From pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU Thu Jul 25 11:17:26 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1065" "" "25" "July" "91" "08:08:54" "GMT" "Paul W. Brooks" "pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU " nil "17" "FITS -> GIF or something converter?" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Keywords: FITS, display, format From: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU (Paul W. Brooks) Subject: FITS -> GIF or something converter? Date: 25 Jul 91 08:08:54 GMT I have a number of images from our telescope here at Siding Spring, all in FITS format (or I wouldn't be posting here!). We also have a meeting with the ARC (Australian Research Committee - the nasties who determine if we can have some research money next year) coming up very soon. AT the moment we have no way to generate colour hardcopy of our images other than setting up a tripod and photographing the screen. There are a few commercial graphics houses that can generate slides and Colour Postscript pages, but they can't read FITS images directly. SO... Does anybody have or know where I might get something to convert FITS images into something that such a company might understand, such as GIF, PIXX, or other format such as Harvard Graphics format or something? Hoping you can help me... Paul Brooks |Internet: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.edu.au Uni. of N.S.W. |If you have trouble sleeping, try lying on the end of Kensington NSW 2033| your bed. With a little luck you'll drop off. AUSTRALIA | - Mark Twain. From bglenden at colobus.cv.nrao.edu Thu Jul 25 14:48:21 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["389" "Thu" "25" "July" "1991" "15:36:24" "GMT" "Brian Glendenning" "bglenden at colobus.cv.nrao.edu " nil "10" "Re: FITS -> GIF or something converter?" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits In-Reply-To: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU's message of 25 Jul 91 08: 08:54 GMT Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory From: bglenden at colobus.cv.nrao.edu (Brian Glendenning) Subject: Re: FITS -> GIF or something converter? Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1991 15:36:24 GMT The Portable Bitmap routines (pbm) purports to be able to convert from FITS to GIF (among others). Look for pbmplus.tar on a source archive near you. On uunet, it is under X/contrib. I haven't used it, so I don't know how good a job it does. Brian -- Brian Glendenning - National Radio Astronomy Observatory bglenden at nrao.edu bglenden at nrao.bitnet (804) 296-0286 From pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU Thu Jul 25 15:19:57 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["653" "" "25" "July" "91" "03:38:46" "GMT" "Paul W. Brooks" "pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU " nil "11" "Some Discussion?" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Path: polaris.cv.nrao.edu!uvaarpa!mcnc!stanford.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!metro!usage.csd.unsw.oz.au!newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU!pwb Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Keywords: ? Message-ID: <1983 at usage.csd.unsw.oz.au> Lines: 11 From: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU (Paul W. Brooks) Sender: news at usage.csd.unsw.oz.au Subject: Some Discussion? Date: 25 Jul 91 03:38:46 GMT OK guys, I assume this group was createed to talk about FITS format astro images. Correct? SO lets talk about FITS instead of talking about talking about replies to test messages talking about replies to test replies to see if a message arrives or not! How many people are taking any notice of this group anyway? - Is it a closed shop or can anyone with something to contribute join in? Paul Brooks |Internet: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.edu.au Uni. of N.S.W. |If you have trouble sleeping, try lying on the end of Kensington NSW 2033| your bed. With a little luck you'll drop off. AUSTRALIA | - Mark Twain. From dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu Thu Jul 25 15:41:12 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["4028" "Thu" "25" "July" "1991" "20:19:46" "GMT" "Don Wells" "dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu " nil "85" "Re: Some Discussion?" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits In-Reply-To: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU's message of 25 Jul 91 03: 38:46 GMT Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA From: dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu (Don Wells) Subject: Re: Some Discussion? Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1991 20:19:46 GMT In article <1983 at usage.csd.unsw.oz.au> pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU (Paul W. Brooks) writes: PWB> OK guys, I assume this group was createed to talk about FITS PWB> format astro images. Correct? =-=-=-=-= the original formation message: =-=-=-=-= Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits From: dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu (Don Wells) Subject: Activation of alt.sci.astro.fits Date: Thu, 30 May 1991 06:27:50 GMT Distribution: alt Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA I have formed this group in order to provide a forum for discussion of technical issues related to the FITS [Flexible Image Transport System] data format, the standard data interchange format of astronomy worldwide. The idea of a newsgroup for FITS was recommended by Trond Melen of the European Southern Observatory in Garching, FRG. I discussed the concept of this newsgroup in my annual presentation on the state of FITS, made in the morning business session of the Working Group for Astronomical Software held on Tuesday 28th May (yesterday), at the summer meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle. I did not sense any opposition to the idea among the people present at the WGAS meeting, and so the group has been created. I do not intend to make any more transmissions on this newsgroup until Preben Grosbol (Chairman of the IAU [International Astronomical Union] FITS Working Group) has posted to the newsgroup. I would also like to see a posting by Barry Schlesinger (the FITS "hotline" person at the FITS Office at NSSDC-NOST). =-=-=-=-=-= Barry Schlesinger is now listening, and has posted to the newsgroup. Preben Grosbol was having some technical difficulty with his newsfeed at ESO last week, which is why I transmitted several test messages. Then Preben left Garching to go to the IAU meeting in Buenos Aires. According to the "Final Scientific Programme", Commission 5 (Astronomical Data) is meeting _today_ to discuss "Astronomical data (including FITS standards)". I presume that Preben, in his role as the Chairman of the IAU FITS Working Group, will give a report at today's session on the activities of the WG during the past three years. The IAU 21st General Assembly extends through 1-August, so I do not expect to see a posting from Preben until sometime in August. PWB> SO lets talk about FITS instead of talking about talking about PWB> replies to test messages talking about replies to test replies PWB> to see if a message arrives or not! Those who have posted questions to the group during the past two months have received private Email replies from me. I have chosen not to issue followups until Preben is also able to participate. However, Preben has told me that he approves of the formation of the newsgroup and that he intends to participate. Also, Barry has essentially suggested that we begin real operation of the newsgroup. So, I will change my policy to some extent, and will begin to respond to selected postings, and I encourage others to do likewise. PWB> How many people are taking any notice of this group anyway? Once it becomes clear that this newsgroup has become accepted as _the_ forum for discussing FITS issues, it will be interesting to conduct a survey. If the numbers suggest that a formal USENET vote would be likely to be successful, then I think that we should move to change the name of the newsgroup to sci.astro.fits. PWB> Is it a closed shop or can anyone with something to contribute PWB> join in? My intention in forming the newsgroup is that _anyone_, _anywhere_ is welcome to discuss FITS in this place, and that that person can expect that knowledgeable FITS people will be listening. So, if you have something you want to say, go ahead. -- Donald C. Wells Associate Scientist dwells at nrao.edu National Radio Astronomy Observatory +1-804-296-0277 Edgemont Road Fax= +1-804-296-0278 Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2475 USA 78:31.1W, 38:02.2N From bglenden at colobus.cv.nrao.edu Fri Jul 26 08:47:22 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1144" "Fri" "26" "July" "1991" "08:12:19" "GMT" "Brian Glendenning" "bglenden at colobus.cv.nrao.edu " nil "31" "Re: FITS -> GIF or something converter?" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits In-Reply-To: ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu's message of 26 Jul 91 00: 05:34 GMT Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory From: bglenden at colobus.cv.nrao.edu (Brian Glendenning) Subject: Re: FITS -> GIF or something converter? Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1991 08:12:19 GMT In article ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu (Ted Stockwell) writes: In article bglenden at colobus.cv.nrao.edu (Brian Glendenning) writes: > The Portable Bitmap routines [...] > I haven't used it, so I don't know how good a job it does. [...] The fitstoppm program will only work on a small variety of fits formats. [...] I tried it on some fits files emitted by AIPS today and discovered that it can't handle: 1) IEEE format FITS files (BITPIX=-32) or 2) n>3 dimensional files, even if some of the dimensions are degenerate (=1). 1) is solved (for AIPS) by just writing the file in another format (obviously this doesn't help much if you only have an IEEE FITS file and no way to transform it). 2) is solved by just using your favourite binary editor (emacs is fine for files <8M) to change NAXIS to 2. The real solution, of course, would be to fix the code. It even looks like it would be easy... Brian -- Brian Glendenning - National Radio Astronomy Observatory bglenden at nrao.edu bglenden at nrao.bitnet (804) 296-0286 From pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU Mon Jul 29 12:44:32 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1241" "" "29" "July" "91" "12:57:46" "GMT" "Paul W. Brooks" "pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU " nil "26" "FITS-> other format converter: A summary" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits From: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU (Paul W. Brooks) Subject: FITS-> other format converter: A summary Date: 29 Jul 91 12:57:46 GMT To all who replied by email as well as all who posted, thank you. Almost all mentioned the PBMplus package, and almost all mentioned reservations about its use! Thanks to: dwells at fits.cx.nrao.edu (Don Wells) warnock at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov fink at ssvs.gsfc.nasa.gov jjj at sserve.cc.adfa.oz.au (another Aussie - I think I'm in luck!) -who suggested a postscript dump direct from the workstation screen. My images ARE fairly simple (I wrote the code myself - maybe that is significant :-) - 600x400 BITPIX=16 NAXIS=2, with only one image per file) - pretty much "classic" FITS. Our telescope is a wide-field CCD camera, and I'm trying to put together a 2500-pixel square image of the Small Magellanic Cloud for this funding interview. Does anybody know of a hardcopy output device (or even a workstation screen I could photograph!) big enough to display it???? I will get hold of the PBMplus package and have a play. Cheers, Paul Brooks |Internet: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.edu.au Uni. of N.S.W. |If you have trouble sleeping, try lying on the end of Kensington NSW 2033| your bed. With a little luck you'll drop off. AUSTRALIA | - Mark Twain. From ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Mon Jul 29 22:33:42 1991 Status: RO X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["1185" "" "29" "July" "91" "18:13:58" "GMT" "Ted Stockwell" "ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu " nil "23" "Re: FITS-> other format converter: A summary" "^From:" nil nil "7"]) Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits Organization: Univ. of Minnesota Astronomy Dept., APS Lab In-Reply-To: pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU's message of 29 Jul 91 12:57:46 GMT Nntp-Posting-Host: scanner.spa.umn.edu From: ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu (Ted Stockwell) Subject: Re: FITS-> other format converter: A summary Date: 29 Jul 91 18:13:58 GMT In article <2017 at usage.csd.unsw.oz.au> pwb at newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU (Paul W. Brooks) writes: > My images ARE fairly simple (I wrote the code myself - maybe that is > significant :-) - 600x400 BITPIX=16 NAXIS=2, with only one image per > file) - pretty much "classic" FITS. Our telescope is a wide-field CCD > camera, and I'm trying to put together a 2500-pixel square image of the > Small Magellanic Cloud for this funding interview. Does anybody know of > a hardcopy output device (or even a workstation screen I could > photograph!) big enough to display it???? pbmplus comes to the rescue again You can use ppmscale to reduce or enlarge your image so that it will fit on you display device. You can then convert it to a dithered bitmap for your favorite laser printer. For example, for our HP LaserJet: ppmscale 0.7 filename| ppmtopgm| pgmtopbm| pbmtolj -r 300| lpr -Pgraph SAOimage also does a nice job displaying and printing images. Available via anonymous ftp from cfa250.harvard.edu (128.103.40.250) -- Ted Stockwell U of MN, Dept. of Astronomy ted at aps1.spa.umn.edu Automated Plate Scanner Project