The BEFS fits files may be read into IRAF by using STSDAS tasks as
described in the following.
The structure of the files may be reconnoitered by first invoking IRAF and
then STSDAS and running "catfits" on them. Using as an example the file
"BEFS1020.SPD1":
This tells us the names of the extension files which are "SPECTRUM" and
"2ND_ORDER" and the number of columns in each of the table files.
(Running "catfits" on the files SPA1, SPB1, or SPC1 for the
other wavelength segments would of course give only the primary and first
extension files.)
Reading the Files
To read and manipulate the BEFS FITS files further, load the ttools
package. This will read by default the first table extension, so the
extension identifier following the file name is not needed in most cases;
in cases where the 2ND_ORDER extension is needed this identifier is denoted
by "[2]".
Also check to see what version of STSDAS/TABLES your machine is running.
If it is earlier than version 2.1, many tasks will not work unless you rename
the file extension "fits".
Running IRAF-based Commands
Many IRAF/STSDAS tasks and all ttools may now be run on the BEFS file.
To run most of them
you must know in advance what the column names are. To see them, type:
tt > tlcol BEFS1020.SPD1
and the 12 column names are printed out (you may use them in lower or upper case).