Galaxy formation and evolution is a fascinating topic. Astronomers don’t know exactly how galaxies form. Large galaxies are often home to hundreds of billions of stars, but when a mega galaxy is observed at a fraction of the age of the universe, astronomers still wonder how it is possible that such mega structures form in such a short amount of … Read More
An international team led by astronomers Gyula Józsa, Michelle Cluver, and Thomas Jarrett has utilized the South African MeerKAT telescope to discover a mysterious chain of hydrogen gas clouds the size of a massive galaxy. Indeed, the accumulation of so much elemental hydrogen without associated stellar components is the largest yet discovered. Appearing at the edge of a relatively massive … Read More
An international team led by a young South African researcher has just announced a comprehensive overview paper for the MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey (MGCLS). The paper to be published in the Astronomy & Astrophysicsjournal presents some exciting, novel results, and is accompanied by the public release of a huge trove of curated data now available for astronomers worldwide to address … Read More
In the context of the 2021 Indaba X Roadshow, a panel discussion will be held at the University of Pretoria on the new and powerful collaborative aspects of modern scientific research, especially in relation to Machine Learning and Aritifcial Intelligence. IDIA Senior Researcher and Senior Lecturer in Physics Dr. Kshitij Thorat is joining the panel discussion that will take place … Read More
Scientists across all disciplines increasingly rely on machine learning algorithms to analyse and sort datasets of ever increasing volume and complexity. These algorithms are great at extracting trends and outliers, and automate the data analysis process to a great extent, but science being also about not missing the unexpected, scientists still need to be able to closely inspect their data … Read More
Since the MeerKAT radio telescope was inaugurated in 2018, is has been used extensively for observations for the MeerKAT Large Survey Projects, also called LSPs. Of the eight LSPs that were approved even before MeerKAT was ready for full operations, five projects process their data on the IDIA/ilifu research cloud. One of those projects is MIGHTEE. It is a galaxy … Read More
By Nicklaus Kruger, UWC Institutional Advancement South Africa is a country of many languages – but for many of us, “science” isn’t one of them. Astrophysicist and Associate Professor Carolina Ödman has made it her mission to translate and share the joys of science with everyone – and her efforts have earned her the coveted Communication & Outreach Award at the NSTF-32 National … Read More
UPDATE: This position is now filled. Role Clarification & Key Performance Areas The Inter-University Institute for Data-Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) seeks to appoint an Administrator and Project Officer in support of its Development and Outreach programme. Full advert and application on the UWC website here. Provide administrative, executive and logistical support to the IDIA Associate Director for Development and Outreach Provide … Read More
IDIA seeks to appoint a Data Scientist to work on the BRICS Intelligent Telescope and Data Network (BITDN), and the IDIA hackathon programme. The BITDN is a BRICS flagship programme in astronomy to develop a telescope and data network. It will draw on the opportunities presented by multi-wavelength space- and ground-based facilities that are accessed by the BRICS group for … Read More
Working in partnership with IDIA, astronomers involved in the LADUMA (Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array) project have discovered a powerful, energetic “megamaser” source in a galaxy almost five billion light years away from Earth. The LADUMA team is seeking a nickname for this source in one of South Africa’s eleven official languages, or in one of … Read More
