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PRESS RELEASE! IDIA helps UP-led astronomy research team to explore the formation of giant radio galaxies

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Using the supercomputing power provided by IDIA facilities and groundbreaking observations from new-generation radio telescopes such as MeerKAT, an international research team, led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Gourab Giri and other researchers at the University of Pretoria (UP), has made a breakthrough in understanding the formation and evolution of giant radio galaxies. These cosmic behemoths, resembling massive fountains of superheated … Read More

PRESS RELEASE! The Age of Giants: IDIA helps MeerKAT to identify a troublesome cosmic beast

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With the help of IDIA facilities, South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope has uncovered an extraordinary new giant radio galaxy nicknamed ‘Inkathazo‘, meaning ‘trouble’ in the African Xhosa and Zulu languages. This discovery sheds light on the evolution of the largest structures in the Universe and offers new, yet confusing, insights into their mysterious origins.  The work has been published in the … Read More

NEW IDIA-EMPOWERED PHD GRADUATE! Dr Charissa Button becomes UP’s first PhD graduate in Astrophysics

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Dr Charissa Button has made history by becoming the University of Pretoria’s (UP, one of IDIA’s partner Universities) first PhD graduate in Astrophysics (capped during the University’s autumn graduation ceremonies). During Dr Button’s PhD research, she made use of IDIA infrastructure and MeerKAT data to study how gravitational lensing can be used as an approach to probe the more distant … Read More

JOB ADVERT: DIRECTOR (PROFESSOR) – IDIA POSITION

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The Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), established in 2015, is a partnership of three South African universities: the University of Cape Town, the University of Pretoria and the University of the Western Cape with the aims to build capacity and expertise in data intensive astronomy in the partner institutions and to provide systems and solutions for converting data … Read More

Data Analyst Position in Cape Town

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UPDATE: This position is now filled. IDIA is seeking a data analyst to assist in processing and analysis of research data in radio astronomy. The analyst will operate pipeline processing systems on the ilifu data intensive research cloud and will assist in the development and execution of computer code for the analysis of radio astronomy data. The analyst will work … Read More

Looking for a Data Scientist

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UPDATE: This position is now filled. 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 … Read More

The unusual structure of the Spiderweb Galaxy

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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

Science Belongs To All Of Us – NSTF “Science Oscar” For Science Communicator Prof Carolina Ödman

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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

New analysis of more than 2000 Galaxies with MeerKAT

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Using early science data for the MIGHTEE project on the MeerKAT radio telescope, a researcher at the University of the Western Cape – with collaborators from eight countries, including four other South African Institutions – has analysed over 2000 galaxies, growing our understanding of the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time. Dr Fangxia An – a postdoctoral researcher at IDIA … Read More