Networks create “instant world telescope” (Media Release)

Networks create “instant world telescope” (Media Release):

via Slashdot

Last week a CSIRO telescope near Coonabarabran NSW was used simultaneously with one near Shanghai, China, and five in Europe to observe a distant galaxy called 3C273.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to instantaneously connect telescopes half a world apart,” Dr Tasso Tzioumis, VLBI operations and development manager at CSIRO’s Australia Telescope National Facility said.

“It’s a fantastic technical achievement, and a tribute to the ability of the network providers to work together.”

Data from the telescopes was streamed...to a research centre in Europe, where it was processed with a special-purpose digital processor.

The results were then transmitted to Xi’an, China, where they were watched live by experts in advanced networking at the 24th APAN (Asia-Pacific Advanced Network) Meeting.

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The telescope-linking technique, VLBI (very long baseline interferometry) used to take weeks or months.
“We used to record data on tapes or disks at each telescope, along with time signals from atomic clocks. The tapes or disks would then be shipped to a central processing facility to be combined,” Dr Tzioumis said