MIT Binary Star Astrophysics Group

Resources

🔧 Essential Tools for Observational Astronomy

Below are a few essential tools for observational astronomy:

Aladin:

Aladin is essentially Google Maps for the sky. This powerful visualization tool allows you to explore astronomical images from a vast array of surveys and flip seamlessly between them.

  • The web-based Aladin Lite is a great place to start, offering quick access to many surveys.
  • For full capabilities—including custom data ingestion and access to a much broader archive—install the desktop version.

TOPCAT:

TOPCAT (Tools for OPerations on Catalogues And Tables) is a powerful Java-based GUI application for manipulating large astronomical tables.ps://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/topcat/

  • Excellent for cross-matching catalogs, visualizing large datasets, and exploring parameter spaces.
  • Unparalleled in its flexibility and speed when working with large tables.

Vizier:

VizieR is an interface for querying a vast library of astronomical catalogs via cone search.

  • Great for quickly identifying sources near given coordinates.
  • Check out its SED builder to construct spectral energy distributions using catalog photometry.

Simbad:

SIMBAD links sky objects to existing literature.of the color-magnitude diagram).

  • Particularly helpful for assessing how well-studied a target is.
  • Keep in mind: some entries (e.g., Gaia white dwarfs) may have a reference but little in-depth study—SIMBAD flags existence, not depth.

Astrophysics Data System (ADS):

ADS is the go-to platform for searching astronomical literature.

  • Search by author, title, topic, or publication date.
  • Many researchers use ADS libraries to organize papers and track their own work.

đź’» Computing resources:

Our group makes use of several high-performance computing environments:

Engaging Cluster @ MIT
We own four nodes on the Engaging cluster (partition: sched_mit_kburdge_r8). Each node includes:

  • 4Ă— A100 80GB SXM GPUs (NVLinked)
  • 128 CPU cores (256 threads)
  • 512 GB RAM
  • MKI also maintains two similar nodes under the sched_mit_mki_r8 partition.

Group storage on Engaging located at: /orcd/data/kburdge/001/

2. MIT Supercloud

The Supercloud cluster offers excellent CPU/GPU allocations, plus support through tutorials and office hours. Accounts are available for MIT researchers.

3. Physics-Wide subMIT Cluster

subMIT is open to all Physics Department members.

  • Features extensive CPU and GPU resources.
  • Great for mid-scale parallel jobs or quick batch processing.