[fitsbits] creating WCS solution keywords?

[Michal Szymanski]

Hi,

I used to find the frame-to-RA/Dec transformation coeffs "manually"
by finding common stars on the frame and corresponding DSS image
and then calculating some quadratic transformation. I kept the
coefficients in external tables, using some simple external command to
compute RA/Dec from frame x/y.

Now there is a growing number of public-domain software packages that
can directly use the plate solution coeffs (PLT*, PP*, AMD*)
stored in FITS header.

Are there any tools facilitating computing/creation of these
coefficients for a given frame? I guess they can be created in IRAF
in the process of "registering" a frame but frankly speaking I'd prefer
some stand-alone utility not requiring IRAF use.

any hints?

regards, Michal.

-- 
  Michal Szymanski (msz at astrouw.edu.pl)
  Warsaw University Observatory, Warszawa, POLAND