Astronomy Data and Computing Services (ADACS)

Astronomy Data And Computing Services (ADACS) is a joint project between Curtin University and Swinburne University of Technology, funded by Astronomy Australia Limited to provide astronomy-focused training, support, and expertise on data and computing.

ADACS focuses on providing astronomers with upskilling to become more capable and efficient users of software and hardware. As part of this upskilling, astronomers learn to write research software that is more robust and easier to develop, share, and reuse.

In 2021, the Curtin node of ADACS provided software support to the Southern-sky Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) Rapid Two-metre (SMART) survey. The SMART survey project team used the MWA telescope to survey the southern sky to search for pulsars. Their initial data processing resulted in some 100 thousand detection candidates, which was narrowed down to around 4.5 thousand with the help of a machine learning algorithm adapted from the low frequency array. ADACS joined the project in order to provide a web-app to serve pulsar-related data to the project team, and allow them to rapidly inspect and rank the pulsar candidates.

For more information on ADACS, and astronomy projects supported by ADACS, please view the posters below.