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| Paper: |
VAST: A Real-time Pipeline for Detecting Radio Transients and Variables on the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) Telescope |
| Volume: |
461, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXI |
| Page: |
725 |
| Authors: |
Banyer, J.; Murphy, T.; the VAST Collaboration |
| Abstract: |
The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP)
is a next generation radio telescope currently under
construction in Western Australia. The fast survey speed and wide field of view
make it an ideal instrument for blind transients
searches. The ASKAP Variable and Slow Transients (VAST) survey
is a one of the major science programs planned for
ASKAP. The scientific goals of VAST include the detection and characterisation
of a wide range of transient and variable
phenomena, from gamma-ray burst afterglows to extreme scattering events, on
timescales of 5 seconds or longer.
We describe the data and processing challenges involved in running the VAST
real-time transient detection pipeline. ASKAP will produce 2.5 GB of visibility
data per second, transformed into one 8GB image cube every 5 seconds. Each cube
will contain approximately twenty 100 megapixel images with 100s of radio
sources detected in each epoch. The VAST pipeline will measure and monitor all
of these sources, detect variables and transients and generate alerts using the
VOEvent framework.
The goal of the VAST Design Study is to develop a prototype pipeline to
establish and demonstrate the functionality of the final ASKAP pipeline. We give
an overview of the prototype pipeline's functionality, technical implementation
and current status. |
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