From fitsbits-request Fri Jul 2 16:29:27 1993 X-VM-VHeader: ("From:" "Sender:" "Resent-From" "To:" "Apparently-To:" "Cc:" "Subject:" "Date:" "Resent-Date:") nil X-VM-Bookmark: 16 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] [nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil "^From:" nil nil nil]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA00852; Fri, 2 Jul 93 16:29:27 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <2JUL199315553372 at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov> Organization: NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!concert!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!ames!skates.gsfc.nasa.gov!nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov!bschlesinger From: bschlesinger at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (BARRY M. SCHLESINGER) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: Proposed EXTTYPE keyword Date: 2 Jul 1993 15:55 EDT This reply is coming somewhat late because I was away at a meeting for a week after the original message came out, and then had 3 weeks' messages to catch up with when I returned. > ------------------------------------------------------- > | THE USE OF THE EXTNAME KEYWORD AND THE PROPOSED | > | INTRODUCTION OF TWO NEW KEYWORDS | > ------------------------------------------------------- > At a meeting on 1993 Jun 16 of the OGIP FITS Standards Panel (OFSP) within > the Office of Guest Investigators (OGIP) at NASA/GSFC, there was a review > of the use of the EXTNAME keyword within the OGIP. > The OFSP found that it was common practice within the OGIP to use the value > of the EXTNAME keyword to simultaneously describe both the generic *kind* > of dataset being stored, and additional *details* of the dataset. Thus > values of the EXTNAME keyword were being formed by the concatenation of 2 > or more sub-strings. This gives rise to long, and often user-unfriendly, > EXTNAMEs essentially containing a variety of different pieces of > information. More importantly these strings are apparently incompatible > with a number of IRAF tasks. > Whilst such use of EXTNAME keyword is legal FITS, the OFSP proposes & > recommends the adoption/use of the two keywords listed below. Since this > is an issue likely to be of interest to the general FITS community, the > OFSP would welcome any comments (via FITSBITS) on this proposal. > THE PROPOSAL > ************ > The OFSP recommends the use of the EXTNAME keyword be changed (at least > within the OGIP), and that two new keywords, EXTCLASS & EXTTYPE be > introduced: > EXTNAME - Can be any string & is essentially not used by OGIP s/w > (NOTE: IRAF can only cope with 6 character strings) > EXTCLASS - Is a new string describing the sort of dataset stored (see below) > EXTTYPE - Is a new string available to give more specific details on > exactly what type of data is stored (see below) The precise usage of the EXTNAME keyword has not been clearly spelled out in the FITS papers, and so conventions of this kind are useful. However, as I have mentioned in private e-mail in previous contexts, I do not think EXTTYPE is a good name for a keyword, because it can possibly be a source of confusion for new users. A novice user might think of the value of XTENSION, such as TABLE or BINTABLE, as the name of the extension. However, the EXTNAME keyword has a different meaning. In order to clarify the distinction, the value of XTENSION has been referred to in FITS documentation as the extension _type_. For example, the original generalized extensions paper states, "the first line of the header (normally SIMPLE=T) is replaced by the new keyword XTENSION='type' in order to identify the type of the extension." The NOST codification has followed this usage, "The value field [of the XTENSION keyword] shall contain a character string giving the name of the extension type. " Thus, use of the name EXTTYPE could lead to confusion between the established usage of extension type, which refers to its structure -- e. g., ASCII table, binary table, image -- and the new definition. I recommend a different name. Barry Schlesinger NOST FITS Support Office From fitsbits-request Fri Jul 9 19:45:14 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["2890" "" "9" "July" "1993" "16:49:10" "GMT" " Frank ROUSSEL " "rousself at univ-rennes1.fr " nil "55" "* FITS viewer for UNIX/SUN/X11R5 *" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA16414; Fri, 9 Jul 93 19:45:14 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <21k7i6$17i at news.univ-rennes1.fr> Organization: CRI Universite' de Rennes 1 - FR Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!darwin.sura.net!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!uunet!pipex!zaphod.crihan.fr!news.univ-rennes1.fr!univ-rennes1.fr!rousself From: rousself at univ-rennes1.fr ( Frank ROUSSEL ) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: * FITS viewer for UNIX/SUN/X11R5 * Date: 9 Jul 1993 16:49:10 GMT Can somebody tell me where such a viewer is available, please ? Many thanks in advance & best regards --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______ _______ ________ | Firstname: Frank /______/| /______/\ /_______/| | Lastname : ROUSSEL / ______|/ / ____ \/| |__ __|/ | E-mail: rousself at univ-rennes1.fr / /| | |____| |/ | || | Telephone: + 33 99 83 26 10 | || | __ __/ | || | | |\______ | || \ \\ __| ||__ | Address: 175, rue Belle Epine \ \______/| | || \ \\ /__| |/_/| | CityStateZip: 35510 \_______|/ |_|/ \_\| |_______|/ | Cityname: CESSON SEVIGNE Centre de Ressources Informatiques | Country: FRANCE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Science without conscience is only soul's ruin (Rabelais) ------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Signed: The responsible of ASTROGOF project at Rennes' University of France - - who contributes to the development of CRI-CICB Gopher's server by maintaining - - an astronomic anonymous ftp server 'ftp.univ-rennes1.fr' in /pub/Images/ASTRO - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From fitsbits-request Sun Jul 11 21:32:24 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] [nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil "^From:" nil nil nil]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA00209; Sun, 11 Jul 93 21:32:24 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <1993Jul11.192143 at spacsun.rice.edu> Organization: Dept. of Space Physics & Astronomy, Rice U., Houston Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!concert!news-feed-2.peachnet.edu!darwin.sura.net!wupost!newsfeed.rice.edu!rice!pls References: <21k7i6$17i at news.univ-rennes1.fr> From: pls at spacsun.rice.edu (Patrick Shopbell) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: Re: * FITS viewer for UNIX/SUN/X11R5 * Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1993 00:21:43 GMT Frank, If you're looking for one for astronomical images, SAOIMAGE will do it. I don't know how well it works with various extensions and what-not, but "normal" FITS images can be loaded easily as command-line parameters. (If you're familiar with IRAF, it also works with IRAF images - if you're not, don't worry.) It's available for anonymous FTP from sao-ftp.harvard.edu:/pub/saoimage. Good luck. -- Patrick *----------------------------------------------------------------------------* | Patrick Shopbell Department of Space Physics and Astronomy | | pls at pegasus.rice.edu Rice University | | (713) 527-8750 x3640, x3511 P.O. Box 1892 | | FAX: (713) 285-5143 Houston, TX 77251-1892 | *----------------------------------------------------------------------------* From fitsbits-request Tue Jul 13 17:40:19 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["11490" "" "13" "July" "93" "17:28:11" "GMT" "Henry Joy McCracken" "hmccrack at Mr-Hyde.aoc.nrao.edu " nil "251" "FITS to GIF for Sunos 4.1.3" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA04468; Tue, 13 Jul 93 17:40:19 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <1993Jul13.172811.16132 at Mr-Hyde.aoc.nrao.edu> Organization: University of Victoria Department of Physics and Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!darwin.sura.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!rutgers!gatech!usenet.ufl.edu!usenet.cis.ufl.edu!caen!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!lynx.unm.edu!Mr-Hyde.aoc.nrao.edu!hmccrack From: hmccrack at Mr-Hyde.aoc.nrao.edu (Henry Joy McCracken) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: FITS to GIF for Sunos 4.1.3 Date: 13 Jul 93 17:28:11 GMT Astronomy Keywords: FITS/GIF Lines: 13 If anyone has the code for a program (or knows where I can get the code for such a program) which will convert from FITS image format to GIF image format, and will run under SunOs4.1.3/X11R5, could they e-mail me at henry at otter.phys.uvic.ca or hmccrack at zia.aoc.nrao.edu? It would be much appreciated. Cheers! henry mccracken department of physics and astronomy university of victoria From fitsbits-request Wed Jul 14 09:25:31 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["2987" "" "14" "July" "1993" "08:53" "EDT" "BARRY M. SCHLESINGER" "bschlesinger at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov " nil "67" "NOST FITS Definition Accredited as NOST Standard" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA07621; Wed, 14 Jul 93 09:25:31 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <14JUL199308530724 at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov> Organization: NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!darwin.sura.net!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!ames!skates.gsfc.nasa.gov!nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov!bschlesinger From: bschlesinger at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (BARRY M. SCHLESINGER) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: NOST FITS Definition Accredited as NOST Standard Date: 14 Jul 1993 08:53 EDT The NSSDC's NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology (NOST) has completed development of a formal definition of the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) for the transfer of information, in support of the astronomical community. The standard was developed to provide a document that would remove contradictions and resolve ambiguities present in the four papers and Floating Point Agreement endorsed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as the basis for FITS, one that NASA projects and other researchers could use to design data sets in conformance to FITS. Working under NOST procedures, a FITS Technical Panel composed of astronomers and chaired by American Astronomical Society Working Group on Astronomical Software Chair R. J. Hanisch (STScI) developed a draft standard. In order to ensure that this standard accurately represented FITS as accepted by the astronomical community, there were three review cycles. In each cycle, the opportunity to review the standard was widely publicized throughout the astronomical community, with particular care taken to notify the international and regional FITS Committees. When the two-month review period was completed, the Panel reviewed the comments, revised the draft standard, and provided detailed replies to all reviewers explaining its action on each point. When the review process was complete, the Technical Panel proposed the standard to the NOST FITS Accreditation Panel for acceptance as a NOST standard. The Accreditation Panel, composed of the NOST executive board and an outside member from the astrophysics community, reviewed the process followed by the Technical Panel and their handling of reviewer comments. Approval of the NOST "Definition of the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS)" was unanimous and an outstanding effort by the Technical Panel was noted. This standard will now be submitted to the IAU FITS Working Group for endorsement as the international standard for FITS. Approval is believed likely. The NOST Standard, like the drafts before it, is available by anonymous ftp from nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov, or by DECnet copy from NSSDCA, in the directory FITS, in LaTeX, PostScript, and flat ASCII forms. Get the AAREADME.DOC file for details. Printed copies can be obtained from the NOST Librarian, who can be reached as follows: (Postal) NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology Code 633.2 Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD 20771 USA (Internet) nost at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (DECnet) NCF::NOST Telephone: +1-301-286-3575 8 a. m. - 5 p. m., U. S. Eastern Time If the Librarian is unavailable, a phone mail system takes the call after four rings. If you have additional questions, the FITS office can be reached by electronic mail at the address below. for Donald Sawyer, NOST Secretary Barry M. Schlesinger Coordinator, FITS Support Office Secretary, Technical Panel. +1-301-513-1634 fits at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov NCF::FITS From fitsbits-request Wed Jul 14 09:58:52 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["606" "Wed" "14" "July" "1993" "13:17:47" "GMT" "CADSI" "cad16 at icaen.uiowa.edu (Rex Smith )" nil "12" "HELP: general star data wanted." "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA07659; Wed, 14 Jul 93 09:58:52 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <1993Jul14.131747.13433 at news.uiowa.edu> Organization: Iowa Computer Aided Engineering Network, University of Iowa Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!darwin.sura.net!howland.reston.ans.net!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!hobbes.physics.uiowa.edu!news.uiowa.edu!icaen.uiowa.edu!cad16 References: <14JUL199308530724 at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov> From: cad16 at icaen.uiowa.edu (Rex Smith (CADSI)) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: HELP: general star data wanted. Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1993 13:17:47 GMT I'm looking for the following information concerning stars: 1. Location in spherical (elevation and azimuth) coordinates. Distance is not important to me. 2. Magnitude. I am an inexperienced user of the net, so if this message is being sent to the wrong newsgroup, let me know. I have tried searching some of the databases mentioned in the FAQ list and the data I want is probably there, but the task of pinpointing it looks monumental. I am trying to write a program that simulates a virtual planetarium. Please e-mail any information you can provide to cadsi at cadfx.ccad.uiowa.edu. Thanks! From fitsbits-request Wed Jul 14 10:38:14 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1000" "Wed" "14" "July" "1993" "14:10:19" "GMT" "Uwe Bonnes" "bon at lte.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de " nil "21" "Re: HELP: general star data wanted." "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA07737; Wed, 14 Jul 93 10:38:14 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <22144bE2ke at uni-erlangen.de> Organization: LTE, University of Erlangen, Germany Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!concert!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!xlink.net!fauern!rrze.uni-erlangen.de!lte.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de!bon References: <14JUL199308530724 at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov> <1993Jul14.131747.13433 at news.uiowa.edu> From: bon at lte.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de (Uwe Bonnes) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: Re: HELP: general star data wanted. Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1993 14:10:19 GMT In article <1993Jul14.131747.13433 at news.uiowa.edu>, cad16 at icaen.uiowa.edu (Rex Smith (CADSI)) writes: |> I'm looking for the following information concerning stars: |> |> 1. Location in spherical (elevation and azimuth) coordinates. |> Distance is not important to me. |> 2. Magnitude. |> |> I am an inexperienced user of the net, so if this message is being sent to |> the wrong newsgroup, let me know. I have tried searching some of the |> databases mentioned in the FAQ list and the data I want is probably there, but |> the task of pinpointing it looks monumental. I am trying to write a program |> that simulates a virtual planetarium. Please e-mail any information you can |> provide to cadsi at cadfx.ccad.uiowa.edu. Thanks! If you want to write something new, do so! But have a look too at what exists : xephem, xsky, starchart. E.g. xephem exists on export.lcs.mit.edu in /pub/contrib/xephem and has much of the data you wanted: ephem.db and the different saoxxxxx.db Uwe From fitsbits-request Mon Jul 19 16:25:58 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1143" "Mon" "19" "July" "1993" "21:25:39" "GMT" "Don Wells" "dwells at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU " nil "22" "Samples of BINTABLE and IMAGE?" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA05199; Mon, 19 Jul 93 16:25:58 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: Organization: nrao Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!cv3.cv.nrao.edu!dwells From: dwells at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU (Don Wells) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: Samples of BINTABLE and IMAGE? Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1993 21:25:39 GMT I would like to accumulate samples of BINTABLE and IMAGE, the two FITS extension types which are in the process of becoming FITS standards. I would like to create new subdirectories on fits.cv.nrao.edu to contain these files. Such samples would be useful for guidance to programmers and for interoperability testing of FITS software. If your organization is creating BINTABLE files please respond to me by Email so that we can make arrangements for transferring to me one or more samples of the product(s) produced by your software. Samples of prototype file formats are almost as desirable as samples of formats which are in production, so please do not hesitate to offer me samples of prototypes. I would especially like to learn of any organizations which have software which produces the IMAGE extension, and I would like to get samples of such files. -- Donald C. Wells Associate Scientist dwells at nrao.edu National Radio Astronomy Observatory +1-804-296-0277 520 Edgemont Road Fax= +1-804-296-0278 Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2475 USA 78:31.1W, 38:02.2N From fitsbits-request Wed Jul 21 03:07:25 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1132" "" "21" "July" "1993" "05:59:48" "GMT" "Sean Joesph Carey" "careys at rebecca.its.rpi.edu " nil "20" "HELP: Coordinate Projection Info Needed" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA00245; Wed, 21 Jul 93 03:07:25 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <22im0k$f61 at usenet.rpi.edu> Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!concert!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!xlink.net!scsing.switch.ch!univ-lyon1.fr!ghost.sm.dsi.unimi.it!rpi!rebecca.its.rpi.edu!careys Reply-To: careys at rpi.edu From: careys at rebecca.its.rpi.edu (Sean Joesph Carey) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: HELP: Coordinate Projection Info Needed Date: 21 Jul 1993 05:59:48 GMT Does anyone know how does AIPS handle coordinate projections. That is, how is the coordinate projection (GNOMONIC, as in IRAS data, for instance) for an image loaded into AIPS? Also, in general what is the current standard keywords for projections in FITS? Is there a reference for conversion from pixel coordinates to actual sky coordinates for various projections. charon:/usr6/mlk/carey/aips% vi aipshelp charon:/usr6/mlk/carey/aips% more aipshelp Does anyone know how AIPS handles coordinate projections. That is, how is the coordinate projection (GNOMONIC, as in IRAS data, for instance) for an image loaded into AIPS? Also, in general what is the current standard keywords for projections in FITS? Is there a reference for conversion from pixel coordinates to actual sky coordinates for various projections. Any help is gretaly appreciated. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sean Carey \|/ 276-6763 Star Formation Lab -*- carey at charon.phys.rpi.edu Science Center /|\ SC 3C18 R. P. I. From fitsbits-request Wed Jul 21 11:11:20 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["310" "" "21" "July" "1993" "14:42:56" "GMT" "Keith S Cover" "keith at unixg.ubc.ca " nil "12" "WANTED: FITS conversion program for Khoros" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA01432; Wed, 21 Jul 93 11:11:20 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <22jklgINN1kg at iskut.ucs.ubc.ca> Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!concert!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!darwin.sura.net!haven.umd.edu!uunet!magnesium.club.cc.cmu.edu!news.mic.ucla.edu!unixg.ubc.ca!keith References: <22im0k$f61 at usenet.rpi.edu> From: keith at unixg.ubc.ca (Keith S Cover) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: WANTED: FITS conversion program for Khoros Date: 21 Jul 1993 14:42:56 GMT Does anyone have code for converting from FITS to Khoro's viff (xv) format? Khoros has a very limited program to do this but it does not handle headers more than 1 FITS block in length or floating point values. C code strongly prefered. Thanks in advance. Keith S Cover Physics, UBC keith at msmri.med.ubc.ca From fitsbits-request Wed Jul 21 17:28:49 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["314" "Wed" "21" "July" "93" "19:09:14" "GMT" "Chris Flatters" "cflatter at cv3.CV.NRAO.EDU " nil "7" "Re: WANTED: FITS conversion program for Khoros" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA01540; Wed, 21 Jul 93 17:28:49 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <1993Jul21.190914.14996 at Mr-Hyde.aoc.nrao.edu> Organization: NRAO Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!darwin.sura.net!news-feed-2.peachnet.edu!umn.edu!lynx.unm.edu!Mr-Hyde.aoc.nrao.edu!laphroaig!cflatter References: <1993Jul13.172811.16132 at Mr-Hyde.aoc.nrao.edu> Reply-To: cflatter at cv3.CV.NRAO.EDU From: cflatter at cv3.CV.NRAO.EDU (Chris Flatters) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: Re: WANTED: FITS conversion program for Khoros Date: Wed, 21 Jul 93 19:09:14 GMT If nothing better exists you should be able to modify the AVS FITS reader available by anonymous ftp from baboon.cv.nrao.edu (directory /pub/aips/AVS/subfits) to do what you want. You will just have to strip out the AVS wrappers and substitute the appropriate code for Khoros. Chris Flatters cflatter at nrao.edu From fitsbits-request Mon Jul 26 23:40:25 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["4770" "Mon" "26" "July" "1993" "23:39:46" "-0400" "Usque ad mortem bibendum" "GEORGE at HEAGIP.GSFC.NASA.GOV (Ian M George, Code 668, NASA/GSFC, USA )" nil "92" "OFSP Proposal on the use of EXTNAME & EXTCLASn keywords (v 93-Jul-21)" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA12908; Mon, 26 Jul 93 23:40:25 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <930726233946.206019bd at HEAGIP.GSFC.NASA.GOV> X-Vmsmail-To: SMTP%"fitsbits at fits.cv.nrao.edu" From: GEORGE at HEAGIP.GSFC.NASA.GOV (Ian M George, Code 668, NASA/GSFC, USA (Usque ad mortem bibendum)) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: OFSP Proposal on the use of EXTNAME & EXTCLASn keywords (v 93-Jul-21) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 23:39:46 -0400 (EDT) ------------------------------------------------------- | THE USE OF EXTCLASn KEYWORDS WITHIN FITS FILES | ------------------------------------------------------- Version: 1993 Jul 21 At a meeting on 1993 Jul 21 of the OGIP FITS Standards Panel (OFSP) within the Office of Guest Investigators (OGIP) at NASA/GSFC, there was a review of the use of the OFSPs previous recommendation regarding the provision of a hierarchical classification scheme for various types of FITS extension to be used within the OGIP (and potentially elsewhere). In view of a number of concerns expressed to the panel, the OFSP overturned its previous recommendation, and provisionally approved an alternate suggestion, as outlined below. Since this is an issue which remains of interest to the general FITS community, the OFSP would welcome any comments (via FITSBITS) on this new proposal. For clarity, however, before going onto the current proposal, it may be of use to some FITSBITS readers to first summarize the recent history/evolution of this idea: - A review of the use of the EXTNAME keyword (both within the OGIP and elsewhere within the FITS community) presented at a meeting of the OFSP on 1993 Jun 16 revealed that this keyword was being used to describe a variety of different sorts of information (often simultaneously). As a result a proposal was provisionally passed by the OFSP whereby 2 new keywords were introduced (EXTTYPE & EXTCLASS) in an attempt to decouple essential information from the EXTNAME keyword, and to provide some level of hierarchy within this information. This proposal was posted to FITSBITS by George on 1993 Jun 17. - All feedback received from FITSBITS was reviewed at an OFSP meeting on 1993 Jun 30. Given (in the view of the panel) the lack of serious objections, and the immediate needs of the OGIP imposed by currently flying missions, the proposal was raised to the status of a full recommendation (known as R2) of the OFSP. - Unfortunately however, by the time of the OFSP meeting of 1993 Jul 21, a number of legitimate concerns regarding this decision had been expressed to the panel. The OFSP therefore overturned recommendation R2, and provisionally approved an alternate suggestion, as outlined below. (Essentially the earlier EXTCLASS & EXTTYPE keywords are replaced by EXTCLAS1 & EXTCLAS2 respectively). The pressures imposed by currently flying missions (ASCA, CGRO & ROSAT) maintain the need for a convention for these keywords within the OGIP. The OFSP therefore plans to meet again in a couple of weeks to make its final FINAL recommendations on this issue. Thus FITSBITS subscribers are urged to respond with any comments etc on this timescale. THE PROPOSAL ************ The OFSP recommends the use of the EXTNAME keyword be changed (at least within the OGIP), and that a family of new keywords, EXTCLASn, be introduced (where "n" is an integer between 1 & 9). The EXTCLASn family of keywords is intended to form a hierarchy in which n = 1 is the highest level, and n = 9 the lowest level. Thus: EXTNAME - Can be any string & is essentially not used by OGIP s/w EXTCLAS1 - Is a new string describing the highest level in the hierarchy EXTCLAS2 - Is a new string describing the next level down the hierarchy ... etc ... EXTCLAS9 - Is a new string describing the lowest level in the hierarchy Currently, the OGIP only requires the use of 2 hierarchical levels, and hence the EXTCLAS1 & EXTCLAS2 keywords. Specifically the OGIP is proposing to use: EXTCLAS1 - to describe the sort of dataset stored EXTCLAS2 - to then give more specific details on exactly what type of data is stored A few examples should make the distinctions between the keywords more obvious: 1) For various "Good Time Intervals" EXTNAME = 'ABCBEF' (or whatever you like) EXTCLAS1 = 'GTI' (some sort of GTI is stored) EXTCLAS2 = 'STANDARD' (the GTIs from standard processing are stored) or EXTCLAS2 = 'ALL' (all times when the instrument is on are stored [no filtering has been applied]) or EXTCLAS2 = 'UNKNOWN' (uncertain what is stored) 2) For various "Events" lists EXTNAME = 'GHIJKL' (or whatever you like) EXTCLAS1 = 'EVENTS' (some sort of EVENTS list is stored) EXTCLAS2 = 'GOOD' (accepted events [only] are stored) or EXTCLAS2 = 'BAD' (rejected events [only] are stored) or EXTCLAS2 = 'ALL' (all events [no filtering] are stored) or EXTCLAS2 = 'UNKNOWN' (uncertain what events are stored) ----------------------------------- END ---------------------------------- Ian M George NASA/GSFC OFSP 1993 Jul 26 From fitsbits-request Tue Jul 27 09:25:01 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["13526" "" "27" "July" "1993" "09:00" "EDT" "BARRY M. SCHLESINGER" "bschlesinger at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov " nil "261" "FITS Basics and Information (regular posting)" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA13964; Tue, 27 Jul 93 09:25:01 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <27JUL199309005964 at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov> Organization: NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center Path: cv3.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!concert!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!agate!ames!skates.gsfc.nasa.gov!nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov!bschlesinger From: bschlesinger at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (BARRY M. SCHLESINGER) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: FITS Basics and Information (regular posting) Date: 27 Jul 1993 09:00 EDT This basic FITS information is posted and updated periodically for the benefit of new readers and the reference of old readers. FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) is a data format designed to provide a means for convenient exchange of astronomical data between installations whose standard internal formats and hardware differ. A FITS file is composed of a sequence of Header Data Units (HDUs). The header consists of keyword=value statements, which describe the format and organization of the data in the HDU and may also provide additional information, for example, about the instrument or the history of the data. The data follow, structured as the header specifies. The data section of the HDU may contain a digital image, but, except for the first, *it doesn't have to*. Other possible formats include tables and multidimensional matrices that are not images. The first HDU must contain a multidimensional matrix or no data at all; the data in subsequent HDUs, called extensions, may be of any type, consistent with certain rules. The "Image" in the name comes from the original use of the format to transport digital images, but it's not just for images any more. FITS is not principally a graphics format designed for the transfer of pictures; it does not incorporate "FITS viewers", packages for decoding the data into an image. Users must develop or obtain separate software to convert the data from the FITS file into a form that can be readily displayed. As has been discussed in this newsgroup, and in alt.sci.astro.fits before it, the Extended Portable Bitmap Toolkit (pbm+) can be used for converting many FITS files to such a format. However, support is not guaranteed for all FITS files where the data are in the form of an image. In particular, there may be problems when the data matrix members are in IEEE floating point format (BITPIX<0) or the matrix has more than two dimensions (NAXIS>2). Archie Warnock and Ron Baalke have announced release of version 7.8 of the IMDISP program. IMDISP is an interactive image processing program that runs on an IBM PC computer and supports FITS input. IMDISP 7.8 is available via anonymous ftp at ames.arc.nasa.gov [128.102.18.3] in a file called imdisp78.zip in the pub/SPACE/SOFTWARE subdirectory and at hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov in the pub/software/imdisp subdirectory. It is also available through Simtel-20 [192.88.110.20] at PD1:IMDISP78.ZIP. Additional discussion of FITS->image converters appears in this newsgroup from time to time. The fundamental references on FITS are the following four papers, often referred to collectively as the "Four FITS Papers". These papers are the formal standard for FITS, endorsed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Wells, D. C., Greisen, E. W., and Harten, R. H., "FITS: a flexible image transport system," Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series, 44, 363-370, 1981. Greisen, E. W. and Harten, R. H., "An extension of FITS for small arrays of data," Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series, 44, 371-374, 1981. (NOTE: The format described in this paper has been used almost exclusively to transport radio interferometry and is likely to be replaced by other formats in the future. Writing data other than radio interferometry data using this format is not recommended.) Grosbol, P., Harten, R. H., Greisen, E. W., and Wells, D. C., "Generalized extensions and blocking factors for FITS," Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series, 73, 359-364, 1988. Harten, R. H., Grosbol. P., Greisen, E. W., and Wells, D. C., "The FITS tables extension, Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series, 73, 365-372, 1988. A User's Guide for FITS, commissioned by NASA Headquarters, is maintained by the NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology (NOST) FITS Support Office. This Guide is intended to be a tutorial for new FITS users. In addition to presenting the rules of FITS, it provides some of the history and reasoning behind the choice of the rules, adds recommendations on good practices, and discusses current developments in FITS. The current version, 3.0, was issued in January 1993. This document is at present available only in printed form, but steps are under way to generate a PostScript version that will work on many systems and a flat ASCII version. The NOST has codified FITS as endorsed by the IAU into a formal standard, eliminating some contradictions and ambiguities in the original FITS papers, that can be endorsed by the IAU FITS Working Group. as the FITS standard. This NOST Definition of FITS was developed by a Technical Panel chaired by Dr. Robert J. Hanisch (STSci), with review by the astronomical community. On June 18, 1993, it was approved as a NOST Standard by an Accreditation Panel consisting of the NOST Executive Board and an astronomical community representative; this review was to confirm that the community had been given a satisfactory opportunity to review the standard and that the Technical Panel had properly considered and responded to all comments. The NOST standard has been submitted to the IAU FITS Working Group for endorsement as the international FITS standard, to replace the four FITS papers and the Floating Point Agreement, which are the current endorsed standard. While this committee could in principle endorse a version that differs in some way from the NOST document, changes are unlikely, because members of this committee were active in the process of reviewing the standard and their comments were given significant weight in the deliberations of the Technical Panel. The IAU has endorsed the Floating Point Agreement, which defines how floating point numbers are to be expressed in FITS. The basic agreement appears verbatim in the User's Guide, and the substance is incorporated in the NOST standard. The NOST maintains a file of FITS information available by anonymous ftp from nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov or DECnet copy from NSSDCA, in the directory FITS at this writing. A proposed reorganization would move the FITS material to a FITS subdirectory under a STANDARDS directory. The FITS files include copies of the current NOST draft standard in flat ASCII, PostScript, and LaTeX. Style and index files are provided for the LaTeX form. Except that the ASCII form lacks typeface formatting, the copies in the three formats are identical; only one need be retrieved. A current list of the extension type (structure) names registered with the IAU FITS Working Group is maintained. Also available, in LaTeX form, is the text of the proposal for one of these new extension types, IMAGE. A modified version of this posting also appears there. An AAREADME.DOC file describes the contents of the directory. A SOFTWARE subdirectory contains a prototype for software that will eventually validate FITS files, along with instructions. Because this software is still under development, it should not be run before reading separate instructions. The current versions investigates required keywords for primary headers and integer data arrays. There is also a copy of a program in C to read and list the headers of a