[AstroPy] AstroLib coords v0.2 release

[Victoria G. Laidler]

Hello folks,

We'd like to announce the release of v0.2 of the coords package for 
AstroLib.

This package is intended to provide much of the IDL "astron" 
functionality that pertains to coordinate manipulations in an OO 
framework. Our target user is a typical astronomer who needs to analyze 
data, work with catalogs, prepare observing proposals, and prepare for 
observing runs.

With this version, it is possible to

* define a Position object
  - using hmsdms, decimal degrees, or radians
  - in celestial J2000, celestial B1950, galactic, or ecliptic coordinates
* access the coordinates of the Position in any of these coordinate systems
* measure the angular separation between two Positions, no matter how 
defined
* determine whether two Positions are within a specified angular separation

All coordinate transformations are handled by the TPM (Telescope 
Pointing Machine)
library, which was graciously contributed by Jeff Percival.

This package does not yet handle arrays of coordinates, but we plan to
add that in a future version.

The AstroDate module is also part of this package. It can be used to define
a date by specifiying it as a Julian year, Besselian year, Julian date, 
or Modified Julian Date,
and transform between them.


More information is available at the project wiki:
http://www.scipy.org/AstroLibCoordsHome

The software and documentation are available here:
http://stsdas.stsci.edu/astrolib/

Please download it and give it a try.

Comments and suggestions are welcome on the project wiki.

Cheers,
Vicki Laidler