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FITS

Flexible Image Transport System

image/fits Released 1981 · by IAU FITS Working Group / NASA

FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) is an open standard and the most widely used digital file format in astronomy. Designed specifically for scientific data, it supports N-dimensional arrays (like 2D images or 3D data cubes) and multi-extension data tables, paired with extensive human-readable ASCII headers.

Scientific & Astronomical ✦ HDR Production Ready

Technical Specifications

MIME Type
image/fits
Extensions
.fits.fit.fts
Container
FITS
Compression
Uncompressed & Tile Compressed (Rice, GZIP)
Algorithms
UncompressedRiceGZIPHcompress
Color Depth
8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit (Float/Double)
Metadata
None
Capabilities
Transparency
Animation
Progressive Loading
Alpha Channel
HDR Support
Official Specification
Aliases: application/fits

Magic Bytes & HTTP Headers

File Signature (Magic Bytes)
53 49 4D 50 4C 45 20 20 3D 20
ASCII: SIMPLE =
HTTP Headers
Content-Type: image/fits
HTML Accept Attribute
accept="image/fits, application/fits, .fits, .fit"

Browser Support Matrix

Browser Status Min Version
Chrome Chrome
Not Supported
Firefox Firefox
Not Supported
Safari Safari
Not Supported
Edge Edge
Not Supported
Internet Explorer Internet Explorer
Not Supported Legacy

Advantages & Limitations

Advantages
  • The undisputed global standard for archiving and sharing astronomical data
  • Self-documenting: Headers are written in plain ASCII, ensuring data is readable decades later regardless of software
  • Supports incredibly high dynamic range, N-dimensional arrays, and complex binary tables
Limitations
  • No support in standard consumer software or web browsers
  • Uncompressed raw FITS files from modern telescopes can be excessively large
  • Does not use standard metadata models like EXIF or XMP, requiring specialized parsers

Developer Code Snippets

import magic
print(magic.from_file('galaxy.fits', mime=True)) # Outputs 'image/fits' or 'application/fits'
const FileType = require('file-type');
const type = await FileType.fromFile('galaxy.fits');
console.log(type?.mime); // Custom parsing required if file-type lacks FITS signatures
import "net/http"
// HTTP standard library may fail. Check bytes manually:
if bytes.HasPrefix(buf, []byte("SIMPLE  = ")) {
    fmt.Println("image/fits")
}
$mime = mime_content_type('galaxy.fits');
echo $mime; // Standard databases often map this to application/fits or application/octet-stream

File Detection Steps

How to programmatically detect a image/fits file by reading its raw bytes:

  1. 1 Read the first 8 bytes and verify the string is exactly 'SIMPLE ' (padded with spaces).
  2. 2 FITS headers are always written in 2880-byte logical records containing 80-character ASCII card images.

Software Support

S
SAOImageDS9
E
ESA/ESO/NASA FITS Liberator
A
Astropy (Python)
GIMP GIMP
ImageMagick ImageMagick

Conversion Tools

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JSON API

All data on this page is available as a free, open JSON API. Use it in your project, documentation, or tooling.

GET https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/fits.json Open JSON
Free to use
No auth required
CORS enabled
Use from any domain
Cached 24h
Cache-Control headers set

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the magic byte for a FITS file?

Every standard FITS file begins with the ASCII string 'SIMPLE = ' (including the spaces). In hex, this 10-byte signature is 53 49 4D 50 4C 45 20 20 3D 20.

Is image/fits or application/fits the correct MIME type?

Both are used in practice, but 'image/fits' was officially registered with IANA (RFC 4047). However, because FITS can contain complex binary tables and non-image data, many systems still default to 'application/fits'.

Can I view FITS files in a web browser?

No, FITS is a specialized scientific format with zero native browser support. Viewing FITS data on the web requires JavaScript libraries (like FITS.js) to parse the binary arrays and render them onto an HTML5 Canvas.

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