[fitsbits] Re: Reading floating point FITS files

[Mark Calabretta]

On Tue 2003/11/25 14:27:12 -1000, Thierry Forveille wrote
in a message to: Mark Calabretta <Mark.Calabretta at atnf.CSIRO.AU>
and copied to: seaman at noao.edu (Rob Seaman), fitsbits at cv.nrao.edu

>Could you clarify what functionality an RGB FITS brings, compared to
>introducing production of jpeg images as a printout option into the
>major astronomy packages, which know about overlaid grids and the like? 

Thierry,

jpeg, or the printout, would be the final product; further processing of
the data would be difficult.  In particular, the coordinate information
is retained in a rather inaccessible form, and the data values are only
partially recoverable.  In fact, the coordinate graticule would obscure
some of the data.

>It might just be me being opaque, but that simpler solution would seem
>to address the need you mention with much less complexity. Just think
>of the burden of getting a proposal through all the FITS committees to
>the IAU GA ;-)

You don't have to remind me!

Mark Calabretta
ATNF