British scientists are developing a powerful computer that could predict the effects of upcoming solar storms before they threaten power grids and communications on Earth, as well as astronauts and satellites.
The Silicon Graphics computer, called Multi-Institutional Research Astrophysics Computing or MIRACLE, generally is aimed at modeling the astronomical environment from the Milky Way to the upper levels of Earth's atmosphere.
The computer has 24 individual processors, each of which can crank at more than 15 gigaflops (15 billion calculations per second) with access to six gigabytes of memory.
All that power and speed will come in handy when astrophysicists with the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), at academic centers in London and Belfast, try to model huge explosions on the surface of the sun. PPARC is the United Kingdom's strategic science investment agency.
Such flares and ejections occasionally spurt towards Earth and in some cases can have dangerous consequences as soon as a couple hours later.
"Using this new computer, we are able to develop models that can be used to warn telecom network operators, power suppliers and radio operators about the effects of solar storms -- they can then take action to minimize damage," PPARC researcher Alan Aylward said in a prepared statement.
Solar storms affect the Earth's magnetic environment, potentially disrupting radio signals, causing electrical blackouts and causing oil surges in pipelines.
Heat from solar flares has caused Earth-orbiting satellites to drop out of the sky and burn up as they enter the expanding atmosphere. Some solar ejections have the potential to kill astronauts aboard the space shuttle.
SOHO, a solar-observing satellite funded by NASA and the European Space Agency, already warns scientists of impending space weather but the PPARC computer could predict its specific impact.
The MIRACLE computer also can be used to study how stars and planetary systems form and to predict the fate of giant stars several times hotter than the sun.
PPARC scientist Steve Miller said it used to take astrophysicists seven Earth days to model the astronomical weather occurring during one Jupiter day (approximately 10 hours long) but the new computer will allow the group to run environmental models in real time.
'It will also let us model the giant planets that have been discovered orbiting nearby stars, which leads us into whole new areas of research," Miller said.
MIRACLE is one of two new computers in the University College London's HiperSpace Centre to be officially opened by Minister for Science Lord Sainsbury on Friday.
advertisement
