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Introduction

The Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) evolved out of the recognition that a standard format was needed for transferring astronomical data from one installation to another. The original  form, or Basic FITS [1], was designed for the transfer of images and consisted of a binary array, usually multidimensional, preceded by an ASCII text  header with information describing the organization and contents of the array. The FITS concept was later expanded to accommodate more complex data  formats. A new format for image transfer, random groups, was defined [2] in which the data  would consist of a series of arrays, with each  array accompanied by a set of associated  parameters. These formats were formally endorsed [3] by the International Astronomical Union  (IAU) in 1982. Provisions for data structures other than simple arrays or groups were made later. These structures appear  in extensions, each consisting of an ASCII header followed by the data whose organization it describes. A set of general rules governing such extensions [4] and a particular  extension, ASCII table [5], were endorsed by the IAU General Assembly [6] in 1988. At the same General  Assembly, an IAU FITS Working  Group (IAUFWG) was  formed [7] under IAU Commission 5 (Astronomical Data) with the mandate to maintain the existing FITS standards and to review, approve, and maintain future extensions to FITS, recommended practices for FITS, implementations, and the thesaurus of approved FITS keywords. In 1989, the IAUFWG approved a formal agreement [8] for the representation of floating point  numbers. In 1994, the IAUFWG endorsed two additional extensions, the image  extension [9] and the binary table  extension [10]. FITS was originally designed and defined for 9-track half-inch  magnetic tape. However, as improvements in technology have brought forward other data storage and data distribution media, it has generally been agreed that the FITS format is to be understood as a logical format and not defined in terms of the physical characteristics of any particular data storage medium. In 1994, the IAUFWG adopted a set of rules [11] governing the relation between the FITS logical record size and the physical block  size for sequential media and bitstream devices. The IAUFWG also approved in 1997 an agreement [12] defining a new format for encoding the date and time in the DATE, DATE-OBS, and other related DATExxxx keywords to correct the ambiguity in the original DATE keyword format beginning in the year 2000.


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Next: 1 Overview Up: Definition of the Flexible Previous: List of Figures

5/13/1999