# Install gnuastro with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper Astronomical data manipulation and analysis utilities and libraries. Version 0.24 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:gnuastro ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install gnuastro ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install gnuastro ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: science/gnuastro/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install gnuastro ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: gnuastro from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install gnuastro ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: gnuastro from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#gnuastro ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gn/gnuastro/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install gnuastro ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: gnuastro from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:gnuastro - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.24 - **Source summary:** Astronomical data manipulation and analysis utilities and libraries - **Homepage:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:03:36-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - astarithmetic (cli) - astbuildprog (cli) - astconvertt (cli) - astconvolve (cli) - astcosmiccal (cli) - astcrop (cli) - astfits (cli) - astmatch (cli) - astmkcatalog (cli) - astmkprof (cli) - astnoisechisel (cli) - astquery (cli) - astscript-color-faint-gray (cli) - astscript-ds9-region (cli) - astscript-fits-view (cli) - astscript-pointing-simulate (cli) - astscript-psf-scale-factor (cli) - astscript-psf-select-stars (cli) - astscript-psf-stamp (cli) - astscript-psf-subtract (cli) - astscript-psf-unite (cli) - astscript-radial-profile (cli) - astscript-sort-by-night (cli) - astscript-zeropoint (cli) - astsegment (cli) - aststatistics (cli) - asttable (cli) - astwarp (cli) - astarithmetic (alias) - astbuildprog (alias) - astconvertt (alias) - astconvolve (alias) - astcosmiccal (alias) - astcrop (alias) - astfits (alias) - astmatch (alias) - astmkcatalog (alias) - astmkprof (alias) - astnoisechisel (alias) - astquery (alias) - astscript-color-faint-gray (alias) - astscript-ds9-region (alias) - astscript-fits-view (alias) - astscript-pointing-simulate (alias) - astscript-psf-scale-factor (alias) - astscript-psf-select-stars (alias) - astscript-psf-stamp (alias) - astscript-psf-subtract (alias) - astscript-psf-unite (alias) - astscript-radial-profile (alias) - astscript-sort-by-night (alias) - astscript-zeropoint (alias) - astsegment (alias) - aststatistics (alias) - asttable (alias) - astwarp (alias) ## Dependencies - cfitsio - gsl - jpeg-turbo - libgit2 - libtiff - libtool - wcslib ## Build dependencies - pkgconf ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.24 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-22 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage GNU Astronomy Utilities, usually called Gnuastro, is an official GNU package for astronomical data manipulation and analysis. Unlike a single-purpose astronomy command, it is a suite of command-line programs and libraries with a shared interface for FITS images, tables, catalogs, image arithmetic, convolution, astrometry-aware warping, source detection, segmentation, statistics, and reproducible research workflows. ### Project history Gnuastro was created by Mohammad Akhlaghi and became part of the GNU software ecosystem in the mid-2010s. The GNU project page describes it as an official GNU package and notes that by 2026 it was 11 years old; the page copyright range begins in 2015, and the project presents its GNU coding-standards alignment as central to how astronomers build, inspect, install, and script it. The project grew out of astronomical image-analysis work and research funding. The manual credits Mohammad Akhlaghi's MEXT-supported graduate work at Tohoku University for the long-term planning that made the idea possible, ERC MUSICOS support at CRAL for a major rewrite into a larger generic collection, and later work at IAC and CEFCA for maturation and user-base growth. Gnuastro deliberately treats command-line reproducibility as a scientific feature. Its programs share option conventions, Info/manual organization, citation support, and a development workflow on GNU Savannah, so the package functions as both application suite and library platform for building more astronomy tools. ### Adoption history The project page points to package-manager availability, Conda availability, public videos, Matrix rooms, mailing lists, and citation statistics as signs of adoption in astronomy. It is also registered in the Astrophysics Source Code Library, and the project asks researchers to cite Gnuastro papers, program-specific papers, or versioned manual DOIs when it contributes to published work. Gnuastro's adoption is strongest among researchers who need transparent, scriptable FITS and catalog processing rather than opaque GUI-only pipelines. Its tooling fits Unix pipelines, Makefiles, shell scripts, and reproducible paper workflows where the exact command and version can be archived. ### How it is used Practitioners use tools such as astnoisechisel, astsegment, astmkcatalog, astcrop, astwarp, astfits, asttable, aststatistics, and astarithmetic to process images and tables from the shell. The manual encourages program-specific Info pages, --help output, man pages, and --cite output so users can learn invocation details and record scholarly attribution. In research workflows, Gnuastro is used for source detection, low-surface-brightness work, catalog generation, image alignment, FITS inspection, table operations, and scripting larger pipelines. Developers can also build against its libraries or use its templates to add new programs inside the project style. ### Why package nerds care Gnuastro is significant because it imports the GNU command-line model into a domain often dominated by large interactive environments. Package maintainers care about it as a serious science stack member with explicit dependencies on GSL, CFITSIO, and WCSLIB, while astronomy users get small composable binaries instead of one monolithic workbench. ### Timeline - 2015: GNU page copyright begins and the project describes Gnuastro as part of the GNU software set. - 2021: A public ADASS tutorial demonstrated Gnuastro workflows. - 2024: Manual 0.23 documents acknowledgments, authorship, and institutional support. - 2026: The GNU page describes Gnuastro as 11 years old and points users to citation tracking and ASCL registration. ### Related projects - Related projects and dependencies include GNU Scientific Library, CFITSIO, WCSLIB, Astrophysics Source Code Library, NASA ADS/SciX, OpenAstronomy community rooms, and astronomy workflow tools built around FITS data. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** gnuastro - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - gnuastro - 0.23-2+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: gnuastro from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | GNU Astronomy Utilities programs | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro - Debian apt - libgnuastro-dev - 0.23-2+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libgnuastro-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | GNU Astronomy Utilities development files | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro - Debian apt - libgnuastro21 - 0.23-2+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libgnuastro21 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | GNU Astronomy Utilities shared libraries | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro - Nix - gnuastro: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gn/gnuastro/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - gnuastro - 0.22-3.1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: gnuastro from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | GNU Astronomy Utilities programs | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro - Ubuntu apt - libgnuastro-dev - 0.22-3.1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libgnuastro-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | GNU Astronomy Utilities development files | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro - Ubuntu apt - libgnuastro20t64 - 0.22-3.1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libgnuastro20t64 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | GNU Astronomy Utilities shared libraries | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro - dnf - gnuastro - 0.23-5.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: gnuastro from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | GNU Astronomy Utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - dnf - gnuastro-devel - 0.23-5.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: gnuastro-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Development files for gnuastro | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - dnf - gnuastro-doc - 0.23-5.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: gnuastro-doc from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Documentation files for gnuastro | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - zypper - gnuastro - 0.24-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: gnuastro from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | GNU Astronomy Utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - zypper - gnuastro-bash-completion - 0.24-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: gnuastro-bash-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Bash completion for gnuastro | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - zypper - gnuastro-devel - 0.24-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: gnuastro-devel from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Development files for gnuastro | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - zypper - gnuastro-doc - 0.24-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: gnuastro-doc from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Documentation for the GNU Astromomy Utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - zypper - libgnuastro22 - 0.24-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: libgnuastro22 from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Libraries for the GNU Astronomy Utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuastro/ - MacPorts - gnuastro: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: science/gnuastro/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Database and data packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/database-data-tools/) - Matched database, SQL, migration, or data-store metadata. - [Scientific computing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/scientific-computing-tools/) - Matched scientific computing metadata. - [cfitsio](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cfitsio/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gsl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gsl/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [jpeg-turbo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jpeg-turbo/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libgit2](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libgit2/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libtiff](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libtiff/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libtool](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libtool/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [wcslib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/wcslib/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [healpix](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/healpix/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, data-analysis, science. - [ccfits](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ccfits/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, fits, science. - [montage](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/montage/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, fits, science. - [wcstools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/wcstools/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, fits, science. - [calceph](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/calceph/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [cdsclient](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cdsclient/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: astronomy, cli, science. - [root](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/root/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: analysis, cfitsio, cli, data, data-analysis. - [siril](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/siril/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: astronomical, astronomy, cfitsio, cli, gsl. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/gnuastro.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/gnuastro.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph