The world's most powerful high-altitude supercomputer is now operational in the Chilean Andes

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, known as ALMA, has reached a critical milestone with the installation of its specialized supercomputer. This machine is essential for processing the massive data streams generated by the most complex ground-based telescope ever built.

Located in the Andes of northern Chile, this supercomputer serves as the correlator for the ALMA telescope. It is engineered to perform up to 17 quadrillion operations every second, matching the processing speeds of the fastest general-purpose supercomputers currently in existence.

The system utilizes over 134 million processors to handle the telescope's data. This installation represents a major step toward the full completion of ALMA, which stands as the most elaborate ground-based astronomical facility in history.

Source: ESOcast 51: All Systems Go for Highest Altitude Supercomputer