A highly detailed image of a supernova remnant has been processed by researchers after they accessed the first stage of Australia's newest supercomputing system.
The huge data volumes from new-generation radio telescopes such as Askap need highly capable software to run on supercomputing machines. The new Setonix supercomputer is named after Western Australia's favourite animal, the quokka.
Australia's national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), operates Askap, which consists of 36 dish antenna that work together as one telescope. High-speed optical fibres are used to transfer observational data to the Pawsey centre for processing and converting into science ready images.
The integration of ASKAPsoft on Setonix is a major milestone in the path to full deployment.
A fantastic image of a supernova remnant has been obtained from this exercise.
The object is more than a million years old and is located 10,000 to 15,000 light-years away from us.
The remains of powerful explosions from dying stars are referred to as snrs. The ejected material from the explosion travels at supersonic speeds, sweeping up gas and any other material it encounters along the way.
The magnetic fields would be compressed by the shock. Highly energetic electrons are trapped in the compressed fields. They have information about the exploded star and its surroundings.
The structure of this remnant revealed in the deep array radio image makes it possible to study the physical properties of the interstellar medium in unprecedented detail.
The processing of data from Askap's astronomy surveys is a great way to stress-test the hardware and the processing software.
The features of the supernova remnant would make it more difficult to process.
Different processing modes can cause various potential issues when processing data with a supercomputer. Combining data from hundreds of different frequencies allowed us to see the object in a new way.
There's a lot of information hidden in the individual frequencies. It takes more computing resources and more digital space to make images at each Frequency.
While Setonix has sufficient resources for such intense processing, a key challenge would be to establish the stability of the supercomputer when lashed with such huge amounts of data.
The second installation stage for Setonix is expected to be finished later this year.
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Data teams will be able to process more data in a fraction of the time thanks to this. Researchers will be able to better understand our universe, and new objects will be discovered in the radio sky. Setonix will allow us to explore a lot of scientific questions in a short period of time.
Australia-based researchers in all fields of science and engineering can access Setonix because of the increased computational capacity.
The array pathfinder is currently wrapping up a series of pilot surveys and will soon undertake even larger and deeper surveys of the sky.
The discovery of the supernova remnant is just one of many features we have now revealed.
Wasim Raja is employed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. At the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, Elahi works as a supercomputing applications specialist. The article was first published in the Conversation.
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