WMAP Internal Linear Combination Map
FITS Header Information

The map is contained in a binary table containing TEMPERATURE and N_OBS columns.

Primary Header

SIMPLE  =                    T / file does conform to FITS standard
BITPIX  =                    8 / 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    = '2009-12-16T00:00:00' /file creation date (YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss UT)
TELESCOP= 'WMAP     '          / Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
OBJECT  = 'ALL-SKY '           / Portion of sky given
EQUINOX =               2000.0 / Equinox of coordinates
COMMENT   This file contains the WMAP Internal Linear Combination (ILC) map
COMMENT   based on the first 7 years of observations.
REFERENC= 'WMAP Explanatory Supplement: http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/'
RELEASE = 'DR4     '           / WMAP Release
VERSION = 'PASS 4  '           / Internal WMAP Version
STARTGMT= '20012220000000000000' / Start time of TOD used
ENDGMT  = '20082212359000000000' / End time of TOD used
STOKES  = 'Intensity'          / i, q, or u
FREQ    = 'K-W bands combined' / Frequency band
STOKES  = 'Intensity'          / i, q, or u
RESOLUTN=                    9 / Resolution index
SKYCOORD= 'Galactic'           / Coordinate system
PLANETS = 'MJSUN   '           / Planets avoided
COMMENT Planet codes: [M]ars, [J]upiter, [S]aturn, [U]ranus, [N]eptune
SHIELDS = 'S       '           / Shield angle avoidance
COMMENT Shield codes: [S]un, [E]arth, [M]oon
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)
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  = '1E      '           /data format of field: 4-byte REAL
TUNIT1  = 'mK, thermodynamic'  /physical unit of field
TTYPE2  = 'N_OBS   '           /label for field   2
TFORM2  = '1E      '           /data format of field: 4-byte REAL
TUNIT2  = 'counts  '           /physical unit of field
EXTNAME = 'Archive Map Table'  /name of this binary table extension
DATE    = '2009-12-16T00:00:00' /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)
COMMENT   Temperature is in thermodynamic units
COMMENT   N_obs is set to 1 for all pixels. The N_obs field
COMMENT    is filled only to provide consistent map format
END

More information concerning the contents of this file is available.