[News] Announcement: New Release of Astrometry in Astro-WISE!

[John P. McFarland]

A new release of the astrometry software in Astro-WISE is available!  Both
the LDAC C-code and Python-code have undergone a number of changes and
additions that have improved the overall quality of both the local and the
global solutions and have added a suite of new tools.  A report on
astrometry in Astro-WISE created using this new release illustrates this
(see www.astro-wise.org/Public/Astro-WISEAstrometryReport.pdf).

This release follows the standard Astro-WISE test/base software release
scheme.  It will be released in the 'current' version of the awe checkout
initially, then after approximately two weeks of real-world use, it will be
promoted to the 'AWBASE' version.  Users and system administrators are
encouraged to update their 'current' versions and LDAC binaries to provide
the widest possible test base.  For users, this will at most involve
updating any local checkouts of the Astro-Wise software.  If a user does not
use a local checkout, no manual update will be necessary.  System
administrators will update the global checkouts and recompile any binaries.
Please see the HOW-TOs on the Astro-WISE portal (portal.astro-wise.org) for
details on using the 'current' version and on how to update any personal
checkouts.  It is also recommended to look at the Astrometry inspection
HOW-TO for details on the additional inspection routines.

Another message will be sent in approximately two weeks notifying users of
the final release.  At that time, users who would like to improve
astrometric results, especially global astrometric results, will be
encouraged to reprocess their solutions manually via the command-line
environment or in a more automated way with the Target Processor
(process.astro-wise.org).

Any problems with this release should be sent to the Issues mailing list 
(issues at astro-wise.org) so they can be dealt with in a timely fashion.


--The Astrometry Tiger-Team