Abstract
The FITS format is a remarkable achievement in information handling and sharing. Astronomy is alone among the sciences in having an international data interchange format that is used by virtually all scientists and institutions in the field. The technical and sociological reasons for this success are discussed and a few of the many remarkable scientific results made possible by this information handling are described.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the (US) National Science Foundation operated undercooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
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Greisen, E.W. (2003). FITS: A Remarkable Achievement in Information Exchange. In: Heck, A. (eds) Information Handling in Astronomy - Historical Vistas. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 285. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48080-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48080-8_5
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