Python FITS Decompressor
Astronomy data often comes in the form of FITS files. To save space, many surveys and observatories provide them as .fits.fz compressed files. Before using these files for analysis or astrophotography, they need to be converted back into standard .fits. I created a small Python script called fits-decompressor. It takes all the .fits.fz files from a folder, decompresses them, and saves them as normal .fits files in another folder. If the file contains image data, the script can also display it using Matplotlib. Why use this tool? Quick way to handle large numbers of compressed FITS files Works automatically on all files in the chosen folder The output can be used in most astronomy software Allows a direct preview of numeric image data How to use it 1. Install the requirements Make sure Python 3.8 or newer is installed, then install the needed libraries: pip install astropy numpy matplotlib 2. Prepare your folders Place your .fits.fz files in an input folder Choose an out...