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<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>FITS Support Office</TITLE> <link rel="StyleSheet" HREF="fits_style.css" type="text/css"> <script id="fed_an_js_tag" type="text/javascript" src="http://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/scripts/Federated-Analytics.js?agency=NASA">  </script> </HEAD> <body> <blockquote> <center> <img SRC="https://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/FITSlogo.gif" ALT="FITS The Astronomical Image and Table Format" height=180 width=720 align="top"> <HR width=720> <font size="2"> <table bgcolor="#f0f0f0" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="720" align="center"> <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_home.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Home</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_verify.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Verifier</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_news.html" style="text-decoration:none;">News</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_documentation.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Docs</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_wcs.html" style="text-decoration:none;">WCS</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_samples.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Samples</a> | <td align="center" width="750"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_libraries.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Libraries</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_viewer.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Viewers</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_utility.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Utilities</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_dictionary.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Keywords</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_conventions.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Conventions</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_resources.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Resources</a> </table> </font> <HR width="720">     <H1>The FITS Support Office</h1> <H2> at NASA/GSFC </h2> </center> <h2>What is FITS?</h2> <UL> <li> The standard data format used in astronomy <li> Stands for 'Flexible Image Transport System' <li> Endorsed by NASA and the <a href="iaufwg/iaufwg.html"> International Astronomical Union</a> <li> Much more than just another image format (such as JPEG or GIF) <li> Used for the transport, analysis, and archival storage of scientific data sets <ul> <li> Multi-dimensional arrays: 1D spectra, 2D images, 3D+ data cubes <li> Tables containing rows and columns of information <li> Header keywords provide descriptive information about the data <li> Supports state-of-the-art data compression methods </ul> <li> See also the descriptions on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FITS">Wikipedia</a> and <a href="http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000317.shtml">Library of Congress</a> Web sites. </ul> <h2>Online FITS format Verifier</h2> <ul> <li> <a href="fits_verify.html">Test</a> whether a FITS file conforms to the FITS format requirements </ul> <h2>Information about FITS</h2> <ul> <li> <a href="fits_news.html">News</a>: latest news regarding FITS <li> <a href="fits_documentation.html">Documentation</a>: user's guides, definition documents and other FITS papers <li> <a href="fits_wcs.html">World Coordinate System</a> (WCS) documents and software <li> <a href="fits_samples.html">Sample</a> FITS files <li> <a href="fits_libraries.html">FITS I/O libraries</a> to read and write FITS files from various computer languages <li> <a href="fits_viewer.html">FITS image viewers</a> and image format converters <li> <a href="fits_utility.html">General FITS Utility software</a> including a <a href="fits_verify.html">FITS conformance verifier</a> <li> <a href="fits_dictionary.html">FITS keyword data dictionaries</a> which define existing keyword usage <li> <a href="fits_conventions.html">FITS conventions</a> used within the FITS community. <li> <a href="fits_resources.html">Other FITS resources</a> - newsgroups, web sites, and the <a href="iaufwg/iaufwg.html"> IAU FITS Working Group</a> </ul> <HR width=720> <font size="2"> <table bgcolor="#f0f0f0" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="720" align="center"> <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_home.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Home</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_verify.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Verifier</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_news.html" style="text-decoration:none;">News</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_documentation.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Docs</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_wcs.html" style="text-decoration:none;">WCS</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_samples.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Samples</a> | <td align="center" width="750"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_libraries.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Libraries</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_viewer.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Viewers</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_utility.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Utilities</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_dictionary.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Keywords</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_conventions.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Conventions</a> | <td align="center" width="720"> <font size=2> <a href="http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/fits_resources.html" style="text-decoration:none;">Resources</a> </table> </font> <HR width="720">     <font size="2"> <ADDRESS> <B>Last revised:</B> Monday, 03-Apr-2023 13:56:16 EDT<br> <B>Contact us:</B> fits @ fits.gsfc.nasa.gov<br> <B>Hosted by:</B> The <A HREF="http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/">HEASARC</A> (High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center)<br> <B>Responsible NASA representative:</B> Dr. Tess Jaffe </ADDRESS> <A HREF="http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/banner.html">Privacy, Security & Accessibility Statements</a>. </blockquote> </BODY> </HTML>