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The network, which will be installed between Cerro Pachón, in La Serena, and Santiago (Chile), will enable bandwidths of up to 100 Gigabit per second, capacity required by the telescope when it is in operation.

The AURA Observatory in Chile and the National University Network - REUNA - began the implementation of the connectivity project for the future Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which will become the most advanced connectivity infrastructure for Science and Education in Chile. It is a photonic "superhighway" that has a potential capacity of millions of megabits per second and will be built between Santiago and the Centre's facilities, located near La Serena. The basic infrastructure functions should be available in the first half of 2016 and the installation of the network will be completed before 2019.

The LSST will be able to scan the sky every 3 or 4 nights with its 8.4 meters of diameter mirror combined with a camera of 3.2 billion pixels. The most critical part of the project is to analyze the images in real time, detecting any change in the sky and announcing it to the world in a matter of seconds. The range of objects that can be detected goes from asteroids that pass near Earth to star explosions that occur in very distant galaxies.

To reach this performance, when it is in full operation, the LSST project will require bandwidths that achieve 100 Gbps from the summit of Cerro Pachon, in the region of Coquimbo, to the national and international data centers. From these centers, one of which will be located in the city of La Serena, scientists, students and even the general public will have access to the digital universe created by the LSST. 

"The high-speed connectivity is crucial to achieve the successful operation of the LSST and fulfill its commitment to deliver notifications in real time. We asked for the help of REUNA for its expertise in developing the network of research and advanced education in Chile, seeking a connectivity solution in the country and in particular from La Serena to Santiago", says the director of AURA Observatory in Chile, Dr. Christopher Smith. 

Dr. José Palacios, president of REUNA board of directors, points out that the alliance with AURA for the connectivity of the LSST is a great satisfaction for the Chilean academic network, "as it reflects the confidence in the work done by the Corporation and, in the other hand, is an initiative aligned with the strategic objectives of REUNA, pointing to consolidate a digital platform of excellence and that is opened to the entire community of science and education."

The construction of the photonic network draws a fiber optic route between Santiago and Cerro Pachon, in La Serena, place where the telescope will be installed. The high standards of the initiative will be tackled with technology that will serve all the connectivity needs in a scalable way, encouraging the development of science without the capacity constraints imposed by conventional solutions. In addition, this model will satisfy not only the astronomy requirements of the 4th Chilean Region, but will also take an important step to consolidate REUNA’s development plan for the digital platform of science and education in the country.

The physical highway will be implemented in partnership with Telefónica, company that took over the challenges proposed by the project, becoming an important part of this technological achievement. "For Telefónica, it is a great pleasure to participate, along with REUNA, in this project that again shows how connectivity is becoming each day a less limiting factor and that is positioning Chile as the world capital of Astronomy. In 2016, we will have installed, together with two other allies, over 500 kms of optic fiber dedicated to research centers for astronomical and scientific development in Chile and around the world”, says Roberto Muñoz, general manager of Telefónica in Chile.

Connectivity with the world

The digital highway will be integrated to the AMLIGHT (America's Lightpaths) to join the LSST, funded by the NSF (National Science Foundation), with the US project member institutions. Through AMLIGHT, the Observatory will connect with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in Illinois, which will process in nearly real time the data captured by this telescope in the northern skies of Chile. This international link will also keep it connected with the universities who are members of AURA in North America.

AMLIGHT, the connectivity project between EE.UU and Latin America put its advanced network infrastructure to the service of the LSST, which will provide the width capacity of international bandwidth committed to the long-term needs of this telescope. To this end, AMLIGHT will launch multiple links of 100Gbps between Miami and Santiago.

For more information, visit www.lsst.org and www.reuna.cl

Source: REUNA