Scientific Computing Meets Big Data Technology: An Astronomy Use Case

Scientific analyses commonly compose multiple single-process programs into a dataflow. An end-to-end dataflow of single-process programs is known as a many-task application. Typically, tools from the HPC software stack are used to parallelize these analyses. In this work, we investigate an alternate approach that uses Apache Spark -- a modern big data platform -- to parallelize many-task applications. We present Kira, a flexible and distributed astronomy image processing toolkit using Apache Spark. We then use the Kira toolkit to implement a Source Extractor application for astronomy images, called Kira SE. With Kira SE as the use case, we study the programming flexibility, dataflow richness, scheduling capacity and performance of Apache Spark running on the EC2 cloud. By exploiting data locality, Kira SE achieves a 2.5x speedup over an equivalent C program when analyzing a 1TB dataset using 512 cores on the Amazon EC2 cloud. Furthermore, we show that by leveraging software originally designed for big data infrastructure, Kira SE achieves competitive performance to the C implementation running on the NERSC Edison supercomputer. Our experience with Kira indicates that emerging Big Data platforms such as Apache Spark are a performant alternative for many-task scientific applications

The Type Ia supernovae rate with Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey

We present measurements of the rates of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae derived from the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS). We carried out repeat deep imaging observations with Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope, and detected 1040 variable objects over 0.918 deg$^2$ in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field. From the imaging observations, light curves in the observed $i'$-band are constructed for all objects, and we fit the observed light curves with template light curves. Out of the 1040 variable objects detected by the SXDS, 39 objects over the redshift range $0.2 < z < 1.4$ are classified as Type Ia supernovae using the light curves. These are among the most distant SN Ia rate measurements to date. We find that the Type Ia supernova rate increase up to $z \sim 0.8$ and may then flatten at higher redshift. The rates can be fitted by a simple power law, $r_V(z)=r_0(1+z)^\alpha$ with $r_0=0.20^{+0.52}_{-0.16}$(stat.)$^{+0.26}_{-0.07}$(syst.)$\times 10^{-4} {\rm yr}^{-1}{\rm Mpc}^{-3}$, and $\alpha=2.04^{+1.84}_{-1.96}$(stat.)$^{+2.11}_{-0.86}$(syst.).Comment: 21 pages, 16 figures, accepted to PAS

Direct Observation of Broadband Coating Thermal Noise in a Suspended Interferometer

We have directly observed broadband thermal noise in silica/tantala coatings in a high-sensitivity Fabry-Perot interferometer. Our result agrees well with the prediction based on indirect, ring-down measurements of coating mechanical loss, validating that method as a tool for the development of advanced interferometric gravitational-wave detectors.Comment: Final version synchronized with publication in Phys. Lett.

The Discovery of a Gravitationally Lensed Supernova Ia at Redshift 2.22

We present the discovery and measurements of a gravitationally lensed supernova (SN) behind the galaxy cluster MOO J1014+0038. Based on multi-band Hubble Space Telescope and Very Large Telescope (VLT) photometry of the supernova, and VLT spectroscopy of the host galaxy, we find a 97.5% probability that this SN is a SN Ia, and a 2.5% chance of a CC SN. Our typing algorithm combines the shape and color of the light curve with the expected rates of each SN type in the host galaxy. With a redshift of 2.2216, this is the highest redshift SN Ia discovered with a spectroscopic host-galaxy redshift. A further distinguishing feature is that the lensing cluster, at redshift 1.23, is the most distant to date to have an amplified SN. The SN lies in the middle of the color and light-curve shape distributions found at lower redshift, disfavoring strong evolution to z = 2.22. We estimate an amplification due to gravitational lensing of 2.8+0.6-0.5 (1.10 +- 0.23 mag)---compatible with the value estimated from the weak-lensing-derived mass and the mass-concentration relation from LambdaCDM simulations---making it the most amplified SN Ia discovered behind a galaxy cluster

Julia and Python in Astronomy: Better Together

Astronomers love Python because it is open source, easy to learn, and has a tremendous ecosystem for scientific computing. The Julia programming language has many of those same characteristics. In this talk, I discuss Julia, its use in astronomy and the growing ecosystem of astronomy packages, particularly those managed by the JuliaAstro organization (http://JuliaAstro.github.io)

extinction v0.3.0

Fast interstellar dust extinction laws in Python: Cython-optimized implementations of empirical dust exitinction laws found in the literature

