FITS_SRC.TXT
Remove Frame
Ed. Note: The Sources of FITS Information is revised from
time to time. This version was last updated on
January 23, 1996. The current version is available on
several newsgroups. Also, check the following URL
for information:
http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/fits/basics_info.html
This document was provided with permission from the
FITS Support Office, which is sponsored by the Office of
Space Science at NASA Headquarters and operated under the
guidance of the Astrophysics Data Facility at the NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center.
*********************************************************
Archive-name: astronomy/fits/info-sources
Last-modified: 1996/01/23
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Sources of FITS Information
Preface
This material on sources of Flexible Image Transport System (FITS)
information is posted and updated periodically by the FITS Support
Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). It discusses
where general FITS information, including some answers to frequently
asked questions, can be found, and provides sources for detailed
information on FITS software and documentation.
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FITS Support Office
The FITS Support Office maintains a library of FITS information
accessible from http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro.fits/fits_home.html or
ftp://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/fits/. The material available includes
o "Definition of FITS," a codification of FITS for the
NASA/Science Office of Standards and Technology (NOST),
available in LaTeX, uncompressed PostScript, compressed
PostScript and (usually) ASCII text
(The ASCII text version may not be available for a short
while after the announcement of a new version.)
o "A User's Guide to FITS", published by the FITS Support Office,
in LaTex, and compressed and uncompressed PostScript
o Revisions to version 1.0 of the "Definition of FITS" covering the
specification of units, that were incorporated
into version 1.1 (text)
o A current list of the extension type (structure) names
registered with the International Astronomical Union FITS
Working Group (IAUFWG) (text)
o Rules for physical blocking on various media adopted by
the IAUFWG (text)
In the same directory, but accessible directly via
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/fits/basics_info.html is the FITS
Basics and Information that used to be regularly posted to
sci.astro.fits and sci.data.formats under the heading of FITS Basics
and Information. It continues to be revised to reflect current FITS
developments. It contains the following material:
o An overview of FITS
o A list of FITS documents
o A list of software packages that support FITS,
including FITS-image converters for various platforms
o A list of on-line FITS resources
o A description of the FITS Support Office
The hypertext version provides links to many of the documents,
software, and network locations listed. The text version provides
information on how to obtain much of this material.
There is also a hypertext version of the List of Registered
Extensions.
Links from the Web page and subdirectories of the ftp directory
contain
o Software developed by the FITS Support Office.
o Error test files, primary HDUs useful for testing the ability
of software designed to read FITS files to cope with files that
have errors or are non-standard. These files should be
downloaded in binary form.
Printed copies of the material in the FITS directory can be obtained
from the Coordinated Request and User Support Office (CRUSO):
(Postal) Coordinated Request and User Support Office
Code 633
National Space Science Data Center
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt MD 20771 USA
(Electronic mail) [email protected]
(Telephone) +1-301-286-6695 8:00 A. M. - 4:30 P.M. U. S. Eastern Time
(-0500 from the last Sunday in October through the first Saturday in
April; -0400 the remainder of the year)
When no one is available, messages can be left on voice mail.
(FAX) +1-301-286-1635
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National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)
A FITS Archive can be found at URL http://fits.cv.nrao.edu/ or
at ftp://fits.cv.nrao.edu/fits, located at NRAO. This machine supports a
WAIS server named nrao-fits which has an index of all of the
FITS-related text files in the archive; the file nrao-fits.src is
available at think.com and at
ftp://fits.cv.nrao.edu/fits/wais-sources/nrao-fits.src.
Some of the more noteworthy materials in this archive are
o Drafts of proposed additions to the FITS standard and other
drafts that may in the future be formally proposed
o Text of any detailed proposals currently being discussed by
the FITS committees
o A collection of documents on World Coordinate Systems,
including the current draft proposal
o Conventions specific to particular projects or disciplines
o Software packages for display of FITS images on Windows,
Macintosh, and Unix/X-Windows
o Other code for various environments and Usenet postings about
code
o Sample data and special test files designed to measure the
ability of a FITS reader to handle a wide variety of FITS files
o Archives of traffic on FITS-related newsgroups and exploders
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HEASARC
The NASA/Goddard High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive
Research Center (HEASARC) Web server at
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/fits.html
and the anonymous ftp access through
ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_info/ provide FITS material. HEASARC
has developed a the FITSIO package of software routines for easily
reading and writing FITS files, in FORtRAN with a C interface
available, portable to a wide variety of machines. There is also the
FTOOLS collection of software tools and the VERIFITS FITS conformance
verifier. HEASARC software is available directly through
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/tech_res_software.html or
ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_info/software/ .
The HEASARC server also provides information from the OGIP/HEASARC
FITS Working Group, (HFWG) the internal legislative body on
FITS-related matters within the Office of Guest Investigator Programs
(OGIP) at NASA/GSFC, at
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/heasarc/ofwg/ofwg_intro.html or
ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_info/ . The HFWG has developed a
number of FITS conventions that are more specific than the
requirements of the FITS standards. Proposed conventions are
publicized to the FITS community as a whole, with the goal of
collaborative development of a set of conventions that will be
accepted throughout the community as well as within OGIP/HEASARC.
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Direct questions about this posting to
Barry M. Schlesinger
Coordinator,
FITS Support Office
Electronic mail: [email protected]
Telephone: +1-301-441-4205
The FITS Support Office is operated under the guidance of the
NASA/GSFC Astrophysics Data Facility.
