sensipy is a Python toolkit for simulating gamma-ray follow-up observations of time-variable astrophysical sources. It is specifically designed to work with many different instruments and builds on top of gammapy, the open-source Python package for gamma-ray astronomy.
Many of the most exciting astrophysical phenomena are transient—gamma-ray bursts, flaring active galactic nuclei, novae, and electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave events all evolve on timescales from seconds to days. sensipy helps answer a fundamental question: Given a source that changes with time, can we detect it with a gamma-ray telescope?
The package helps to simulate how quickly a gamma-ray telescope can detect a time-variable source given the following inputs:
A time-evolving spectral energy distribution (SED)
Instrument response functions (IRFs) for specific observing conditions
Calculate differential or integral sensitivity curves for gamma-ray
observatories using instrument response functions and spectral models. For example, you can produce plots like the Sensitivity vs Observation Time curves of CTAO page.
Exposure Time Calculations
Calculate the observation time needed to detect a source with a given
spectral model at a specified significance level.
Followup Calculations
Use lookup tables to quickly calculate required exposure times
for observing sources with specific models and observing conditions.
EBL Models
Built-in support for extragalactic background light (EBL) absorption models
to account for gamma-ray attenuation over cosmological distances.