High-Redshift Type Ia Supernova Rates in Galaxy Cluster and Field Environments

This thesis presents Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) rates from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cluster Supernova Survey, a program designed to efficiently detect and observe high-redshift supernovae by targeting massive galaxy clusters at redshifts 0.9 &lt; z &lt; 1.46. Among other uses, measurements of the rate at which SNe Ia occur can be used to help constrain the SN Ia ``progenitor scenario.'' The progenitor scenario, the process that leads to a SN~Ia, is a particularly poorly understood aspect of these events. Fortunately, the progenitor is directly linked to the delay time between star formation and supernova explosion. Supernova rates can be used to measure the distribution of these delay times and thus yield information about the elusive progenitors.Galaxy clusters, with their simpler star formation histories, offer an ideal environment for measuring the delay time distribution. In this thesis the SN Ia rate in clusters is calculated based on 8 +/- 1 cluster SNe Ia discovered in the HST Cluster Supernova Survey. This is the first cluster SN Ia rate measurement with detected z&lt;\italic&gt; &gt; 0.9 SNe. The SN Ia rate is found to be 0.50+0.23-0.19 (stat) +0.10-0.09 (sys) h702 SNuB (SNuB = 10-12 SNe Lsun,B-1 yr-1), or in units of stellar mass, 0.36+0.16-0.13 (stat) +0.07-0.06 (sys) h702 SNuM (SNuM = 10-12 SNe Msun-1 yr-1). This represents a factor of approximately 5 +/- 2 increase over measurements of the cluster rate at z &lt; 0.2 and is the first significant detection of a changing cluster SN Ia rate with redshift. Parameterizing the late-time SN Ia delay time distribution with a power law in time with index s, this measurement in combination with lower-redshift cluster SN Ia rates constrains s = -1.41+0.47-0.40, under the approximation of a single-burst cluster formation redshift of zf = 3. This is generally consistent with expectations for the ``double degenerate'' progenitor scenario and inconsistent with some models for the ``single degenerate'' progenitor scenario predicting a steeper delay time distribution at large delay times. To check for environmental dependence and the influence of younger stellar populations the rate is also calculated specifically in cluster red-sequence galaxies and in morphologically early-type galaxies, with results similar to the full cluster rate. Finally, the upper limit of one host-less cluster SN Ia detected in the survey implies that the fraction of stars in the intra-cluster medium is less than 0.47 (95% confidence), consistent with measurements at lower redshifts.The volumetric SN Ia rate can also be used to constrain the SN Ia delay time distribution. However, there have been discrepancies in recent analyses of both the high-redshift rate and its implications for the delay time distribution. Here, the volumetric SN Ia rate out to z ∼ 1.6 is measured, based on ∼12 SNe Ia in the foregrounds and backgrounds of the clusters targeted in the survey. The rate is measured in four broad redshift bins. The results are consistent with previous measurements at z &gt; 1 and strengthen the case for a SN Ia rate that is greater than approximately 0.6 × 10-4 h703 yr-1 Mpc-3 at z ∼ 1 and flattening out at higher redshift. Assumptions about host-galaxy dust extinction used in different high-redshift rate measurements are examined. Different assumptions may account for some of the difference in published results for the z ∼ 1 rate

Discovery of an Unusual Optical Transient with the Hubble Space Telescope

We present observations of SCP 06F6, an unusual optical transient discovered during the Hubble Space Telescope Cluster Supernova Survey. The transient brightened over a period of ~;;100 days, reached a peak magnitude of ~;;21.0 in both i_775 and z_850, and then declined over a similar timescale. There is no host galaxy or progenitor star detected at the location of the transient to a 3 sigma upper limit of i_775 = 26.4 and z_850 = 26.1, giving a corresponding lower limit on the flux increase of a factor of ~;;120. Multiple spectra show five broad absorption bands between 4100 AA and 6500 AA and a mostly featureless continuum longward of 6500 AA. The shape of the lightcurve is inconsistent with microlensing. The transient's spectrum, in addition to being inconsistent with all known supernova types, is not matched to any spectrum in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. We suggest that the transient may be one of a new class