*************
Preliminaries
*************

Why use BFORE?
==============

* Spectral variations
* Second-order light variations
* Non-sphericity
* Eclipses

Obtaining BFORE
===============

The source code for BFORE is hosted in the :git:`rhdtownsend/bfore` git
repository on :git:`GitHub <>`. Instructions for downloading and
installing the software can be found in the :ref:`Quick Start
<quick-start>` chapter.

.. _citing-bfore:

Citing BFORE
============

If you use BFORE in your research, please cite this website (a full
instrument paper discussing the code is in preparation).

Development Team
================

BFORE remains under active development by the following team:

* `Rich Townsend <http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~townsend>`__ (University of Wisconsin-Madison); project leader

Related Links
=============

* The `Multidimensional Spectral Grids (MSG) <msg_>`__ library, which
  handles the spectral interpolation that BFORE relies upon.
* The `MESA Software Development Kit (SDK) <mesa-sdk_>`__, which
  provides the compilers and supporting libraries needed to build
  both MSG and BFORE.

Acknowledgments
================

BFORE has been developed with financial support from the following grants:

* NSF award AAG-2407636.