National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Selects Cray

The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has announced that it has selected a Cray XT4 supercomputer for its next compute platform. The 27 TFLOP machine will be housed at the NAOJ’s Center for Computational Astrophysics in order to study star formation and the origin of the solar system.

Cray logoThe huge time and spatial scales associated with astronomical phenomena make laboratory experiments impossible. Computer simulations allow us to create virtual universes, which help us to understand the early stages and evolution of the universe and the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, black holes and planets,” said Jun Makino, Director of CfCA. “We are dedicated to providing astronomers with the most advanced resources and the Cray XT4 supercomputer will allow us to achieve this goal.”

Specific system details are not mentioned. Read the full post here.