Researchers have processed a series of radio telescope observations within 24 hours of accessing the first stage of Australia's newest supercomputing system.
The very high data rates and enormous data volumes from new-generation radio telescopes need highly capable software to run on the world's most powerful computers.
The new Setonix supercomputer is named after Western Australia's favorite animal, the quokka.
The observational data it gathers is transferred via high-speed optical fibers 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 10,000-15,000 light-years away from us.
The remains of powerful explosions from dying stars are referred to as snrs. The ejected material from the explosion plows into the surrounding medium at supersonic speeds, sweeping up gas and anything else it encounters along the way.
The galactic supernova remnant G261.9+5.5. (Wasim Raja/CSIRO; Pascal Elah/Pawsey)
The magnetic fields of the planets would be compressed by the shockwave. 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 ASKAP 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 data from the supernova remnant was included in our initial tests because of its complexity.
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 different 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.
There was a close collaboration between the Pawsey Centre and the ASKAP science data processing team. We were able to understand the challenges and find solutions.
The results will allow us to find more from the data.
The second installation stage for Setonix will be finished later this year.
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 uncover new objects in the radio sky. Setonix will allow us to explore a lot of scientific questions in a short period of time.
All Australia-based researchers in all fields of science and engineering can access Setonix as a result of this increase in Computational Capacity.
The ASKAP 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've now revealed, and we can expect many more stunning images.
Wasim Raja is a researcher at the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre.
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