README.rst

SuperBoL: Supernova Bolometric Lightcurves

Version 0.3.4

SuperBoL is a python package for calculating the bolometric lightcurves of Type II supernovae using observed photometry. Three different methods for calculating the bolometric luminosity are currently included. Those are:

• Quasi-bolometric: converts observed magnitudes to monochromatic fluxes at the effective wavelengths of the filters, then integrates using the trapezoidal rule to get an approximation of the total observed flux.
• Direct: Calculates the quasi-bolometric lightcurve, then makes UV and IR corrections by fitting a blackbody curve to the fluxes, and integrating that function beyond the wavelength limits of the observations.
• Bolometric Correction: Performs a bolometric correction based on B-V, V-I, or B-I color, using the method of Bersten & Hamuy (2009).

Typical usage often looks like this:

from superbol import sn

my_supernova = sn.SN('sn1998a')
my_supernova.lqbol()                # quasi-bolometric lightcurve
my_supernova.lbol_direct_bh09()     # direct lightcurve
my_supernova.lbol_bc_bh09('B', 'V') # B-V bolometric correction lightcurve

SuperBoL propagates uncertainties in the input data through the calculations made by the code, allowing for errorbars to be included in plots of the lightcurve.

Installation

Source code can be found at https://github.com/JALusk/SuperBoL

In order to install SuperBoL system-wide, use:

python setup.py install

If you do not have root priviliges on your machine, then use:

python setup.py install --user

Documentation

Documentation is hosted at ReadTheDocs.

Documentation is automatically generated via Sphinx. To generate the documentation locally, navigate to the docs/ directory and use:

make html

This will generate html files in the docs/build/html/ directory. Double-clicking the index.html file should open the documentation in your web browser.

Development

Bug reports, feature requests, and contributions are welcome.

Please issue bug reports and feature requests using https://github.com/JALusk/SuperBoL/issues - signing up for a GitHub account is free and easy.

To contribute code, please use the following procedure:

• Fork the SuperBoL repository on GitHub (follow the steps here: https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo/)

• Create a branch off of develop with a descriptive name:

  git checkout -b my_feature develop
  

• Make your changes and additions

• Write documentation for classes and functions using the Google style guide: http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/stable/ext/example_google.html#example-google

• Write new unit tests for your new code

• Run the test suite using:

  make test
  

• Issue a pull request (https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests/) to the develop branch on GitHub

• Your pull request will be reviewed and, after any conflicts are resolved, merged into the develop branch and eventually into the next release!