The institute will make the hosting capabilities of the D-ALiX Data Processing Center available to the ASTRO POC project, a pioneering initiative that will transform the observation of the cosmos from the Canary Islands.
The Institute of Technology and Renewable Energies (ITER) signed a contract with the Canary Islands-based company Light Bridges to launch the high-performance computing infrastructure of the ASTRO POC project in the D-ALiX Data Processing Centre.
ASTRO POC is a public-private initiative aimed at establishing an astrophysical computing infrastructure, leveraging the images captured due to the exceptional quality of our archipelago’s skies. Operated by Light Bridges, the infrastructure will process astronomical images obtained from telescopic facilities, including the Teide Observatory of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), for subsequent use by the international research community. The telescopes will operate robotically, capturing high-resolution sky images across various spectral bands. The observation process will generate a substantial amount of digital data that will need to be stored, processed, and analysed for later use by researchers at an international level.
The D-ALiX Data Processing Centre will play a crucial role by providing hosting for high-performance and low-power consumption storage systems, as well as GPU-based processing equipment, enabling the use of Artificial Intelligence techniques to expedite the scientific processing of this abundant digital information.
Miquel Serra-Ricart, the scientific director of Light Bridges and affiliated researcher at IAC, explains, “Projects require the fast and precise handling of a huge amount of astronomical data. The information will be used in various fields of astronomy, from the detection and characterization of asteroids for planetary defence, to the discovery and tracking of exoplanets or the search for optical counterparts to large energy explosions in the Universe.”
Image courtesy of Light Bridges. Author: J.C. Casado.
This is a pioneering project in the creation of a global reference centre for computational astronomy, allowing a large number of international universities and research centres to access exceptional scientific resources generated in the Canary Islands, which will contribute to their research efforts in multiple fields of Astrophysics and applied technologies.
This contract between ITER and Light Bridges aims at the continuous improvement of the Data Processing Centre’s infrastructure and, even more importantly, the possibility of developing joint R&D projects in the field of large-volume information storage and processing.
The project is being developed with private funding and at the risk and venture of its investors, mostly from the Canary Islands. This contract underscores the commitment of both organizations to excellence in research and technological advancement, and represents a significant step towards achieving a declared general interest goal, which is the realization of activities related to research and innovation in astrophysics and its instrumentation in the Canary Islands. “We are looking forward to developing joint projects, using the new computing infrastructure, DASE, introduced by VAST DATA and the systems from Lenovo and Nvidia with whom we collaborate,” state representatives from Light Bridges.
Additionally, an increase in interest from economic operators in the astrophysics and space sector is expected, benefiting technological innovation in areas such as computing, GPU processing, robotics, and control software, which are areas of excellence at ITER.