[Aavso-photometry] FITS Keyword List

[Brian D. Warner]

Michael,

What were talking about was the assertion that Mira meets _the one FITS
standard_ based, at least in part, on keywords and there being one true
FITS standard in the first place. Now that keyword set is based not on
some true standard but a convention and a "pretty well worn set" of 
keywords. 

There is no one true standard regarding keywords save the limited set of
about 53 posted on the NASA site. Beyond that, all others are extensions. 
If there is an _independent_ source for the well-worn set of keywords that 
states it as a pro forma standard, then what is the URL?

If there isn't such a URL, then the Mira set is as arbitrary as the many 
others that can be found on the Internet and the claim about compliance 
with the one FITS standard isn't as strong as implied.

As I think about it, I don't know that the AAVSO should get into the mess 
of telling vendors how the images are created or written. I would discourage
it if, for no other reason, that there are already too many things on the plate 
at HQ. Their concern should be the data obtained from those images. In that 
instance, they have every right to impose a standard format for submission. 

If they want to act as an intermediary for discussions so that images from 
one package can always be read by any other, that may be OK, but I don't see 
the need for the AAVSO to be establishing yet another "standard" for image 
creation and, with it, implications of suitability and compliance.


Clear Skies,
Brian D. Warner
Palmer Divide Observatory/Space Science Institute
http://www.MinorPlanetObserver.com

Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL)
http://www.MinorPlanetObserver.com/astlc/default.htm