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Survey data formats available


If you specify that you want to see a GIF image you will see your piece of sky returned on the web page, but by default we just return the files for you to use with your own software. The images have 0.67 arcsec pixels and are returned in FITS format with a built-in World Co-ordinate System (WCS). The FITS file automatically contains FITS tables listing the associated object catalogues, and if your image viewer is smart enough (like GAIA) you can browse them simultaneously. However you can also download the catalogue separately.

The object catalogues can be returned either as FITS tables, ASCII lists, or tab-separated lists. Various database query and analysis packages (e.g. CURSA) can understand all of these formats. The parameters returned include the obvious things like RA, Dec, l,b, magnitude, ellipticity but also some less obvious but often useful things like image area, quality and blend flags, and so on.



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WFAU, Institute for Astronomy,
Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill
Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK

M.Read@roe.ac.uk
30/7/2008