Skip to main content

To find and download HEASARC data in the cloud, you can use astroquery.heasarc or download our new tool, hark.

The HEASARC and NuSTAR teams are greatly saddened by the sudden passing of Katja Pottschmidt. Most recently Katja was the lead scientist for the NuSTAR Guest Observer Facility (GOF), a role she had supported for many years. During her science career she worked on many other high energy astrophysics missions and played an integral role in advancing our knowledge of the universe. She was a wonderful colleague and friend and will be keenly missed by all who knew her.

Download the HEASOFT Software

Current version 6.35.2 Release Notes

Before downloading:

HEASOFT tasks may now be run remotely using SciServer without having to install the software locally. SciServer provides a quick way to use the software (along with access to archival data) and is ideal for users who have limited or infrequent need to run the HEASOFT tasks. More intensive users of HEASOFT are still encouraged to install the software locally for best performance, or consider using HEASoft in a Docker container.

Starting with HEASoft version 6.35, HEASoft and Xspec are also distributed as conda packages. The packages are available from a custom channel hosted by the HEASARC and are built from the same source code available below.

A download containing all of the package selections can be around 5 Gb in size when unpacked; the actual size will vary depending on the packages you select and - if you choose a binary distribution - the architecture selected. If large file sizes present problems for your connection, it is possible to download the packages you want separately and unpack the tar files on top of each other afterwards, though you may need to either rename each tar file with a temporary name during the process or unpack each file immediately upon downloading so that one tar file isn't overwritten by the next.

Please use the interface below to make "a la carte" selections for your source code or pre-compiled binary download. Alternatively, you may choose the complete HEASoft source code via these direct tar file links, one of the complete source code, and one which adds older Xspec model data files:

Patches for existing 6.35 installations:

For users who already have HEASoft 6.35, please see our 6.35.2 patch page for information about updating your installation to 6.35.2.

STEP 1 - Select the type of software:

SOURCE CODE DISTRIBUTION (Recommended)

Please note that the source code distribution or our pre-compiled conda packages are recommended due to portability issues that can affect the traditional pre-compiled binaries below. A source code distribution or a pre-compiled conda package is required for users who wish to use local models in XSPEC / PyXspec.


For project statistics purposes only: Although the source code is intended to be portable to most PCs (Linux or WSL) or Macs, to help us better serve our users, please indicate the platform(s) on which you intend to try to compile the HEAsoft source code. If you are uncertain about the version or flavor of your operating system, see the file "/etc/issue" on Linux or use the sw_vers command on Macs. Please note that not all of the systems listed below are actively supported. We have tried to note systems below that are known to be unsupported or only partially supported.

PRE-COMPILED BINARY DISTRIBUTIONS (May experience portability issues):

Please note that the source code distribution above or our pre-compiled conda packages are recommended due to Perl (and other) portability issues that can affect the traditional pre-compiled binaries offered here. Additionally, a source code distribution or a pre-compiled conda package is required for users who wish to use local models in XSPEC / PyXspec. Note that the pre-compiled conda packages are installable on both Silicon and Intel Macs unlike the binaries offered here.


STEP 2 - Download the desired packages:

Selecting an individual mission package will automatically select a set of recommended general-use tools.

Please click SUBMIT only once, and be patient while a tar file containing your selections is assembled and retrieved.

* Xspec Notes

  • HEASOFT 6.35.2 includes Xspec v12.15.0d. Please see the Xspec issues web page to apply the latest patches after building Xspec (source code distribution required).
  • Older Xspec model data (file list here) is available in a separate tar file:
    Older Xspec model data (1Gb / 4.5Gb unpacked)
    After installing and initializing HEASoft, unpack this tar file in the directory above $HEADAS: 
          $ cd $HEADAS/..
      $ tar zxf xspec-older-model-data.tar.gz
  • Users who wish to link Xspec models into their own program are advised to download the Xspec source code distribution and configure heasoft using the option "--enable-xs-models-only".

STEP 3 - Install the software:

  • Visit the known issues page for notifications about any problems (and relevant patches) identified after HEAsoft 6.35.2 was released.

  • Un-gzip and un-tar the file created for you (either heasoft-6.35.2src.tar.gz or heasoft-6.35.2<platform>.tar.gz depending on which type of distribution you selected) in a clean directory and follow the instructions in our installation guides for the following platforms:


  • See our recommendations for batch processing and good scripting practices when writing your own scripts to run HEASoft tasks.

  • Optional: download and run the hwrap script to create an alternate runtime environment for HEASOFT to help avoid conflicts with other software packages (e.g. XMM-SAS or CIAO).