FITS file and another file with information on publicly available FITS software packages. The ERRTEST subdirectory contains several versions of the same FITS file, a valid one and several with different kinds of header errors, for use in testing software to read FITS files. Be sure to use binary transfer for ftp access of FITS test files. Both the SOFTWARE and ERRTEST subdirectories include AAREADME.DOC files describing their content. A modified version of this posting is now in the main directory. Additional material can be obtained by anonymous ftp from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, from fits.cv.nrao.edu, in the directory fits. The documents subdirectory contains a number of subdirectories. A proposals subdirectory contain proposals, such as the BINTABLE Binary Tables extension proposal, which is now under consideration by the IAU FITS Working Group. A drafts subdirectory contains drafts of designs not yet submitted, for example, a proposed method for incorporating data compression under FITS. The wcs subdirectory contains material serving as the basis for continuing discussion of world coordinates issues, some of which appears on this newsgroup from time to time. Printed copies of many of the documents listed above can be obtained from the NOST Librarian. Printed copies of the User's Guide and either paper or electronic copies of the Draft NOST Standard, for those without ftp access, are available. Because of restrictions set by the copyright holder, NOST can send copies of the four FITS papers only to non-profit organizations. The NOST can be reached as follows: (Postal) NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology Code 633.2 Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD 20771 USA (Internet) nost at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (DECnet) NCF::NOST Telephone: +1-301-286-3575 8 a. m. - 5 p. m., U. S. Eastern Time If the Librarian is unavailable, a phone mail system takes the call after four rings. Please mention this posting in your request. Use the FITS office electronic mail address below for replies or questions. It is monitored by other NOST staff members when I am away from the office and provides a greater certainty of rapid response. Barry M. Schlesinger Coordinator, NASA/NSSDC NOST FITS Support Office +1-301-513-1634 fits at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov NCF::FITS From fitsbits-request Fri Jul 30 13:47:05 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1583" "Fri" "30" "July" "93" "13:46:08" "EDT" "William Pence" "pence at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov " nil "30" "underscores and hypens in keyword names" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA20835; Fri, 30 Jul 93 13:47:05 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <9307301746.AA21007 at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov> From: pence at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov (William Pence) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Cc: pence at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov Subject: underscores and hypens in keyword names Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 13:46:08 EDT The OGIP FITS Standards Panel (OFSP)* recently made the the following recommendation to use underscores rather than hypens in keyword names used in FITS files created by the OGIP. A copy of this recommendation is being posted here for information to other groups who may be interested in adopting a similar policy. *The OFSP is comprised of members of the NASA/GSFC Office of Guest Investigator Programs (OGIP). Its role is to coordinate and define standards for the FITS formats used for the High Energy Astrophysics datasets that are generated within the OGIP. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OFSP Recommendation on the use of Underscores and Hyphens in FITS Keywords and FITS Table Column Names The use of hyphens is discouraged in FITS keyword names and in the names of table columns (i.e., in the value of TTYPEn keywords). In general, hyphens should only be used in cases where there is already a well defined precedent (e.g., 'DATE-OBS'), or in cases where the hyphen is specifically used to represent a minus sign. Otherwise, the underscore '_' should be used as a punctuation type character to separate components of the name, (e.g., 'DEC_OBJ' for the keyword giving the declination of the object). The purpose of this recommendation is to a) introduce some uniformity in the keywords used within the OGIP, b) eliminate needless arguments over which character should be used whenever the names of new keywords are proposed, and c) reduce confusion by software developers and users who need to use these keywords. From fitsbits-request Fri Jul 30 14:17:01 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1473" "Fri" "30" "July" "93" "14:16:00" "EDT" "William Pence" "pence at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov " nil "29" "min and max table column keywords" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA20859; Fri, 30 Jul 93 14:17:01 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <9307301816.AA21391 at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov> From: pence at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov (William Pence) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Cc: pence at tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov Subject: min and max table column keywords Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 14:16:00 EDT Here within the OGIP/HEASARC we have a need to define a pair of standard FITS header keywords to give the minimum and maximum values contained within a column in a FITS table. These keywords would be analogous to the DATAMIN and DATAMAX keywords which are defined for use with FITS images. An obvious choice of names for these new keywords would be: TDMINnnn = 0.0 / the actual minimum value contained in column nnn of the table TDMAXnnn = 1000. / the actual maximum value contained in column nnn of the table