diff --git a/orbitize/__init__.py b/orbitize/__init__.py
index 039c24ef..1d4b7e29 100644
--- a/orbitize/__init__.py
+++ b/orbitize/__init__.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import types
 import os
 
-__version__ = '1.7.0'
+__version__ = '1.8.0'
 
 # set Python env variable to keep track of example data dir
 DATADIR = os.path.join(sys.prefix, 'orbitize_example_data')