Fpack and Funpack User's Guide: FITS Image Compression Utilities

TL;DR

Fpack and Funpack are specialized utilities designed for lossless compression and decompression of FITS images, offering optimized performance and a variety of compression options tailored for astronomical data formats.

Contribution

This paper introduces Fpack and Funpack, utilities that enhance FITS image compression with optimized algorithms and broader options compared to general-purpose tools.

Findings

Efficient lossless compression of FITS images.

Compatibility with standard command line interfaces.

Experimental methods for compressing FITS binary tables.

Abstract

Fpack is a utility program for optimally compressing images in the FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) data format (see http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov). The associated funpack program restores the compressed image file back to its original state (if a lossless compression algorithm is used). (An experimental method for compressing FITS binary tables is also available; see section 7). These programs may be run from the host operating system command line and are analogous to the gzip and gunzip utility programs except that they are optimized for FITS format images and offer a wider choice of compression options.