WMAP Smoothed I Map
Per Frequency
Three-Years Coadded
FITS Header Information

The data made available through this page has been updated. The most recent version of this data may be accessed through /product/map/current/

The maps are contained in a binary table containing TEMPERATURE and N_OBS columns.

Primary Header

SIMPLE  =                    T / file does conform to FITS standard
BITPIX  =                   16 / number of bits per data pixel
NAXIS   =                    0 / number of data axes
EXTEND  =                    T / FITS dataset may contain extensions
COMMENT   FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) format is defined in 'Astronomy
COMMENT   and Astrophysics', volume 376, page 359; bibcode: 2001A&A...376..359H
DATE    = '2006-01-20T20:43:18' /file creation date (YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss UT)
TELESCOP= 'MAP     '           / Microwave Anisotropy Probe
OBJECT  = 'ALL-SKY '           / Portion of sky given
EQUINOX =               2000.0 / Equinox of coordinates
COMMENT This file contains WMAP Intensity and Polarization (I, Q, and U)
COMMENT smoothed Res 9 coadded skymaps for the frequency band
COMMENT indicated by the FREQ keyword.
COMMENT Three years of data went into the map.
REFERENC= 'MAP Explanatory Supplement'
PIXTYPE = 'HEALPIX '           / Pixel algorithm
ORDERING= 'NESTED  '           / Ordering scheme
NSIDE   =                  512 / Resolution parameter
NPIX    =              3145728 / # of pixels
FIRSTPIX=                    0 / First pixel (0 based)
LASTPIX =              3145727 / Last pixel (0 based)
TELESCOP= 'WMAP    '           /Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
OBJECT  = 'ALL-SKY '           / Portion of sky given
EQUINOX =               2000.0 / Equinox of coordinates
REFERENC= 'WMAP Explanatory Supplement:  http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/' /
PIXTYPE = 'HEALPIX '           / Pixel algorithm
ORDERING= 'NESTED  '           / Ordering scheme
NSIDE   =                  512 / Resolution parameter
NPIX    =              3145728 / # of pixels
FIRSTPIX=                    0 / First pixel (0 based)
LASTPIX =              3145727 / Last pixel (0 based)
STOKES  = 'I       '           /
RELEASE = 'DR2     '           /WMAP Release
FREQ    = 'Ka band '           /Frequency band
END

Temperature Map Table

XTENSION= 'BINTABLE'           / binary table extension
BITPIX  =                    8 / 8-bit bytes
NAXIS   =                    2 / 2-dimensional binary table
NAXIS1  =                    8 / width of table in bytes
NAXIS2  =              3145728 / number of rows in table
PCOUNT  =                    0 / size of special data area
GCOUNT  =                    1 / one data group (required keyword)
TFIELDS =                    2 / number of fields in each row
TTYPE1  = 'TEMPERATURE '       / label for field   1
TFORM1  = 'E       '           / data format of field: 4-byte REAL
TUNIT1  = 'mK,thermodynamic'   / physical unit of field
TTYPE2  = 'N_OBS   '           / label for field   2
TFORM2  = 'E       '           / data format of field: 4-byte REAL
TUNIT2  = 'counts  '           / physical unit of field
EXTNAME = 'Archive Map Table'  / name of this binary table extension
DATE    = '2006-01-20T15:43:15' / Table/MAP creation date
PIXTYPE = 'HEALPIX '           / Pixel algorithm
ORDERING= 'NESTED  '           / Ordering scheme
NSIDE   =                  512 / Resolution parameter
FIRSTPIX=                    0 / First pixel (0 based)
LASTPIX =              3145727 / Last pixel (0 based)
END

More information concerning the contents of this file is available.