Halotools

5.9easy start · #30 of 34
in Astronomy Apps

Free to practise onnot on record
Free trialnot on record
Well documentedyes
Runs where you worknot on record

Runs on Linux.

Visit site Alternatives

Halotools is ranked #30 of 34 in astronomy apps on The Geeks Club. It runs on Linux.

Compared on astronomy apps

Free plan: Yes

Best Halotools alternatives

See all 20

Star Walk 2 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 17.7 Solar System Scope 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 27.5 Celestia 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 37.4 Cosmic Watch 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 47.4 NASA Eyes 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 57.3 Night Sky 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 67.3

The record

Purpose: Halotools is a specialized Python package for building and testing galaxy-halo connection models and analyzing dark matter halo catalogs.
Mock galaxies: It generates synthetic galaxy populations using HODs, abundance matching, and related methods.
Observables: Its algorithms calculate galaxy clustering, lensing, redshift-space distortions, and other astronomical statistics.
Custom models: Its modular, object-oriented framework lets users design galaxy evolution models from interchangeable components.
Catalog handling: Halotools supports reducing halo catalogs and caching them as fast-loading HDF5 files.
Simulation data: The package supports downloading publicly available raw simulation catalogs, reducing them to memory-mapped files, and managing a simulation cache.
Custom catalogs: Users can transform halo catalogs beyond those provided by Halotools into a standard form for its mock-population factories.
Analysis examples: The tutorials demonstrate galaxy clustering, galaxy-galaxy lensing, group identification, velocity statistics, void statistics, and isolation criteria.
Installation: The documentation recommends installing the latest release with conda-forge and also provides pip and source-build instructions.
Dependencies: The installation documentation lists h5py 3.7 or later as an additional dependency that may be needed with conda or pip.
License: Halotools is fully open source and distributed under a 3-clause BSD-style license.
Support: Users can request support by Slack or personal email, or raise a public GitHub issue tagged as a feature request or question.
Notable model requirement: Different models require different halo properties, so users must format their catalog to supply the properties needed by the model they choose.
Research audience: The package is designed to study cosmology, galaxy evolution, and structure formation using simulations and mock galaxy populations.

Where it ranks on The Geeks Club

Best Astronomy Apps in 2026#30 of 34

Is Halotools yours?

Claim it for free: prove the domain, then correct facts, plans and screenshots. An editor reviews every change.

Claim it free Promote Halotools

Sources

halotools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/· checked 4 Oct 2026
halotools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
halotools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/quickstart_and_tutorials/tuto· checked 4 Oct 2026
halotools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/quickstart_and_tutorials/tuto· checked 4 Oct 2026
halotools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
halotools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/quickstart_and_tutorials/deve· checked 4 Oct 2026