High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center

As part of the development of the National Virtual Observatory (NVO), a Data Grid for astronomy, we have developed a prototype science application to explore the dynamical history of galaxy clusters by analyzing the galaxies' morphologies. The purpose of the prototype is to investigate how Grid-based technologies can be used to provide specialized computational services within the NVO environment. In this paper we focus on the key enabling technology components, particularly Chimera and Pegasus which are used to create and manage the computational workflow that must be present to deal with the challenging application requirements. We illustrate how the components interplay with each other and can be driven from a special purpose application portal.

Interferometry to Detect Planets Outside Our Solar System 197 days/year x 24 hr/day x 60 min/hr x 60 sec)], a very large number, without much meaning for a mere human. There are about ten stars with the stellar magnitude equal to that of Sun within the distance of ten parsecs. When a sixteen-year old youth looks at fifteen nearby stars at night, the photon that is incident on his retina has left the star when the teenager was born. The number of potential Estrellas increases with the stellar magnitude and their distance from our Solar system. Fig. 2. Number of stars in the vicinity of Sun as a function of stellar magnitude, with the distance from the Sun as a parameter. The Sun's magnitude of 4.8 is indicated with a vertical line. The number of stars roughly increases with the stellar magnitude and the distance from the Sun. Calculated using star catalogues

As part of the development of the National Virtual Observatory (NVO), a Data Grid for astronomy, we have developed a prototype science application to explore the dynamical history of galaxy clusters by analyzing the galaxies' morphologies. The purpose of the prototype is to investigate how Grid-based technologies can be used to provide specialized computational services within the NVO environment. In this paper we focus on the key enabling technology components, particularly Chimera and Pegasus which are used to create and manage the computational workflow that must be present to deal with the challenging application requirements. We illustrate how the components interplay with each other and can be driven from a special purpose application portal.

The results of astronomical surveys include 1) catalogs containing anywhere from a few to many million objects, 2) data products used to generate the catalogs ( e.g. , images or spectra), 3) publications and 4) object based compilations of information from many sources. The ubiquitous growth in the Internet and the dramatic reduction in the cost of mass storage systems now allows instant global access to this information. Astrophysics on-line services have grown up with the Internet, and represent an invaluable resource whose access is a routine part of any research project. Unfortunately users are also faced with searching and accessing multiple sites with different content, access and response methods. There can also be inconsistencies amongst the various systems, which can involve extra effort to resolve. A network-integrated astrophysics system has long been sought because it would remove multiple user interfaces and allow much simpler integration of services. In an era of shrinking budgets, the issue is how to achieve this in a cost effective manner. This review gives an overview of the current situation and discusses the likely evolution towards a network-integrated astrophysics system.