The FITS Support Office
at NASA/GSFC
What is FITS?
- The standard data format used in astronomy
- Stands for 'Flexible Image Transport System'
- Endorsed by NASA and the
International Astronomical Union
- Much more than just another image format (such as JPEG or GIF)
- Used for the transport, analysis, and archival storage of scientific data sets
- Multi-dimensional arrays: 1D spectra, 2D images, 3D+ data cubes
- Tables containing rows and columns of information
- Header keywords provide descriptive information about the data
- Supports state-of-the-art data compression methods
- See also the descriptions on the
Wikipedia and
Library
of Congress Web sites.
Online FITS format Verifier
-
Test whether a FITS file conforms to the FITS
format requirements
Information about FITS
Last revised: Monday, 03-Apr-2023 13:56:16 EDT
Contact us: fits @ fits.gsfc.nasa.gov
Hosted by: The HEASARC
(High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center)
Responsible NASA representative: Dr. Tess Jaffe
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