International Center for Radio Astronomy Research | 2016 Sep 26
[img3="The Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in the southwestern province of Guizhou. Credit: Prof. Andreas Wicenec/ICRAR"]http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ ... 01-sml.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]Yesterday, the world’s largest filled single-dish radio telescope launched on Sunday, and it relies on a piece of West Australian innovation.
The telescope—known as FAST—uses a data system developed at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy (ICRAR) in Perth and the European Southern Observatory to manage the huge amounts of data it generates.
The software is called the Next Generation Archive System (NGAS), and will help astronomers using the telescope to search for rotating neutron stars and look for signs of extra-terrestrial life.
FAST, or the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, is so large it had to be built into a valley in Guizhou province in south-west China.
The NGAS data system will help to collect, transport and store about three petabytes of information a year from the telescope. ...