The search for mysteries in space is made possible by advanced radio telescope technology

Phys.org

Astronomers and engineers at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, developed the specialized system, CRACO, for their ASKAP radio telescope to rapidly detect mysterious fast radio bursts and other space phenomena.
They have since gone on to find more than twenty fast radio bursts.
“CRACO taps into ASKAP’s ‘live’ view of the sky in search of fast radio bursts.
Development of this technology reinforces Australia’s international reputation as a leader in radio astronomy engineering and research.
Both fast radio bursts and these transients were first discovered in Australia, so it is great that we’re continuing the path of discovery with this impressive technology,” Dr. Wang said.

POSITIVE

An Australian-developed technology has successfully identified enigmatic objects in its first trial by sorting through signals from space like beach sand.

To quickly identify enigmatic fast radio bursts and other space phenomena, astronomers and engineers at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, created the specialized system, CRACO, for their ASKAP radio telescope.

Researchers headed by Western Australia’s Curtin University node of the International Center for Radio Astronomy (ICRAR) have now tested the new technology.

Two fast radio bursts and two sporadically-emitting neutron stars were discovered, along with better location data of four pulsars made possible by the new technology, according to results published in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. More than twenty fast radio bursts have since been discovered by them.

Dr. The team had discovered more astronomical objects than anticipated, according to Andy Wang of ICRAR, who oversaw the research team and conducted the CRACO test.

We concentrated on locating fast radio bursts, an enigmatic occurrence that has spawned a new area of astronomical study.

“CRACO is making it possible for us to locate these bursts more effectively than previously. We have been looking for bursts 100 times per second, and we anticipate that this number will rise to 1,000 times per second in the future,” Dr. Dot Wang stated.

The new technology allows for a vast scale of observation, according to Dr. Keith Bannister, an astronomer and engineer with CSIRO who developed the instrument with his team.

“CRACO uses the ‘live’ sky view provided by ASKAP to find quick radio bursts.

In order to detect and locate bursts, it processes 100 billion pixels per second, scanning through massive amounts of data.

“That’s like searching through an entire beach of sand every minute for a single five-cent coin,” Dr. Dot Bannister remarked.

The ASKAP radio telescope at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Wajarri Yamaji Country, is linked to a group of computers and accelerators known as CRACO. The advancement of this technology strengthens Australia’s standing as a global leader in radio astronomy research and engineering.

“CRACO will be a game changer for international astronomy once it reaches full capacity,” Dr. Dot Wang stated.

The telescope receives trillions of pixels, and CRACO is designed to sort through those pixels to find anomalies. It will notify researchers when it detects something unusual, enabling them to promptly follow up to gather additional data and finish their own analysis.

Doctor. In an effort to identify more unusual sources, Wang and his group progressively broadened CRACO’s research objectives.

Additionally, we’re spotting long-period transients, which are still enigmatic objects in our galaxy. Australia was the first place to discover both fast radio bursts and these transients, so it’s fantastic that we’re carrying on the exploration with this amazing technology,” Dr. Dot Wang stated.

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