Award-winning algorithm takes search for habitable planets to the next level

Summary

KAUST researchers collaborated with the Paris Observatory and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) to develop advanced Extreme-AO algorithms for habitable exoplanet imaging. The new algorithms, powered by KAUST's linear algebra code running on NVIDIA GPUs, optimize and anticipate atmospheric disturbances. The implemented Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) algorithm won an award at the PASC Conference 2018 and is used at the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. Why it matters: This advancement enhances the ability to image exoplanets, potentially leading to breakthroughs in the search for habitable planets using ground-based telescopes.