sextractor ☆

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Description:
Extract catalogs of sources from astronomical images

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Other

Tags: astronomy photometry catalogs science fits

Install: brew install sextractor

About:
SExtractor (Source Extractor) is a specialized astronomical tool designed to detect and measure sources from FITS format images. It performs source detection, photometry, and morphological measurements, outputting catalogs in formats like FITS-LDAC or ASCII. Its main value is high-performance batch processing for large-scale astronomical surveys.

Key Features:

Fast source detection and photometry
Morphological parameter measurement
Flexible configuration via parameter files
Supports multi-band processing

Use Cases:

Creating source catalogs for galaxy surveys
Measuring photometry for stellar fields
Generating inputs for shape measurement pipelines

Alternatives:

DAOFIND/IRAF – IRAF task for star finding; generally slower and less optimized for large surveys than SExtractor.
Photutils – Python-based photometry library; offers more modern integration but requires coding compared to SExtractor's standalone CLI.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 27, 2024 2:39pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	f1e79bc3
Sep 21, 2024 10:20pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	2d4d10d2