Ngarlbugala 2023 ASKAP update
Early festive gift: ASKAP releases test data for survey science
As 2023 draws to a close, ASKAP’s science data processing team has just released several new software features required to ignite two more large-scale surveys of the sky.
Hydrogen is the most common element in the Universe and provides fuel for stars. It comes in different forms that are useful to researchers wanting to learn more about the structure and evolution of the Universe.
Two of the nine large survey teams currently using our ASKAP radio telescope aim to study the detailed structure and motion of gas and star-forming regions in our Galactic neighbourhood by detect radio emission from hydrogen (the GASKAP-HI project) and hydroxyl molecules (the GASKAP-OH project).
The teams are using ASKAP to make the most detailed images possible by using the telescope’s advanced capabilities.
An Indigenous Australian painting with bright pink-orange dots abstractly placed across the middle fo the canvas with shades of blue above and shades of orange below.
Robyn Boddington, GASKAP-HI, 2022, acrylic on canvas. Each ASKAP Survey Science Project is illustrated with a unique painting by a Wajarri artist. This work represents the GASKAP-HI survey.
Both teams, which are made up of scientists from all over the world, received an early holiday gift in the form of test data available via our online archive. Even though they can’t be gift-wrapped, the data files are large enough to fill the average laptop or mobile device many times over. These files will be examined in detail to ensure the new software has no bugs before we proceed with further observations.
The telescope itself doesn’t take a break: its automated systems will keep observing throughout the holidays, providing a stack of new data for astronomers to dive into in 2024.
Aidan Hotan, ASKAP Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO
James Chesters, ATNF Communication Advisor, CSIRO