HEALPix-based maps

This page provides examples and documentation specific to the HEALPix map classes. All HEALPix classes inherit from Map which provides generic interface methods that can be be used to access or update the contents of a map without reference to its pixelization scheme.

Warning

Gammapy uses NEST as default pixel order scheme, while healpy functions have RING as the default (see https://healpy.readthedocs.io/en/1.11.0/index.html). If you are interfacing Gammapy HEALPix maps with healpy functions, you need to specify the pixelization scheme either while creating the Gammapy object or when using the healpy functions.

HEALPix geometry

The HpxGeom class encapsulates the geometry of a HEALPix map: the pixel size (NSIDE), coordinate system, and definition of non-spatial axes (e.g. energy). By default a HEALPix geometry will encompass the full sky. The following example shows how to create an all-sky 2D HEALPix image:

from gammapy.maps import HpxGeom, HpxNDMap, HpxMap
# Create a HEALPix geometry of NSIDE=16
geom = HpxGeom(16, frame="galactic")
m = HpxNDMap(geom)

# Equivalent factory method call
m = HpxMap.create(nside=16, frame="galactic")

Partial-sky maps can be created by passing a region argument to the map geometry constructor or by setting the width argument to the create factory method:

from gammapy.maps import HpxGeom, HpxMap, HpxNDMap
from astropy.coordinates import SkyCoord

# Create a partial-sky HEALPix geometry of NSIDE=16
geom = HpxGeom(16, region='DISK(0.0,5.0,10.0)', frame="galactic")
m = HpxNDMap(geom)

# Equivalent factory method call
position = SkyCoord(0.0, 5.0, frame='galactic', unit='deg')
m = HpxMap.create(nside=16, skydir=position, width=20.0)