Data standard
FITS
The universal file format of astronomy — a self-describing container for images, tables, and spectra with a human-readable header of metadata. In use since the 1980s and still the standard way astronomical data is stored and shared.
Highlights
- ›The universal file format of astronomy since the 1980s
Organisations, telescopes & standards
Used across the archive
Knowledge connections
- Associated withHubble Space Telescope
- Associated withReproducibility & FAIR Data
- Associated withAstropy
- Associated withIRAF
- Associated withCASA
- Associated withSAOImage DS9
- Associated withMontage
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.