Fornax Initiative accepts beta users for Science Console

A report from Science says NASA’s Fornax Initiative is now accepting beta users on the Fornax Science Console, a JupyterLab environment in the cloud for computing next to NASA astrophysics archival data. Cloud data housed in the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), and Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) can be used directly in the Console, including datasets such as Euclid, SPHEREx, JWST, and Fermi.

Users may also import their own datasets within some size restrictions. The Console is accessible via a web browser and includes pre-installed data analysis software and Jupyter tutorial notebooks for common analysis tasks. Beta users receive an account with cloud resource "credits" for compute, storage, and related needs at no charge.

During the beta phase the team is seeking input on needed resources and features; credits can be increased for scientific use cases and users are encouraged to contact the helpdesk if they need assistance or cannot find a solution.