Standards for Astronomical Catalogues, Version 2.0 (pdf)
(February 2000)


3.6  Transformation to FITS


XTENSION= 'TABLE   '           / Ascii Table Extension                          
BITPIX  =                    8 / Character data                                 
NAXIS   =                    2 / Simple 2-D matrix                              
NAXIS1  =                   52 / Number of bytes per record                     
NAXIS2  =               175779 / Number of records                              
PCOUNT  =                    0 / Get rid of random parameters                   
GCOUNT  =                    1 / Only one group (isn't it obvious?)             
TFIELDS =                   13 / Number of data fields (columns)                
EQUINOX =                2000. / Equinox of coordinates (J system)              
EPOCH   =               1989.0 / Epoch of coordinates                           
EXTNAME = 'lmc.dat '           / The Large Magellanic Cloud                     
         =======================================================================
TBCOL1  =                    1 / ============== Start column +0                 
TFORM1  = 'A12     '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE1  = 'MACS    '           / Designation                                    
TBCOL2  =                   14 / ============== Start column +13                
TUNIT2  = 'h       '           / Unit: hour                                     
TFORM2  = 'I2      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE2  = 'RAh     '           / Right Ascension J2000 , Epoch 1989.0 (hours)   
TAMIN2  =                    0 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX2  =                   24 / Allowed maximal value EXCLUSIVE (never reached)
TBCOL3  =                   17 / ============== Start column +16                
TUNIT3  = 'min     '           / Unit: minute                                   
TFORM3  = 'I2      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE3  = 'RAm     '           / Right Ascension J2000 (minutes)                
TAMIN3  =                    0 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX3  =                   60 / Allowed maximal value EXCLUSIVE (never reached)
TBCOL4  =                   20 / ============== Start column +19                
TUNIT4  = 's       '           / Unit: second                                   
TFORM4  = 'F6.3    '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE4  = 'RAs     '           / Right Ascension J2000 (seconds)                
TAMIN4  =                0.000 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX4  =               60.000 / Allowed maximal value EXCLUSIVE (never reached)
TBCOL5  =                   27 / ============== Start column +26                
TFORM5  = 'A1      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE5  = 'DE-     '           / Declination J2000 (sign)                       
TASET5  = '+-      '           / Allowed character set                          
TBCOL6  =                   28 / ============== Start column +27                
TUNIT6  = 'deg     '           / Unit: degree                                   
TFORM6  = 'I2      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE6  = 'DEd     '           / Declination J2000 , Epoch 1989.0 (degrees)     
TAMIN6  =                    0 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX6  =                   89 / Allowed maximal value                          
TBCOL7  =                   31 / ============== Start column +30                
TUNIT7  = 'arcmin  '           / Unit: minute of arc                            
TFORM7  = 'I2      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE7  = 'DEm     '           / Declination J2000 (minutes)                    
TAMIN7  =                    0 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX7  =                   60 / Allowed maximal value EXCLUSIVE (never reached)
TBCOL8  =                   34 / ============== Start column +33                
TUNIT8  = 'arcsec  '           / Unit: second of arc                            
TFORM8  = 'F5.2    '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE8  = 'DEs     '           / Declination J2000 (seconds)                    
TAMIN8  =                 0.00 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX8  =                60.00 / Allowed maximal value EXCLUSIVE (never reached)
TBCOL9  =                   40 / ============== Start column +39                
TFORM9  = 'I1      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE9  = 'Npos    '           / Number of positions used                       
TBCOL10 =                   42 / ============== Start column +41                
TUNIT10 = 'mag     '           / Unit: magnitude                                
TFORM10 = 'F5.2    '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE10 = 'Mag     '           / []?=99.00 Instrumental Magnitude (to be used   
                                 only in a relative sense)                      
TBNUL10 =                99.00 / NULL (undefined) value                         
TBCOL11 =                   48 / ============== Start column +47                
TFORM11 = 'I1      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE11 = 'PosFlag '           / [0/1] Position Flag (0: ok, 1: internal error  
                                 larger than 0.5")                              
TAMIN11 =                    0 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX11 =                    1 / Allowed maximal value                          
TBCOL12 =                   50 / ============== Start column +49                
TFORM12 = 'I1      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE12 = 'MagFlag '           / [0/1] Megnitude Flag (0: ok, 1: bad photometry 
                                 or possible variable)                          
TAMIN12 =                    0 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX12 =                    1 / Allowed maximal value                          
TBCOL13 =                   52 / ============== Start column +51                
TFORM13 = 'I1      '           / Fortran Format                                 
TTYPE13 = 'BochumFlag'         / *[0] Bochum Flag                               
TAMIN13 =                    0 / Allowed minimal value                          
TAMAX13 =                    0 / Allowed maximal value                          
         =======================================================================
END
The FITS extension header constructed from the ReadMe file of ReadMe

The data files can be automatically transformed into FITS: the above figure shows the ascii table extension header generated from the description file shown in Chapter 3. Files can be copied directly in this format with the cdsclient routines. This set of programs also includes for instance an access to the 1.1 version of the Guide star catalogue (findgsc) as well as a few other utilities related to the /Cats.htmlCatalogue Service or SIMBAD at CDS.

The transformation to FITS is made directly in the CDS ftpd server at the Internet Node cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr (detailed documentation on the CDS ftpd server).



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