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FITS files can contain several images (or more generally n-dimensional arrays) and tables. Is there a way to automatically open images e.g. with the ds9 application and tables with the TOPCAT application when I double-click the FITS file in the Mac OS X Finder?

I'm thinking of something like FITS Explorer from AstroSoft, but free and nicely integrated into the Mac (i.e. Finder, Quicklook).

If such a thing doesn't exist, what is your workflow for browsing and opening images and tables in FITS files?

askewchan
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Christoph
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    Some people below mentioned my plugin: QLFits. But its address changed: http://www.onekilopars.ec/open-source/#qlfits – onekiloparsec Apr 09 '15 at 12:20

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I just found QLFits which is a Mac OS X Finder QuickLook plugin that display some FITS header info and an image simply by hitting SPACE after selecting a FITS file in the Finder.

The same guy wrote FITSImporter:

a Spotlight plugin that allow you make spotlight queries against dedicated FITS header keywords. It provides also additional information in the "Get Info" panel of the Finder (⌘-I).

Both are open source (GPL licence), the code is available on github: QLFITS, FITSImporter.

They are not perfect though (e.g. I didn't see a way to get at the different extensions in a multi-extension FITS file, although the description says there is; and you can't use QLFits to browse tables) and development seems to have stopped, but still well worth a try!

Christoph
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Apart from recommending you QLFits, you could try to write an AppleScript application, or Automator action using any scripting language, which explored the FITS file, and sent table-based FITS to TOPCAT, and image-based FITS to DS9, and make that application the default for FITS files.

juandesant
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