The supercomputer Cray XC50, nicknamed NS-05 "ATERUI II," started operation on June 1, 2018. With a theoretical peak performance of 3.087 petaflops, ATERUI II is the world's fastest supercomputer for astrophysical simulations.

ATERUI II simulates a wide range of astronomical phenomena inaccessible to observational astronomy, allowing us to boldly go where no one has gone before, from the birth of the universe itself to the interior of a dying star.

Professor Eiichiro Kokubo, the CfCA Project Director says, "Computational astronomy is gaining popularity in many fields. A new 'telescope' for theoretical astronomy has opened its eyes. I expect that ATERUI II will explore the universe through more realistic simulations."

ATERUI II is a massive parallel supercomputer and the 5th generation of systems operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). Linking forty thousand cores allows ATERUI II to calculate rapidly.

ATERUI II has three times better performance than the previous "ATERUI" system. A high-speed network enables astronomers to access ATERUI II from their home institutes. In this year, about 150 researchers will use ATERUI II.

With its superior computational capability, ATERUI II will tackle problems too difficult for previous computers. For example, ATERUI II is able to calculate the mutual gravitational forces among the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, rather than bunching them into groups of stars the way other simulations do. In this way ATERUI II will generate a full-scale high-resolution model of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Computational astronomy is still a young discipline compared to observational astronomy, in which researchers use telescopes to observe celestial objects and phenomena, and theoretical astronomy, where researchers describe the universe in terms of mathematics and physical laws.

Thanks to the rapid advancement of computational technology in recent decades, astronomical simulations to recreate celestial objects, phenomena, or even the whole universe within the computer, have risen up as the third pillar in astronomy.

"Aterui" is the name of a historical hero who lived in the Mizusawa area, where ATERUI II is located. With his comrades he fought bravely against conquerors 1,200 years ago.

ATERUI II is nicknamed after this brave hero in hopes that it will boldly confront the formidable enigmas of the universe. The reimagined tensyo kanji (traditional block style lettering) for "ATERUI II," designed by artist Jun Kosaka, are written on the housing.

Related Links
National Astronomical Observatory Of Japan
Space Technology News - Applications and Research

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Waterloo chemists create faster and more efficient way to process information
WaterlooLos Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2018
University of Waterloo chemists have found a much faster and more efficient way to store and process information by expanding the limitations of how the flow of electricity can be used and managed. In a recently released study, the chemists discovered that light can induce magnetization in certain semiconductors - the standard class of materials at the heart of all computing devices today. "These results could allow for a fundamentally new way to process, transfer, and store information by e ... read more