NOIRLab IRAF v2.18 Released to the Astronomy Community

The US National Gemini Office (US NGO), part of the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC) at NSF's NOIRLab, recently released NOIRLab IRAF v2.18 as a stable, fast, and accessible data reduction option for Gemini users while new software is being developed for all facility instruments and modes. As a bonus, updates to the core system and all external packages benefit the community beyond Gemini who still rely on IRAF for general data reduction and analysis. NOIRLab IRAF runs natively and is compatible with all modern platforms/processors (MacOS and Linux) and it is now easier to download and install. This release includes XGTerm/XImtool, PyRAF, a 64-bit port of the GEMINI package, and 25 other external packages. Further information about installation and available packages can be found in the release notes.

Since its launch on 7 January 2024, during the AAS Meeting in New Orleans, NOIRLab IRAF has been downloaded over 500 times and the web pages have been accessed by over 1500 users from 50 different countries, as shown in the map below. We invite the community to download the software and provide feedback or report bugs through iraf@noirlab.edu or usngo@noirlab.edu.