What does a python use its pit organs for?

What is commonly called a pit organ allows these animals to essentially "see" radiant heat at wavelengths between 5 and 30 micrometers. The more advanced infrared sense of pit vipers allows these animals to strike prey accurately even in the absence of light, and detect warm objects from several meters away. It was previously thought that the organs evolved primarily as prey detectors, but recent evidence suggests that it may also be used in thermoregulation and predator detection, making it a more general-purpose sensory organ than was supposed.