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* For data reduction questions regarding the use of the Starlink software to process JCMT and UKIRT data you can use the <<MailTo(stardev AT SPAMFREE jach DOT hawaii DOT edu)>> mailing list. | * For data reduction questions regarding the use of the Starlink software to process JCMT and UKIRT data you can use the <<MailTo(scicom AT SPAMFREE eao DOT hawaii DOT edu)>> mailing list. |
Starlink
The Starlink Project was a long running UK Project supporting astronomical data processing. It was shut down in 2005 but the software continued to be developed at the Joint Astronomy Centre until March 2015, and is now maintained by the East Asian Observatory. The code is open source.
Starlink News was last updated April 6th 2015.
Getting the Software
The Joint Astronomy Centre and East Asian Observatory have made a number of Releases. The most recent is 2015A which can be downloaded from here where installation instructions are also provided.
For a cutting edge version, you can rsync from the East Asian Observatory's build.
Getting Support
The original Starlink web site has been mothballed but additional support can be found:
Ask a question on the Starlink support mailing list
For data reduction questions regarding the use of the Starlink software to process JCMT and UKIRT data you can use the <scicom AT SPAMFREE eao DOT hawaii DOT edu> mailing list.
There is also information on the Starlink wikipedia entry.
Announcements about Starlink software releases by the Joint Astronomy Centre will be made on the starlink-announce mailing list. To subscribe, visit the starlink-announce webpage.
Support Pages for Starlink Applications and Libraries
Some Starlink applications and libraries have associated support pages:
Developing the software
The source code is freely available. Development and build questions can be asked on the Starlink development mailing list
The source code is directly available from a Git source code repository. Download the source code:
% git clone git://github.com/Starlink/starlink.git
or (much slower but may work with some firewalls)
% git clone https://github.com/Starlink/starlink.git
You can download Git from its home page. A Git primer is available along with the Starlink Git development policies. The bulk of the collection is distributed under the GNU Public Licence, and the remainder under the old Starlink Licence.
Refer to the code in individual packages for more information.
We are trying to write new code in C rather than Fortran since this gives us much more flexibility in terms of threading and compilers. If you are a Fortran programmer familiar with Starlink programming some useful hints are available.
Primarily for local consumption, we also have a list of steps to take when making a release.
History
If you are interested in the history of Starlink there is a lot of documentation available.
The Starlink Bulletin was published between January 1988 and August 2004.
The Starlink Chronicle logged notable events and staff changes.
The former Atlas laboratory has a photographic record of the early days of its Starlink node, and of the Starlink inauguration. There is also an overview and summary of the genesis of Starlink.