<p>I have an exposure of a star field with a small galaxy located near the centre. It is of course a greyscale image. I would like to add colours (realistic) to this image for aesthetic purposes. What software can I use to play around with colours that is Linux compatible and relatively easy to get the hang of? I've been using DS9 which has some colour options but to my knowledge doesn't quite produce a realistic colour image.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-18T18:17:54.770Z
I hurts advertising for IDL, and I'm sure you can find better ways in Python (or something else), but I previously used IDL's [tctool](http://idlastro.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftp/contrib/malumuth/tctool.pro).
pela
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-18T19:00:05.137Z
To add "realistic" colour requires that you have exposures of the same field through different filters (at least two, preferably 3)
Conrad Turner
<exposure>
How does one add false colour to a fits image
user9511
# How does one add false colour to a fits image

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-10-18)

I have an exposure of a star field with a small galaxy located near the centre. It is of course a greyscale image. I would like to add colours (realistic) to this image for aesthetic purposes. What software can I use to play around with colours that is Linux compatible and relatively easy to get the hang of? I've been using DS9 which has some colour options but to my knowledge doesn't quite produce a realistic colour image.

**Tags:** exposure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I hurts advertising for IDL, and I'm sure you can find better ways in Python (or something else), but I previously used IDL's [tctool](http://idlastro.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftp/contrib/malumuth/tctool.pro).  
> **username_2**: To add "realistic" colour requires that you have exposures of the same field through different filters (at least two, preferably 3)  

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