Common Interface for World Coordinate System - APE 14

To improve interoperability between packages, the Astropy Project and other interested parties have collaboratively defined a standardized application programming interface (API) for world coordinate system objects to be used in Python. This API is described in the Astropy Proposal for Enhancements (APE) 14: A shared Python interface for World Coordinate Systems.

The base classes that define the low- (BaseLowLevelWCS) and high- (BaseHighLevelWCS) level APIs are in astropy. GWCS implements both APIs. Once a gWCS object is created the API methods will be available. It is recommended that applications use the Common API to ensure transparent use of GWCS and FITSWCS objects.