ASTtasot

ASTtasot is an open-source software framework designed for astrostatistics and time-domain astronomy. It provides a modular environment for ingesting, processing, modeling, and visualizing large astronomical datasets. The platform emphasizes reproducibility, interoperability with existing data formats, and collaborative workflow development.

The name is commonly treated as a proper noun, though it is an acronym for Advanced Statistics Toolkit for Astronomical Observations and Time-series. The project aims to unify data handling, statistical modeling, and simulation under a single extensible interface.

Development began in the early 2010s through a collaboration among universities and research institutes. The first stable release appeared around 2012, followed by major revisions in 2015 and 2020. Governance is community-driven, with contributions governed by an open-source license and governance board.

Core architecture consists of a core data model, modular analytics components, and a scripting layer. It supports Python as the primary user language, with bindings for other languages. Data formats supported include FITS, HDF5, and CSV. It includes visualization and notebook workflows, parallel processing, and provenance tracking.

ASTtasot has been adopted in studies of variable stars, exoplanet transit analysis, supernova light curves, and gravitational lensing. It is widely used in education and training, and has influenced the development of compatible toolkits in the astronomical software ecosystem.