Does anyone have any comment on these keyword names? Or has an alternative keyword already been proposed and/or used for this purpose? Similarly, we need to define a pair of keywords which give the minimum and maximum _legal_ value for the numbers in a column. For example, a table column containing the X coordinate of a list of detected photon in an image may have legal values from 0 - 255 inclusive. A good keyword name for this purpose is less obvious, but the following pair of keywords has been suggested: TAMINnnn = 0.0 / the smallest possible value for column nnn of the table TAMAXnnn = 255.0 / the largest possible value for column nnn of the table Note that the 'A' in 'TAMIN' and 'TAMAX' is intended to represent 'Axis'. Again, does anyone have any comment on this choice of keyword names? The OGIP FITS Panel will be considering this issue at it's next meeting on Wed., Aug. 4, so replies before then would be most helpful. From fitsbits-request Fri Jul 30 15:09:03 1993 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["4423" "Fri" "30" "July" "1993" "15:08:36" "-0400" "Usque ad mortem bibendum" "GEORGE at HEAGIP.GSFC.NASA.GOV (Ian M George, Code 668, NASA/GSFC, USA )" nil "112" "Standard RA & Dec keywords (OFSP recommendation R3)" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Received: by fits.cv.nrao.edu (4.1/DDN-DLB/1.5) id AA20881; Fri, 30 Jul 93 15:09:03 EDT Return-Path: Message-Id: <930730150836.2060259f at HEAGIP.GSFC.NASA.GOV> X-Vmsmail-To: SMTP%"fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU" From: GEORGE at HEAGIP.GSFC.NASA.GOV (Ian M George, Code 668, NASA/GSFC, USA (Usque ad mortem bibendum)) Sender: fitsbits-request at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU To: fitsbits at fits.CV.NRAO.EDU Subject: Standard RA & Dec keywords (OFSP recommendation R3) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 15:08:36 -0400 (EDT) ------------------------------------------------------- | PROPOSED STANDARD KEYWORDS FOR THE SPECIFICATION | | OF RA & DEC WITHIN FITS FILES | ------------------------------------------------------- Version: 1993 Jul 27 At a meeting on 1993 Jun 30 of the OGIP FITS Standards Panel (OFSP) within the Office of Guest Investigators (OGIP) at NASA/GSFC, there was a review of a preliminary recommendation (see FITSBITS post by George 1993 Jun 17) to standardize the keywords used to specify RA & DEC within (at least OGIP-produced) FITS files. All comments received from the community via FITSBITS were reviewed: - Most of the comments questioned the need for these new keywords, suggesting instead that the standard World Coordinate System (WCS) FITS keywords already provide this information. However, the Panel agreed that this was not the case, and that the proposed new RA and DEC keywords supply additional information and that they can also be used in cases where the WCS keywords would be inappropriate (as in some Binary table extensions). - The Panel accepted a suggestion by Pat Wallace (FITSBITS post 1993 Jun 22) to clarify the wording of the EQUINOX keyword, and further, to recommend that the EQUINOX always be either 1950.0 or 2000.0, with 2000.0 being strongly recommended for all new data sets. With these minor changes, the OFSP then raised the proposal to the status of a "full recommendation" (R3). The full text of this recommendation is included below for convenience. *** OFSP RECOMMENDATION R3 *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On standard RA & Dec keywords giving the position of the observed object, the telescope pointing, and the spacecraft axes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) Reference Frame keywords --------------------------- Both the following keywords are mandatory if one or more pairs of keywords specifying RA & dec (as defined in 2) are given. RADECSYS - a string denoting the stellar reference frame in use e.g. values: 'FK4','FK5' etc EQUINOX - a real giving the date (in decimal years) of the Besselian epoch or Julian epoch appropriate for the specified RADECSYS. It is strongly recommended that the value of this keyword is restricted to be either EQUINOX = 1950.0 (for RADECSYS = 'FK4'), or EQUINOX = 2000.0 (for RADECSYS = 'FK5'). with the latter strongly recommended for all new datasets. 2) The RA & dec coordinates --------------------------- In all cases listed below, the values of keywords are reals expressed in decimal DEGREES. Obviously only those keyword pairs considered necessary need be specified. However, the values of ALL such keyword pairs MUST be given in the same reference frame as specified by the values of the RADECSYS & EQUINOX keywords (see 1). a) The Positions of astronomical objects/sources The position of a source is given using the keywords: RA_OBJ DEC_OBJ These values will usually correspond to the target specified by the OBJECT keyword. b) The Pointing Direction of the Instrument. The pointing direction of the instrument is given using the keywords: RA_PNT DEC_PNT where, - in the case of imaging instruments, the values of these keywords give the direction of the optical axis of the instrument (after all borsighting corrections etc have been applied). - in the case of non-imaging instrumentation, the values of these keywords give the direction of some other (instrument-specific) vector. It is anticipated that in most cases this will be the direction of maximum instrument sensitivity. For instruments with <100% stable pointing accuracy, the above pair of keywords should be the mean values during the observation. c) The orientation of the Spacecraft The orientation of the spacecraft (or telescope platform) is given by the specification of any/all of the following keyword pairs: RA_SCX DEC_SCX RA_SCY DEC_SCY RA_SCZ DEC_SCZ giving the orientation of the spacecraft X-, Y- & Z-axes respectively. For instruments with <100% stable pointing accuracy, the above pairs of keywords should be the mean values during the observation. ----------------------------------- END ---------------------------------- Ian M George NASA/GSFC OFSP 1993 Jul 27