FITScope app icon FITScope Astrophotography Image Viewer for macOS
View on GitHub

Master your astrophotography natively on Mac

FITScope is a powerful macOS app for viewing, analyzing and enhancing astronomical images.

Download FITScope (opens in a new tab) Download on theMac App Store
Free & open source Requires macOS 15 or later
Screenshot

Powerful tools for astrophotographers

Everything you need to bring out the beauty in your data.

FITS & XISF optimized

Built from the ground up for astronomy's native formats, with full metadata support.

Advanced processing

Shape detail and colour with a deep, flexible adjustment toolset.

Star detection

Pinpoint and measure every star in your frame with precision.

Plate solving

Automatically anchor your image to real sky coordinates.

High performance

Optimized for speed and smooth performance with large datasets.

Designed for your workflow

From exploration to analysis — FITScope has you covered.

FITSXISFRAWTIFFJPEGPNGHEICHEIF

Multiple formats

Open everything from raw sensor data to finished exports.

Batch processing

Process multiple files at once with customizable actions.

Coming soon

Image stacking

Stack your images to reduce noise and reveal faint details.

Coming soon

Customizable workspace

Adjust the layout and panels to match your workflow.

Metadata explorer

See exactly how, when and where every frame was captured.

Image processing

A complete, non-destructive processing pipeline

Reveal faint signal and shape your image with a full suite of adjustments — applied live on screen, while your original data stays untouched and every step stays reversible.

  • Stretch & gamma to lift detail out of the noise floor.
  • Curves & levels with per-channel control.
  • White balance, saturation and automatic debayering.
Screenshot
Astrometry

Detect stars, solve the field, name every object

FITScope reads the sky in your frame — detecting and measuring stars, solving the plate, and labeling the deep-sky objects it finds directly on the image.

  • Star detection with FWHM, HFR and eccentricity.
  • Plate solving via nova.astrometry.net.
  • Overlays for objects, equatorial grid, north and scale.
Screenshot
Metadata

Every header and keyword, at your fingertips

Inspect the complete FITS header exactly as written, alongside a configurable information panel that surfaces everything your capture software recorded.

  • Searchable FITS headers exactly as written.
  • Configurable info panel — exposure, gain, filter, temperature.
  • Coordinates & sampling with RA/Dec and pixel scale.
Screenshot
The Orion Nebula, photographed by Jean-David Gadina
The Orion Nebula ( M42 )

Built by an astrophotographer, for astrophotographers

FITScope is crafted with passion for astronomy and attention to detail. It's more than a viewer — it's a complete toolkit for exploring the universe.

Clear skies!

When they come, FITScope's ready — free, open source, and native to your Mac.

Download FITScope (opens in a new tab) Download on theMac App Store

Requires macOS 15 or later