From summit to screen: harnessing modern cloud technologies to construct an integrated observatory

David Heffernan; João Bento; David Copley; Helen Jermak; Chris Copperwheat; Iain Steele

doi:10.1117/12.3019001

25 July 2024 From summit to screen: harnessing modern cloud technologies to construct an integrated observatory

David Heffernan, João Bento, David Copley, Helen Jermak, Chris Copperwheat, Iain Steele

Proceedings Volume 13098, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems X; 1309803 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019001
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Abstract

In an era characterized by the availability of affordable, powerful, and scalable cloud-based services, we delve into the strategic decision to design a cloud-based infrastructure for the New Robotic Telescope (NRT). We provide a comprehensive discussion on the design, implementation, and challenges encountered during this approach. Central to this infrastructure is the Software Operations Data Centre (SODC), serving as the public-facing web portal. The SODC leverages REDIS, modern RESTful APIs, web sockets, and cloud-based data pipelines allowing astronomers seamless access to their data while ensuring data availability when the observatory is offline due to unmanageable interruptions in data connections. These tools also grant us instant feedback from the facility, providing live system states of the observatory’s devices. In this paper, we specifically address the scalability and redundancies embedded in this cloud-based system, elucidating how they contribute to the robustness of the NRT’s operations. We also spotlight auxiliary tools in use to transmit this secure and public data. We aim to shed light on the strategic advantages of our cloud-based approach in astronomical observatories, emphasizing the role of the SODC in data accessibility, data security and observatory control interfaces with real world demonstrations.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

David Heffernan, João Bento, David Copley, Helen Jermak, Chris Copperwheat, and Iain Steele "From summit to screen: harnessing modern cloud technologies to construct an integrated observatory", Proc. SPIE 13098, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems X, 1309803 (25 July 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019001

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