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in partnership with the Dill Faulkes Educational Trust

 

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Data

Supercomputers

Supercomputers are types of computers which work together to act quickly. 

They are often called high-performance machines. This is because they are able to process data a million times faster than the best desktop computers. 

Rows of black cabinets housing the Frontier supercomputer, with blue and red cables neatly organized along the sides. The environment features a clean, industrial look with overhead yellow cable trays and visible ventilation systems
This work by OLCF at ORNL is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
The Frontier Supercomputer in the USA

Image Processing

When you use a large telescope, like the LT, you are collecting data. The image is actually a huge grid of numbers. This data comes back in a raw form.

Two side-by-side pictures of a bubble-like, grey cloud against a black background which has lots of small, white dots of stars across it. The image on the left, labelled "Before processing", is more grey and it is difficult to see details of the cloud. The image on the right, labelled "After processing", has a blacker background and details within the cloud are more visible.
This work by The Schools' Observatory is licensed under All rights reserved
M27 (images taken with 2-metre Faulkes Telescope North operated by Las Cumbres Observatory)

Data

Astronomers take images with telescopes because they want to use them to do science research. 

An orange galaxy with cloudy, spiral arms and a white-yellow, bright centre. A small, grey square is drawn around a tiny portion of the galaxy and there is a close-up view box on the image right. This shows many orange pixels with a few black ones.
This work by The Schools' Observatory is licensed under All rights reserved
Digital image of a galaxy