astropy - the python astronomy package

• get it from here
• there are a number of great examples to get you started (the examples I showed in the seminar came from here)
• and further tutorials
• also check out the astropy-page on the WCS

What it can be used for (biased, certainly not complete list)

• reading+writing standard astronomical data formats into python (e.g. fits, hdf5...)
• converting between different coordinate systems (e.g. ecliptic to galacitc)
• computing (3D) distances between objects
• plotting elevations of sources at particular times and places
• fitting/modelling data
• using and converting between different units (e.g. cgs to SI)
• lot's more!