The Minor Planet Center (MPC) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory gratefully acknowledge the Tamkin Foundation of Los Angeles for
the establishment and continuing support of the Tamkin Foundation Computing
Network. This high-speed computer network, currently comprising 24 computers,
allows the MPC to determine more rapidly the orbits of newly-discovered minor
planets and comets, including those that are on orbits that might one day
impact the earth. The Tamkin Foundation's most recent gift has
allowed the MPC to upgrade its public servers and provide additional
user-friendly services to the international community of astronomer.
A statement from Steve Tamkin,
Vice-President of the Tamkin Foundation
|
A statement from Brian Marsden,
Director Emeritus of the Minor Planet Center
|
|
"This is the Foundation's first investment in non-medical scientific
research, and we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership in
supporting the Minor Planet Center's work. We are interested in
maintaining the efficient functioning of the Center's computing
capacity, because of the enormously important role it plays in
identifying asteroids and comets that could come into close
proximity to the earth. As an amateur astronomer with a deep interest
in near-Earth asteroids and other objects, I am pleased that my family
and I can be part of this essential research."
|
"Accurate orbits for comets and minor planets (asteroids) are needed
so that other researchers wishing to undertake studies of the physical
nature of these bodies can be confident of actually finding the objects
they wish to study! Accurate orbits are also necessary to allow radar
observations (for both dynamical and physical studies), for the investigation
of future impact scenarios for Near-Earth Objects or for the planning of
space missions. Orbits are derived from positional observations made by
professional and amateur observers all around the world. The monthly flow
of new observations is more than 100 times greater than it was in 1990. This
has necessitated the acquisition of more and faster computers. It is very
rewarding for us that the Tamkin Foundation is supporting the computing
technology that is integral to this research."
|
The Tamkin Computer Network
The Tamkin Computer Network consists of three parts: an OpenVMS cluster;
a Linux webserver setup; and a Linux Rocks compute cluster.
The OpenVMS cluster consists of eleven single-CPU workstations and one
four-CPU server. All the machines are running the extremely robust and secure
OpenVMS operating system. The
twelve Alpha-based machines are arranged as an OpenVMS Cluster, allowing all machines to
share disk storage, execution and batch queues and other resources, as well
as simplifying system management. Cluster uptimes are typically measured in
years.
The Linux webserver consists of three dual-processor quad-core servers which
will become the public front-end of the MPC operation. The MPC webpages
(currently hosted on the Computation Facility's webserver) and cgi
scripts (currently hosted on the OpenVMS cluster) will be transferred over the
MPC's Linux webserver over the next few months.
The Linux Rocks compute cluster comprises nine dual-processor quad-core
servers. These machines will be used for long-term and speculative
computations.
Most of the software used at the MPC is written in-house in Fortran 95
(some older code is in Fortran 77). Orbits for objects with radar
observations are computed using the free OrbFit software.
