Norbert Pirzkal, Richard N. Hook (ST-ECF)
We report on the use of Python to perform basic astronomical tasks. Python is a powerful object-oriented scripting language that is easy to extend, free, and available for most computer platforms. Python, together with its Numerical package, and with the PFITSIO package that is being developed, provides an attractive alternative to other languages such as Perl, IDL, and the IRAF CL, which are already widely used by the community. Simple examples of how Python can be used to explore, manipulate and visualize real astronomical data are given.