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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Applications:
GRID TECHNOLOGY HELPS ASTRONOMERS
KEEP PACE WITH THE UNIVERSE
"Intelligent Agent" computer programs are roaming the Internet and watching
the skies. It may sound like science fiction, but these programs, using Grid
computing technology, will help astronomers detect some of the most dramatic
events in the universe, such as massive supernova explosions. The agents,
created by the "eScience Telescopes for Astronomical Research" (eSTAR)
project, have been deployed on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT)
in Hawaii.
Dr. Alasdair Allan, on the eSTAR team at the University of Exeter, said,
"The
universe currently does things faster than we can respond to them. To study
the most rapid and violent events in the universe, we need to be able to
follow them quickly."
As well as supernova explosions, many other astronomical events happen
suddenly and unpredictably. These include the detection of near-Earth
asteroids as they move across the sky, rapid changes in the swirling gases
being swallowed by black holes and the subtle changes in the brightness of
stars which may indicate planets in orbit around them.
The Intelligent Agent programs communicate with telescopes and each other
using technology designed for the Grid -- the "next generation Internet." They
make observations with the telescopes, which they can analyse and immediately
follow up with further observations, without the need for human
intervention.
Professor Tim Naylor, who led the eSTAR team and is also at the University
of
Exeter, said, "We're creating a network of telescopes which can respond
automatically to objects of great astronomical importance."
Although this is not the first time that telescopes have been automated, or
connected to the Internet, Allan explains, "What is so important here is that
we have developed an intelligent observing system. It thinks and reacts for
itself, deciding whether something it has discovered is interesting enough to
need more observations. If more observations are needed, it just goes ahead
and gets them."
Frossie Economou of the Joint Astronomy Centre, which operates UKIRT, said,
"Our plan is for the agents to send messages to astronomers' mobile phones,
and even pictures if the phone supports them. That way, you'll be able to
follow events at the telescope, no matter where you are in the world."
Allan continued, "The agents can detect and respond to the rapidly changing
universe faster than any human, and make decisions to observe an object much
faster than would otherwise be possible. Only then need they tell their human
masters what they're doing."
The agents were recently put through their paces for the first time on a
large
research-class telescope: the 3.8-meter United Kingdom Infrared Telescope
(UKIRT) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. An agent took live images with UKIRT, and
compared them with previous infrared maps of the sky. It detected a dwarf nova
-- a star which experiences sudden flares in its brightness.
It wasn't just technical hurdles that the team had to overcome in order to
bring this complex system online. As Dr. Andy Adamson, director of UKIRT,
said, "On the test night itself, we even had an earthquake on the island, but
everyone remained undaunted. Both the eSTAR Agent and the telescope worked as
planned."
In the next few months, the eSTAR agents will spread from UKIRT to the
James
Clerk Maxwell Telescope (also operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre). After
that, the team will expand the network to include fully robotic telescopes
such as the Liverpool Telescope on La Palma and the Faulkes Telescopes in
Hawaii and Australia.
So, are the eSTAR team planning to put astronomers out of a job? Allan
says not.
"The agents can be used to assist human observers, instead of replacing
them
entirely -- augmenting their abilities to do science quicker, faster and more
reliably."
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