. But who are we, exactly? We want *your* input in the first astropy user survey: forms.gle/KX2cNuFsQYgV... Share how you use astropy, how to improve it, and how we can support you and your work! 🧪🔭

Random Debian Astro package of the week is python3-astropy. The astropy package contains core functionality and some common tools needed for performing astronomy and astrophysics research with Python. It can be extended by a number of "affiliated packages" that are intended to work with the 1/2⤵

Happening now: Potsdam bekennt Farbe. The Neuer Markt is full of people protesting against the extreme right and their enablers.

Der exzellente britische Historiker Norman Davies 1995 in der New York Review of Books, Nachdruck Freibeuter 1996/66.

The skies above Paranal are at risk from a proposed industrial megaproject.  This would be located in the vicinity of ESO's Observatory. If constructed, it would irreparably impact astronomical observations. Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2501/ 🔭  📷 ESO/P. Horálek

🌌 Welcome to the Bluesky account of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)! 🚀✨ We are dedicated to astrophysical questions, from our Sun to the evolution of the cosmos. Join us for news on recent discoveries, cutting-edge research, new technologies, and upcoming public events! 🌠

This week, I had my 10th anniversary as a #Debian Developer! All that started from wanting to have wcslib as a package. In 2014, I also founded @DebianAstro which now has more than 300 packages ready to use for all sorts of astronomers and astrophysicists.

Few days ago, #Ubuntu 24.04 #Noble Numbat was released. As always, it comes with the latest packages from @debianastro.bsky.social. An important new package is iraf-st4gem with many tasks from #IRAF #STSDAS now thankfully maintained by @usngo.bsky.social. packages.ubuntu.com/noble/iraf-s...

PyRAF, the #Python interface for #IRAF, had just a new release 2.2.2. Main improvements are for macOS with Cocoa support. On macOS, it is now also a pure Python package, making the installation more robust. pypi.org/project/pyraf/

I could today successfully buidt #IRAF on a #fedora 40 (beta) system. Very few adjustments were needed to get it compiled with the default compiler flags. Still we look for someone who volunteers to maintain a proper package for this still important #AstronomySoftware piece.

Yesterday, I found (and fixed) an at least 37 years old bug in #IRAF CL. It appeared already in the first IRAF version where we have source code (2.8). If you have an older version, please let me know! #SoftwareArcheology

The new (community) IRAF 2.18 was just released! The major update is the merge of the bugfixes by @usngo.bsky.social / NOIRLab to support the Gemini pipeline on modern systems. Try it while it is hot! github.com/iraf-communi...

#IRAF #AstronomySoftware #ScienceSoftware #DebianBookworm Random #Debian Astro package of the week is iraf-fitsutil. Several tasks to operate of FITS files and extensions from within IRAF, like copying, extension extraction, conversion etc. The following tasks are available: 1/4⤵

To make installation easier for Apple users, I just uploaded a beta version of the new #IRAF macOS installer! Feedback is welcome! Try it out from here iraf-community.github.io/install.html...

To make installation easier for Apple users, I just uploaded a beta version of the new #IRAF macOS installer! Feedback is welcome! Try it out from here iraf-community.github.io/install.html...

Preview of what is coming new in (Community) IRAF. for macOS ... I'd need brave testers.

If you still use #IRAF: The online documentation for all IRAF tasks, for selected external packages, the IRAF manuals, release notes, the PyRAF tutorial, and much more is available here: iraf.readthedocs.io

Random Debian Astro package of the week is python3-pyraf. PyRAF is a command language for running IRAF tasks in a Python like environment. It works very similar to IRAF CL, but has been updated to allow such things as importing Python modules, GUI parameter editing and help. 1/2⤵

You can actually help to find key themes for the upcoming Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems Conference (ADASS) in Malta: www.tricider.com/brainstormin...

Some weeks ago, I asked NOIRLab how we could cooperate and join forces towards a common maintainance of IRAF. Now I got the answer that they have zero interest in cooperation with the community. In this aspect, NOIRLab is still stuck in the 20th century.

The IRAF documentation pages now include the documentation of selected external packages! Let me know if there are issues or if you want to see more packages here! iraf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ta...

#LauteWissenschaft - Leibniz-Gemeinschaft: "Wir akzeptieren keinen Angriff auf den Kern unserer Verfassung und die Basis unseres Zusammenlebens. Mit dieser Erklärung und im täglichen Miteinander treten wir Diskriminierung, Ausgrenzung und Fremdenfeindlichkeit in unserem Land entschieden entgegen."

"While the IRAF system has been 64-bit compatible for a number of years, it quickly fell behind the requirements of modern operating systems due to a lack of ongoing maintenance." NOIRLab/eScience ignores 5 years IRAF community maintainance and development: browse.arxiv.org/html/2401.01...

The Debian Project made an important statement about the EU Cyber Resilience Act that will harm not only the Free Software community, but also many small projects: bits.debian.org/2023/12/debi...

The IRAF poster shown at ADASS 2023 invites to test and give feedback, so I wrote to the author to establish a contact between @usngo.bsky.social and the IRAF community. However, no communication, no test offer so far. Working together would be essential for the future of IRAF.

Der Spiegel verbreitet eine haarsträubende Fake-Studie einer libertären Lobby-Organisation über Bahnhöfe in Europa. Wegen Zeichenbegrenzung verlinke ich hier meinen Thread auf Mastodon: mastodon.social/@sebwilken/1...

Petition für den Erhalt der Direktverbindung RB23 Ostkreuz-(Griebnitzsee)-Golm: www.change.org/p/verbessern...

Ole Streicher @[email protected] just now For all who don't like old software like IRAF, here an interesting thought: josem.co/the-beauty-o...