iraf.net

I am trying to update the header of my fits file with coordinates and time of the observation and i want them in the 'hh:mm:ss' format. I use the hedit command as follows

hedit test.fits RA '10:17:58' add+

but iraf convert it into a decimal format and saves it as '10.2994' that is not what i want. How can i force it to preserve the correct format in hours minutes and seconds?

Sexagesimal values are supported by the CL and various tasks as native types, combined with the fact that HEDIT is expecting an *expression* as the argument, the single quotes don;t actually define your value as a string (as far as the task is concerned). The trick is to use parentheses in the expression so your value is treated as a simple string constant. For example,

cl\$this->_split2($m[0]) hedit test.fits RA "('10:17:58')" add+

will do what you want.