Installing sunbather

You can install sunbather via pip, or compile it from source.

Option 1: Installation with pip

We recommend installing sunbather in a virtual environment. Simply run the following command:

pip install sunbather

Option 2: compilation from source

Clone sunbather from Github using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/antonpannekoek/sunbather.git

Then install the package. We recommend installing sunbather in a virtual environment.

cd sunbather
pip install .

Post-installation steps

For sunbather to work, you need a Cloudy installation (sunbather currently only works with Cloudy v23.01 or Cloudy v17.02, we recommend the use of the newer 23.01 version), as well as a “project directory” where the models will be saved, and the paths to these need to be set as system environmental variables. Furthermore, a planets.txt file that stores the bulk planetary parameters must be present in the project directory. This planets.txt file must obey a specific tabular format, and an example file comes with the sunbather installation. Finally, to perform simulations with sunbather, stellar SEDs are required in a specific tabular format. The sunbather installation comes with a set of SEDs from the MUSCLES survey. These and/or any other SED files must be placed inside the /c23.01/data/SED/ folder.

Option 1: If you don’t have Cloudy yet (or don’t mind a second installation):

sunbather provides an easy way to install Cloudy v23.01. Simply open a Python environment and run the following commands:

import sunbather
sunbather.firstrun()

This will ask you to install Cloudy into the sunbather root directory. It will automatically set the path variable for you. It will also prompt you to enter a project directory. It then copies the template planets.txt file supplied by sunbather into your project directory. It then also copies the SED files into the Cloudy directory.

Option 2: If you already have a Cloudy installation:

The path to the Cloudy installation must be set as the $CLOUDY_PATH environmental variable, and if you are using version 17.02 instead of 23.01, you should also set the $CLOUDY_VERSION environmental variable to "17.02". Your project directory must be stored in the $SUNBATHER_PROJECT_PATH environmental variable. The easiest solution is to add these variables to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zsh file:

export CLOUDY_PATH="/full/path/to/c23.01/"
export SUNBATHER_PROJECT_PATH="/full/path/to/project_folder/"

Then, copy the /sunbather/src/sunbather/data/workingdir/planets.txt file into your project directory. Also, if you want to make use of the MUSCLES stellar SEDs, copy the contents of the sunbather/src/sunbather/data/stellar_SEDs/ folder into the /c23.01/data/SED/ folder.

Option 3: If you don’t have Cloudy yet but prefer to manually install it:

Complete Cloudy download and installation instructions can be found here. In short, for most Unix systems, the steps are as follows:

  1. Go to the v23 download page and download the “c23.01.tar.gz” file (or go to the v17 download page and download the “c17.02.tar.gz” file).

  2. Extract it in a location where you want to install Cloudy.

  3. cd into the /c23.01/source/ or /c17.02/source/ folder and compile the code by running make.

  4. Quickly test the Cloudy installation: in the source folder, run ./cloudy.exe, type “test” and hit return twice. It should print “Cloudy exited OK” at the end.

If you have trouble installing Cloudy, we refer to the download instructions linked above, as well as the Cloudy help forum.

After installation, follow the steps above under Option 2.

Testing your sunbather installation

…

Getting started with sunbather

  1. To get familiar with sunbather, we recommend you go through the Jupyter notebooks in the /sunbather/examples/ folder, where example use cases (such as creating atmospheric profiles, calculating transmission spectra and fitting observational data) are worked out and explained.

  2. For more details on how to use the code, check out the Glossary and FAQ pages. We specifically recommend you read the glossary sections “The planets.txt file” and “Stellar SED handling”.