I used to work for a bunch of astronomers. Here's some of the software I remember them using a lot. Not sure about the licenses though most of them provide sour

I used to work for a bunch of astronomers. Here's some of the software I remember them using a lot. Not sure about the licenses though most of them provide sourcecode: * http://root.cern.ch/drupal/ http://root.cern.ch/drupal/ * http://geant4.web.cern.ch/geant4/ http://geant4.web.cern.ch/geant4/ * http://www.sron.nl/~richardh/SciaDC/index.html http://www.sron.nl/~richardh/SciaDC/index.html * http://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/ http://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/ * http://hea-www.harvard.edu/RD/ds9/ http://hea-www.harvard.edu/RD/ds9/ * http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/fits_liberator/ http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/fits_liberator/ And of course: FTOOLS: * http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/software/ftools/ftools_menu.html http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/software/ftools/ftools_men... Here's one method to contribute: packaging and testing them on different distros. Have fun storming the castle!