re OBJECT keyword

[Steve Allen]

In article <Pine.GSO.3.95.980605125836.19151C-100000 at dr21.astro.uiuc.edu>,
Helene Dickel  <lanie at astro.uiuc.edu> wrote:
>The Task Group on Designations supports inclusion of Don Well's statement
>into Section 5.4.2.2 re OBJECT

Upon much reflection some of us here have come to the conclusion that
the OBJECT keyword should not be forced into this application.

The existing standard has required merely that OBJECT "shall contain a
character string giving the name of the object observed".  This has
led to the development of user interfaces which allow a very broad
interpretation of this keyword.  At this time it is not feasible to
modify the behavior of the user interfaces nor the astronomers such
that the OBJECT keyword can comply with Don Wells' recommendation.

Many FITS files are produced by real-time data acquisition systems at
optical telescopes.  The prescription of the IAU RN is best suited for
archival purposes.  The astronomers who are directing the observations
and setting the value of the OBJECT keyword do not always have
full-fledged IAU designations available before the shutter closes.
Their attention is directed toward validation of the existing data and
most efficient use of the remaining night time, not toward pedantic
filling out of OBJECT names.

Many FITS file browsing utilities, such as IRAF imhead, by default
display the content of the OBJECT keyword when listing the content of
a directory full of files.  This has, unfortunately, led to an
entrenched habit of using the OBJECT keyword as an online notepad to
record other attributes of the observation for easy browsing at the
time of data reduction.

We cannot envision a user interface which can overcome the human
factors involved in the setting of OBJECT values so as to conform
reliably to the IAU Recommendations for Nomenclature (IAU RN).

Instead we recommend the adoption of a new keyword, IAUDESIG, with a
value explicitly specified as conforming to the IAU Recommendations
for Nomenclature.  This may be set by the astronomer at the time
of data reduction, when the nature of the object is better known
and there is no race with impending sunrise.
-- 
Steve Allen          UCO/Lick Observatory       Santa Cruz, CA 95064
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