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The initial descriptions of the FITS format provided a simplified method for describing the physical coordinate values of the image pixels, but deliberately did not specify any of the detailed conventions required to convey the complexities of actual image projections. Building on conventions in wide use within astronomy, this paper proposes changes to the simple methods for describing coordinates and proposes detailed conventions for describing most of the methods by which spherical coordinates may be projected onto a two-dimensional plane. Simple methods for converting from the existing coordinate conventions are described. This paper does not attempt to address the politically sensitive questions of frequency/velocity coordinates, nor does it address various other types of coordinates, such as time.
