FITS stands for Flexible Image Transport System and is a file format commonly used in scientific imaging. It was originally developed for storing, transmitting, and processing data from telescopes and other astronomical instruments. FITS files are widely used because they can store and transfer large amounts of data while preserving important metadata and maintaining compatibility with different software and operating systems.
To merge multiple FITS images using Python and Astropy, you can use the "fits" module from the astropy library. First, you will need to open all of the images you want to merge using the "fits.open" function. Then, you can use the "np.dstack" function from the numpy library to stack the images along the third axis, creating a new image with all of the data combined. Finally, you can save the new image using the "fits.writeto" function.
Yes, you can merge FITS images with different dimensions or pixel scales. However, it is important to note that the resulting merged image may have a different pixel scale or dimensions than the original images. You may need to resample or reproject the images before merging them to ensure that they are aligned properly.
Yes, you can merge FITS images with different data types. However, the resulting merged image will have the data type of the first image in the stack. If there are significant differences in the data types, it may be necessary to convert the images to the same data type before merging them.
There are some limitations to merging FITS images with Python and Astropy. For example, if the images have different header information, you may need to manually adjust the headers before merging. Additionally, merging large images with high resolutions may require a significant amount of memory and processing power. It is important to carefully consider the size and complexity of the images before attempting to merge them.