FITS & the Horizon Java Package

[Ray Plante]

Dear Colleagues,

NCSA and Project 30 is pleased to announce the latest release of the
Horizon Image Data Browser, version 1.3 beta, a Java package for
browsing scientific images.  This package may be downloaded from the
Horizon IDB Home Page: 

    http://imagelib.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Horizon

Included with the latest version is a demonstration version of a FITS
Image Browser.  Here are some of its features:

    * Basic 2-D visualization of FITS images from either local disk 
      or over the network.
    * Zooming and panning
    * Color map and transfer function control over a selectable data
      range
    * 2-D slice selection for mult-dimensional datasets
    * data value and world coordinate position displays, including
      built-in support for projected spherical systems commonly used
      in astronomy and earth science.  

You can try this viewer out from our Web page, but you can also download
the Horizon package and run it as a standalone application (with
improved performance).  

This latest version, 1.3 beta, represents the last major release that is
compatible with Java 1.0.2.  The next major version, 2.0 beta, will be
Java 1.1 compatible.  (Some minor versions may be released for bug
fixes.)  Some of the new features slated for the next version of the
FITS Image Browser includes spreadsheet display, metadata display, color
table editing, as well as support for collaboration.

We encourage you to download the Horizon package and try it out.  We
also welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions for
improvements.  If you would like to be added to our mailing list for
notices of new releases, just send me email at horizon at ncsa.uiuc.edu.

have fun,
Ray Plante
NCSA Horizon Development Team