[fitsbits] RESULT: WCS-I & -II approved by IAU-FWG

[Don Wells]

Dear friends of FITS,

It is with great pleasure that I announce that the IAU FITS Working
Group [IAU-FWG] has approved the following resolution by a vote of
14-0:

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	      IAU-FWG resolution adopting the WCS papers

    The IAU FITS Working Group [IAU-FWG] adopts the World Coordinate
    System [WCS] papers "Representations of world coordinates in FITS"
    (A&A 395, 1059-1073 [2002]) and "Representations of celestial
    coordinates in FITS" (A&A 395, 1075-1120 [2002]) as additions to
    the current FITS standard as specified by "Definition of the
    Flexible Image Transport System [FITS]" (A&A 376, 359-380 [2001]),
    which was adopted by IAU-FWG on 2000-10-12.  The IAU-FWG takes
    this action with the understanding that future FITS agreements may
    extend the conventional namespace of CTYPEi as described in the
    last paragraph of section 2.1.1 ("Basic formalism", page 1061) in
    ways that require interpretation of more than 8 characters.
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IAU-FWG FITS Standard resolutions are effective *immediately*, so the
basic FITS WCS Agreement (WCS-I & -II) is now in effect.

This agreement is an historic achievement for the worldwide FITS
community.  I expect that the two A&A papers which the IAU-FWG has
adopted will come to be regarded as landmark papers of the
astronomical profession.  The authors of these two papers, Mark
Calabretta and Eric Greisen, have done outstanding technical work,
worthy of high praise.  A considerable number of members of the
worldwide FITS community (including at least 7 of the 14 YES votes in
the IAU-FWG) have participated in discussions and revision actions
during the many years of development which led to the publication of
these papers, and all of these people should feel especially pleased
today!  Finally, I note that this agreement is a critical component of
the firm foundation which the FITS Standard provides for the Virtual
Observatory projects.

Please circulate this announcement widely.

Best regards,
Don Wells [Chair, IAU-FWG]
-- 
  Donald C. Wells    Scientist - GBT-PTCS Project     dwells at nrao.edu
                    http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~dwells
  National Radio Astronomy Observatory                +1-434-296-0277
  520 Edgemont Road,   Charlottesville, Virginia       22903-2475 USA
       (DCW is often in Green Bank, West Virginia, at +1-304-456-2146)