FITS header / metadata reader?

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Is there a way to view the FITS header information? I used to use FITS liberator to see this but since I've installed the Astra Image PS plug-in the FITS liberator no longer comes up when I open a FITS image.

[Barrykgerdes]

I read the header information in the DSS and I think TheSky also reads header information. I once wrote a little program in Qbasic to read it. but I don't think I have it any more. I even forget how many bytes there are but I am sure the information is available on the web.

Barry

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Thanks Barry,

DSS has the exposure duration info which is mainly what I was looking for.

Peter

[PeterO]

Try this fits veiwer and editor, called file view.

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

[Barrykgerdes]

Here is another simple Fits header reader.

The file name is ????????.FIT
and it will print out a txt file named FITSDATA.TXT

Compiled QBasic

There is a lot of data and I don't know what it all means.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

What about using open as? (and then FITS liberator).

All the pro (actually paid for ;-) astro apps allow FITs header viewing, and some allow FITs header editing, which can be very usefull.

[Barrykgerdes]

Meade's old Pview program for their CCD camera series 10 years ago had a facility for reading the Fits header and editing it.

Baz

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Fred - the open as is a good option. Thanks for that. Do you know how PS determines which plug-in to use?

Peter

[Dennis]

I had the same problem where installing the Astra Image PS plug-in into CS3 somehow prevented (the previously installed) FITS Liberator from working. I removed the Astra Image plug-in from the plug-in folder and this didn’t fix the problem.

I recently rebuilt my system and installed CS3 again from the OEM CD’s and I didn’t re-install the Astra Image PS plug-in.

This morning I downloaded and installed FITS Liberator (V2.2) and now CS3 opens the FITS files just fine and dandy, so I won’t be installing the Astra Image PS plug-in again. I’ll probably upgrade to the Pro version of Astra Image version as a stand alone application to get round this problem.

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

I've found this little program great for viewing the FITS header without having to open the image.
http://arnholm.org/astro/software/ImageTOOLSca/

There are two programs in the download, a viewer and a reader. After a while the viewer license expires (unless you pay for it of course ) but the reader keeps working. It allows you to open one header and then click to the next without going back to the image and opening the header. It is a very handy little stand alone.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

ps mine is a much older version than the latest release. I hope the header viewer still works after free trial period opens on the newer releases.

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Thanks Dennis and Paul.

I wondered if simply removing the AstraImage FITS plugin from the PS folder would mean the FITS liberator would then work - I guess not.

As Fred suggested if you use "open as'" instead of "open" allows you to use the FITS liberator with AI plugins installed.

Peter

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

If all you want is the FITS header in "human readable" form, this bit of perl will do it.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

open STDIN,$ARGV[0] or die();
while(sysread(STDIN,$line,80)>0) {
print STDERR "$line\n" if $line=~m/.{8}=\s*/o;
last if $line=~m/^END/o;
}
close STDIN;