Archive for October, 2022

Setting up virtual environments for Python

Posted October 6, 2022 By grigoris

The biggest issue when dealing with multiple projects is how to keep track of the various Python and other packages’ versions you are using in each project. It is not uncommon to update something and get something else broken…

The solution is virtual environments. And for these there are few options such as virtualenv and conda (among others). So far I have postponed (and not with good results) the use of environments. But finally, I took the necessary time to investigate pros and cons and make a decision. I found the following guides from WhiteBox exceptional well written and useful:

along with this great meme …

Darth Vader about conda envs (as presented in WhiteBox)

Javier Gorosabel award on pro-am collaborations

Posted October 4, 2022 By grigoris

In the latest meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (5-9 September, Tenerife, Spain) it was announced that our work with Emmanuel (Manos) Kardasis on Venus’ Cloud Discontinuity (published at the beginning of 2022, in the journal Atmosphere) was the winner for the 2nd iteration of the Javier Gorosabel Award on pro-am collaborations.

I am actually excited about this. But not because I am part of the award… I am excited because this award recognizes the effort put by some amateurs in order to produce not only scientifically useful images/data but document their effort, share it with both the amateur and professional communities and contribute to the advance of our knowledge by analyzing and publishing their results. I am honored that I could help Manos to achieve that. I strongly believe that it is a worthy recognition of his more than two decades of contribution in Astronomy and the community in general.

Of course, kudos to Javier – without his expertise and guidance this work wouldn’t have materialized.

The two main driving forces behind the work: Javier Peralta (left) and Manos Kardasis (right) holding the Javier Gorosabel award.