Physics of the Cosmos
Physics of the Cosmos
A NASA Astrophysics Science Platform
About Fornax
Bringing Together Data, Compute, and Software So That Astronomers Can Focus on Science
NASA Astrophysics is developing the Fornax Initiative in collaboration with the NASA Astrophysics Archives and GSFC’s Astrophysics Projects Division (ApPD).
The Fornax Initiative Welcomes Beta Users
NASA’s Fornax Initiative is now accepting beta users on its Science Console, a JupyterLab environment in the cloud for computing next to NASA astrophysics archival data. Cloud data in the HEASARC, IRSA, and MAST archives can be used directly in the Fornax Science Console, including Euclid, SPHEREx, JWST, Fermi, and others. Users can also import their own datasets, with some size restrictions.
The Fornax Science Console can be accessed with a Web browser and contains pre-installed data analysis software plus Jupyter tutorial notebooks for common analysis tasks. Beta users get an account with cloud resource “credits” that can be used for compute, storage, etc. There is no charge to users.
In this beta phase, we are looking for you to inform us about what resources and features the community needs, so if you require anything, please do not hesitate to ask the helpdesk. We can add credits if you have a scientific use case that requires more than our initial estimate, for example. If there is something you need and cannot see how to do, again, please ask. We may know a solution, and if we do not, your input can be added to the list of improvements under development.
For further information see:
Motivation
NASA’s Astrophysics missions generate vast and complex datasets offering immense scientific potential. The vital role of NASA’s Astrophysics archives in mission success is evident, as they have demonstrated that user-focused, technologically-rich data systems are key science multipliers. As the Astronomy 2020 Decadal Review emphasized, in the coming decade, frontier science will be done with multi-wavelength and multi-messenger analysis across large, complex data sets, which will only increasing the challenges of accessing big data, maintaining software, and obtaining sufficient computing resources.
The Three Pillars of the Fornax Initiative Project
Fornax Scientific Components, the astrophysics-specific elements required to enable science in the cloud, including Python notebooks that demonstrate access to cloud-hosted NASA mission data, curated astrophysics software environments, and cloud-native services to support common astronomy workflows.
Fornax Science Console, a web-based application that users log into for access to cloud computing, data storage, and interactive data analysis in JupyterLab.
Science Support Systems, a program of engagement with the astronomical community, including a Helpdesk and training opportunities.
Our goal is to support the science needs of a wide range of users, from those who are learning Python an …