The ASKAP (Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder) telescope is creating a new atlas of the universe. Photo credit: CSIRO
A world-leading CSIRO radio telescope has carried out its first survey of the entire southern sky in record speed and detail and created a new atlas of the universe.
The Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), developed and operated by the Australian national science agency CSIRO, mapped approximately three million galaxies in just 300 hours.
The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey is similar to a Google map of the universe, with most of the million star-shaped points on the map being distant galaxies – about a million of which we’ve never seen before.
Dr. Larry Marshall, chief executive of CSIRO, said ASKAP has brought together world-class infrastructure with scientific and technical expertise to unlock the deepest secrets of the universe.
“ASKAP applies the latest scientific and technical knowledge to age-old questions about the secrets of the universe and equips astronomers around the world with new breakthroughs to solve their challenges,” said Dr. Marshall.
“All of this is made possible by innovative receivers developed by CSIRO that use phased array feed technology that enables ASKAP to generate more raw data faster than all Internet traffic in Australia.
“At a time when we have access to more data than ever before, ASKAP and the supercomputers that support it are delivering unprecedented insights and leveraging the tools that support our data-driven future to make life better for everyone.”
Australian SKA Pathfinder radio telescope by day. Photo credit: CSIRO
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said ASKAP was another great example of Australia’s world-leading radio astronomy ability.
“ASKAP is an important technological development that puts our scientists, engineers and industry in the driver’s seat to advance the discovery of space for the next generation. This new survey shows that we are ready to take a big leap forward in the field of radio astronomy, ”said Minister Andrews.
The main feature of the telescope is its wide field of view, created by new CSIRO receivers, which allows ASKAP to take panoramic images of the sky with amazing details.
Using ASKAP at CSIRO’s MIRison Radio-Astronomy Observatory (MRO) in the outback of Western Australia, the survey team observed 83 percent of the entire sky.
The first results were published on November 30, 2020 in the Publications from the Astronomical Society of Australia.
This record breaking result shows that an all-sky survey can be done in weeks rather than years, opening up new opportunities for discovery.
The new data will enable astronomers to perform statistical analyzes of large galaxy populations, just as social researchers use information from a national census.
Australian SKA Pathfinder radio telescope at night. Photo credit: CSIRO
“This census of the universe is used by astronomers around the world to explore the unknown and study everything from star formation to the evolution and interaction of galaxies and their supermassive black holes,” said lead author and CSIRO astronomer Dr. David McConnell.
With ASKAP’s advanced receivers, the RACS team only had to combine 903 images to create the full map of the sky. This is significantly less than the tens of thousands of images required for previous all-sky radio surveys from large world telescopes.
“For the first time ASKAP has tensed its muscles and created a map of the universe in more detail than ever before and at record speed. We assume that we will find tens of millions of new galaxies in future studies, ”said Dr. McConnell.
The 13.5 exabytes of raw data generated by ASKAP were processed using hardware and software specially developed by CSIRO.
The supercomputer ‘Galaxy’ of the Pawsey Supercomputing Center converted the data into 2D radio images with a total of 70 billion pixels.
The final 903 images and supporting information will be 26 terabytes of data.
Mark Stickells, executive director of Pawsey, said supercomputing capability is an integral part of the ASKAP design.
“The Pawsey Supercomputing Center has worked closely with CSIRO and the ASKAP team since our inception. We pride ourselves on providing critical infrastructure that helps science make great impact,” said Stickells.
The survey images and catalogs will be made publicly available on the CSIRO Data Access Portal and hosted on Pawsey.
ASKAP’s advanced technologies provide insights into the development of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), an international mega-science project to build the world’s largest radio telescopes.
CSIRO will host the low frequency SKA telescope in the MRO.
CSIRO recognizes the Wajarri Yamaji as the traditional owners of the MRO site.
Reference: “The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey I: Design and Initial Results” by D. McConnell, CL Hale, E. Lenc, JK Banfield, George Heald, AW Hotan, James K. Leung, Vanessa A. Moss, Tara Murphy, Andrew O’Brien [Opens in a new window]Joshua Pritchard, Wasim Raja, Elaine M. Sadler, Adam Stewart, Alec JM Thomson, M. Whiting, James R. Allison, SW Amy, C. Anderson, Lewis Ball, Keith W. Bannister, Martin Bell, Douglas C.- JJ Bock, Russ Bolton, JD Bunton, AP Chippendale, JD Collier, FR Cooray, TJ Cornwell, PJ Diamond, PG Edwards, N. Gupta, Douglas B. Hayman, Ian Heywood, CA Jackson, Bärbel S. Koribalski, Karen Lee-Waddell and NM McClure-Griffiths, November 30, 2020, Publications from the Astronomical Society of Australia.
DOI: 10.1017 / pasa.2020.41
