
Introduction¶
SpecViz is a tool for visualization and quick-look analysis of 1D astronomical spectra. It is written in the Python programming language, and therefore can be run anywhere Python is supported (see Installation). It is based on the Astropy Specutils packgage. SpecViz is capable of reading data from FITS and ASCII tables, and supports the creation of custom loaders for user-specific data sets.
SpecViz allows spectra to be easily plotted and examined. It supports flexible spectral units conversions, custom plotting attributes, interactive selections, multiple plots, and other features.
SpecViz notably includes a measurement tool for spectral lines which enables the user, with a few mouse actions, to perform and record measurements. It has a model fitting capability that enables the user to create simple (e.g., single Gaussian) or multi-component models (e.g., multiple Gaussians for emission and absorption lines in addition to regions of flat continuua). SpecViz incorporates various methods for fitting such models to data. For more details, see Model Fitting. The ability to overlay line label values is also supported. SpecViz also allows for overplotting or combining of spectra.
SpecViz will soon include the ability to:
- Measure the average of multiple spectra, detrending, and apply Fourier filters.
- Interactively renormalize data from spectral templates.
- And more…