Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet) has partnered with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and fellow scientists across the Tasman to develop the first virtual e-telescope in Australasia.
AARNet, Auckland University of Technology, Curtin University, the CSIRO and University of Tasmania have linked five radio telescopes across Australia and New Zealand then observed a remote quasar star using an electronic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (e-VLBI).
The research network played a key part in the night-time trial, with AARNet CEO, Chris Hancock, saying that the use of high-speed fibre networks were vital to its success.
“High-speed optical fibre networks are fundamental in enabling local researchers to connect telescopes in real time, facilitating major advances in e-VLBI techniques,” Hancock said in a statement.
“Projects of this nature showcase Australia and New Zealand’s commitment to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) bid, which will be based on proven e-VLBI technologies.”
The e-VLBI technology allows the group of scientists to generate images that capture 10 times more detail than the Hubble Space Telescope, and streams data from each telescope to a processing centre in Narrabri in New South Wales.
Hancock spoke to Computerworld Australia last year and said AARNet had moved to an in-house network operations centre and had plans to launch a terabit trial.
More to come
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