RESUMO
Unlike optical telescopes, radio interferometers do not image the sky directly but require specialized image formation algorithms. For the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the computational requirements of this image formation are extremely demanding due to the huge data rates produced by the telescope. This processing will be performed by the SKA Science Data Processor facilities and a network of SKA Regional Centres, which must not only deal with SKA-scale data volumes but also with stringent science-driven image fidelity requirements. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Numerical algorithms for high-performance computational science'.
RESUMO
Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound structures in the Universe. They grow by accreting smaller structures in a merging process that produces shocks and turbulence in the intracluster gas. We observed a ridge of radio emission connecting the merging galaxy clusters Abell 0399 and Abell 0401 with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope network at 140 megahertz. This emission requires a population of relativistic electrons and a magnetic field located in a filament between the two galaxy clusters. We performed simulations to show that a volume-filling distribution of weak shocks may reaccelerate a preexisting population of relativistic particles, producing emission at radio wavelengths that illuminates the magnetic ridge.