MESA

Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics

open-source software for stellar evolution modeling

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MESA

MESA

Latest MESA release version

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SDK

MESA SDK

MESA Software Development Kit

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Documentation

Documentation

How to install and use MESA

Read the docs
GitHub

Code Repository

Source code hosted on GitHub

Check out source code
Zenodo

Zenodo Community

Official release versions, SDKs, and MESA project inlists downloads

Go to Zenodo
Marketplace

MESA Marketplace

Resources for published papers using MESA

Go to Marketplace
Mailing List

MESA Users Mailing List

Info about new releases, news items, and requests for help/bug reports

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Python

mesa_reader

Python module to interact and plot MESA data (pip install mesa_reader)

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Summer Schools

MESA Summer Schools

Materials from past MESA schools and how to host your own

Check out MESA summer schools
MESA-web

MESA-web

Web interface to run MESA experiments

Use MESA-web

Modules

Star (star) — main module for stellar evolution
Binary (binary) — module for binary star evolution
Asteroseismology (astero) — calculates asteroseismic variables
Atmospheres (atm) — calculates the surface temperature and pressure, to use as boundary conditions
Automatic Differentiation (auto_diff) — provides automatic calculation of (forward) derivatives using the chain rule
Element Data (chem) — provides data on the properties of elements and isotopes
Colors (colors) — calculates on-the-fly colors of stars as observed by different instruments/filters
Constants (const) — defines a range of mathematical and physical constants
Equation of State (eos) — provides the equation of state
Opacities (kap) — provides radiative opacities combined with conductive opacities
Nuclear Reaction Networks (net) — implements nuclear reaction networks
Thermal Neutrinos (neu) — provides the specific rates of energy loss via various thermal neutrino processes
Nuclear Reaction Rates (rates) — provides thermonuclear reaction rates and weak reaction rates
Turbulence (turb) — provides various mixing theories (semiconvection, thermohaline, mixing length theory, time-dependent convection)

Cite the MESA papers

@ARTICLE{Paxton2011,
  author = {{Paxton}, B. and {Bildsten}, L. and {Dotter}, A. and {Herwig}, F. and {Lesaffre}, P. and {Timmes}, F.},
  title = {{Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)}},
  journal = {\apjs},
  year = {2011},
  volume = {192},
  pages = {3},
  doi = {10.1088/0067-0049/192/1/3},
}

@ARTICLE{Paxton2013,
  author = {{Paxton}, B. and {Cantiello}, M. and {Arras}, P. and {Bildsten}, L. and {Brown}, E.~F. and {Dotter}, A. and {Mankovich}, C. and {Montgomery}, M.~H. and {Stello}, D. and {Timmes}, F.~X. and {Townsend}, R.},
  title = {{Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Planets, Oscillations, Rotation, and Massive Stars}},
  journal = {\apjs},
  year = {2013},
  volume = {208},
  pages = {4},
  doi = {10.1088/0067-0049/208/1/4},
}

@ARTICLE{Paxton2015,
  author = {{Paxton}, B. and {Marchant}, P. and {Schwab}, J. and {Bauer}, E.~B. and {Bildsten}, L. and {Cantiello}, M. and {Dessart}, L. and {Farmer}, R. and {Hu}, H. and {Langer}, N. and {Townsend}, R.~H.~D. and {Townsley}, D.~M. and {Timmes}, F.~X.},
  title = {{Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Binaries, Pulsations, and Explosions}},
  journal = {\apjs},
  year = {2015},
  volume = {220},
  pages = {15},
  doi = {10.1088/0067-0049/220/1/15},
}

@ARTICLE{Paxton2018,
  author = {{Paxton}, B. and {Schwab}, J. and {Bauer}, E.~B. and {Bildsten}, L. and {Blinnikov}, S. and {Duffell}, P. and {Farmer}, R. and {Goldberg}, J.~A. and {Marchant}, P. and {Sorokina}, E. and {Thoul}, A. and {Townsend}, R.~H.~D. and {Timmes}, F.~X.},
  title = {{Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Convective Boundaries, Element Diffusion, and Massive Star Explosions}},
  journal = {\apjs},
  year = {2018},
  volume = {234},
  pages = {34},
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4365/aaa5a8},
}

@ARTICLE{Paxton2019,
  author = {{Paxton}, Bill and {Smolec}, R. and {Schwab}, Josiah and {Gautschy}, A. and {Bildsten}, Lars and {Cantiello}, Matteo and {Dotter}, Aaron and {Farmer}, R. and {Goldberg}, Jared A. and {Jermyn}, Adam S. and {Kanbur}, S.~M. and {Marchant}, Pablo and {Thoul}, Anne and {Townsend}, Richard H.~D. and {Wolf}, William M. and {Zhang}, Michael and {Timmes}, F.~X.},
  title = "{Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Pulsating Variable Stars, Rotation, Convective Boundaries, and Energy Conservation}",
  journal = {\apjs},
  year = "2019",
  volume = {243},
  pages = {10},
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4365/ab2241},
}

@ARTICLE{Jermyn2023,
  author = {{Jermyn}, Adam S. and {Bauer}, Evan B. and {Schwab}, Josiah and {Farmer}, R. and {Ball}, Warrick H. and {Bellinger}, Earl P. and {Dotter}, Aaron and {Joyce}, Meridith and {Marchant}, Pablo and {Mombarg}, Joey S.~G. and {Wolf}, William M. and {Sunny Wong}, Tin Long and {Cinquegrana}, Giulia C. and {Farrell}, Eoin and {Smolec}, R. and {Thoul}, Anne and {Cantiello}, Matteo and {Herwig}, Falk and {Toloza}, Odette and {Bildsten}, Lars and {Townsend}, Richard H.~D. and {Timmes}, F.~X.},
  title = "{Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Time-dependent Convection, Energy Conservation, Automatic Differentiation, and Infrastructure}",
  journal = {\apjs},
  year = 2023,
  volume = {265},
  pages = {15},
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4365/acae8d},
}

About

MESA (Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics) is an open-source suite for stellar evolution research and education. It combines state-of-the-art physics modules with a flexible framework, enabling users to run reproducible experiments from pre-main-sequence through advanced evolutionary phases.

MESA was primarily developed through the concerted efforts of Bill Paxton over a 10-year period with the engagement and deep involvement of many theoretical and computational astrophysicists. Over the past decade, MESA has grown into an international community resource. The project is maintained by the MESA community. To get involved, report issues, or contribute improvements, please visit the Documentation and GitHub links in the header.

For more info, see the About MESA page in the documentation.