1.2 Sources of FITS Software and Information

The latest version of the CFITSIO source code, documentation, and example programs are available on the World-Wide Web or via anonymous ftp from:

        http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/fitsio
        ftp://legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov/software/fitsio/c

Any questions, bug reports, or suggested enhancements related to the CFITSIO package should be sent to the primary author:

        Dr. William Pence                 Telephone:  (301) 286-4599
        HEASARC, Code 662                 E-mail: pence@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov
        NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
        Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

This User's Guide assumes that readers already have a general understanding of the definition and structure of FITS format files. Further information about FITS formats is available in the `FITS User's Guide' and the `NOST FITS Standard', which are available from the NASA Science Office of Standards and Technology at the address given below. Both of these documents are available electronically from their Web site and via anonymous ftp at nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov in the /pub/fits directory. Any questions about FITS formats should be directed to the NOST, at:

        NASA, Science Office of Standards and Technology
        Code 633.2,
        Goddard Space Flight Center
        Greenbelt MD 20771, USA
        WWW: http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/
        E-mail: fits@fits.gsfc.nasa.gov
        (301) 286-2899

The HEASARC also provides a very sophisticated FITS file analysis program called `Fv' which can be used to display and edit the contents of any FITS file as well as construct new FITS files from scratch. The display functions in Fv allow users to interactively adjust the brightness and contrast of images, pan, zoom, and blink images, and measure the positions and brightnesses of objects within images. FITS tables can be displayed like a spread sheet, and then modified using powerful calculator and sorting functions. Fv is freely available for most Unix platforms, Mac PCs, and Windows PCs. CFITSIO users may also be interested in the FTOOLS package of programs that can be used to manipulate and analyze FITS format files. Fv and FTOOLS are available from their respective Web sites at:

        http://fv.gsfc.nasa.gov
        http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftools