Iris version 3.0 beta 1 - SED Analysis Tool

[Janet Evans]

Hi All!

We are pleased to announce the release of Iris 3.0beta1. Iris is a desktop application for exploring and analysing Spectra and Spectral Energy distributions within the Virtual Observatory.

In version 3.0b1, Iris has undergone a round of plastic surgery, with a full overhaul on the Visualizer, Metadata Browser, and Fitting Tool.

This round of deep infrastructure changes will allow us to fix many bugs and to significantly improve Iris' functionality, and we believe the overall user experience has already signficantly improved with this beta release.

High-resoultion spectra can now be plotted and fitted.

The Fitting Tool now encapsulates the models, parameter values, fitting options, and fit statistics in one window, significantly improving the user experience.

The Visualizer now uses the flexible and powerful STILTS plotting API as its plotting backend. Iris internals, in particular the new Metadata Browser and the Visualizer, are now heavily based on STIL -- the library both TOPCAT and STILTS use. This allows Iris to be more efficient and allows us to be able to add more and more scientific features to Iris in the future.

Sherpa's reliability makes it the Iris trusted fitting engine in this version as well. Iris 3.0beta1 relies on Sherpa v4.8, so to get the latest official bug fixes and improvements.

You will still be able to access NED and ASDC data services through Iris' dedicated clients. With Iris 3.0beta1 we are also introducing a dedicated client for the Vizier photometry service in Strasbourg.

For a full list of the changes introduced in Iris 3.0beta1 and instructions on how to install this new version of Iris, please refer to the following documentation page: http://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/iris/v2.1/3.0b1-release.html <http://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/iris/v2.1/3.0b1-release.html>

Note that there are some known caveats and bugs listed in the page above. This is a beta release, so some edges might still need to be rounded.

We hope you will enjoy Iris 3.0beta1. Please feel free to contact us with any issues, questions, suggestions, bug reports, or test feedback: irisdev at cfa.harvard.edu <mailto:irisdev at cfa.harvard.edu>

Best Regards,

The Iris Team
(Omar, Jamie, & Janet)
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