%++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
%.COPYRIGHT  (c)  1993  European Southern Observatory
%.IDENT      baas93.tex
%.PURPOSE    Annual report for IAU FITS Working Group 1992
%            Bulletin of American Astronomical Society.
%.COMMENTS   Process with LaTeX
%.AUTHOR     P.Grosbol
%.VERSION    1.0  1992-Mar-31 : Creation, PJG
%----------------------------------------------------------------------

FITS
IAU FITS Working Group
Preben Grosbol
European Southern Observatory

This report covers main events and activities concerning the FITS
standard for the period March 1991 to March 1993.

IAU FITS Working Group

The FITS Working Group met during a meeting of Commission 5 at the
IAU General Assembly XXI in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Due to the
distant location, only a limited number of members participated.  Main
activities have included the acceptance of the Floating Point
Agreement and discussions on new proposals.  The Group is chaired by P.
Grosbol (ESO) with D. Wells (NRAO) as vice-chairman.

NASA FITS Support Office

The office was given very substantial help to the FITS community by
providing documentation and clarification on FITS issues.  Beside its
direct support activities, it has initiated the creation of a standard
document for the Implementation of FITS (current version 
NOST 100-0.3b). This document gives a concise definition of FITS
consistent with the IAU recommendations.  In addition, the office has
issued a User's Guide which gives a good general introduction to FITS.
The office is coordinated by B. Schlesinger.

Network News Group

During the fall of 1991, D. Wells made a network News group for
discussions of FITS matters. It was combined with an e-mail exploder
because the USEnet News facility is not available at all sites.  A
successful vote on the creation of an official News group 
sci.astro.fits was made in the spring of 1992.

This News group has already been of great value by broadening the
discussion of the FITS standard. It gives a natural forum for
reviewing new proposals and suggestions. Further, it provides a
convenient tool to obtain clarifications or solutions on FITS
problems.

Proposals and Agreements

Three proposal for extensions to the FITS standard were submitted for
Binary Tables, Images and Blocking. The Binary Table extension
provides higher efficiency by using binary storage of data instead of
only ASCII representation as in the current Table format.  Further, it
allows table entries to be arrays, opening the possibility to transport
spectra and images as single entries.

The Image extension enables matrices of different size or data type
to be saved in the same FITS file. It corresponds closely to basic FITS
and is useful for auxiliary data such as PSF's or quality flags.

The Blocking convention specifies the rules for recording FITS
files on different media e.g. 8mm Exabyte, QIC and
DDS/DAT cartridges. It also gives general recommendation for
FITS on magnetic disks.

All three proposals were submitted to the regional FITS groups in the
spring of 1992 for discussion and recommendation. The European
FITS Committee passed a motion in support of the proposals in
July 1992 through a formal vote. Final recommendations from the
North American and Japanize groups are still pending.

Availability

Information on the FITS standard can be obtained via E-mail from
the following Internet addresses:

  B. Schlesinger, NASA    bschlesinger@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov
  P. Grosbol, ESO      pgrosbol@eso.org
  D. Wells, NRAO          dwells@nrao.edu

Documentation, general information and test data files are available
on anonymous FTP to  nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov [128.183.36.23], 
ftphost.hq.eso.org [134.171.8.4] and  fits.cx.nrao.edu
[192.33.115.8].