Can I read a FITS file in a single command?

Question

I am working with FITS files and to open a FITS file in the usual way I have to go through two commands:

hdu = fits.open('image1.fits')
data = hdu[0].data

Now I do realize that this is necessary in order to get the primary data of the FITS file from the header. But I was wondering if there was any way to convert it to a single command that would just get me the primary data of a FITS file just by mentioning the name of the file. (Or any other way to converting this two step operation into a single step operation.)

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 21 '21 at 15:35

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Apparently the answer was very straightforward and I found it myself after thinking about it a bit. All you have to do it write it like this:

data = fits.open('image1.fits')[0].data

answered Jul 21 '21 at 15:35

Blue Panda

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blackbrandt · Answer 2 · 2021-07-23T15:24:55.847

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Although you can put the command in one line as such:

data = fits.open('image1.fits')[0].data

Best practice is to use a with statement:

with open("image1.fits", "r") as f:
    data = f[0].data

See What is the python “with” statement designed for?

edited Jul 23 '21 at 15:24

answered Jul 21 '21 at 15:38

blackbrandt

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Though there's not really any sense in first assigning `data = None`. – Iguananaut Jul 23 '21 at 10:42

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 23 '21 at 10:44

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There's nothing wrong with the other answers, but a more specific answer to this exists and it's getdata()

Can I read a FITS file in a single command?

3 Answers3