Mysterious 'cyber incident' forces some telescopes to shut down

National Science Foundation (NSF) telescopes are being targeted by mysterious cyber attacks, as per a new report by Science.org. Since the beginning of August, a major “cyber incident" has disrupted the NSF centre which coordinates international astronomy efforts. The attacks have knocked out telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, further halting operations, and preventing the scientists from conducting research, the report said.

The apparent cyberattack was detected by NOIRLab, a coordinating centre run by NSF for ground-based astronomy.

“Quick reactions by the NOIRLab cyber security team and observing teams prevented damage to the observatory,” the centre said in a press release.

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The first telescope to be affected was the Gemini North telescope in Hilo, Hawaii, which is operated by the International Gemini Observatory.

NOIRLab’s cybersecurity team and observing teams retracted quickly, which helped prevent physical damage to the observatory, but the attack forced operations at the Gemini North and Gemini South, located on Cerro Pachón mountain in Chile, to completely shut down.

As per the reports, the forced closure due to the incident impacted research as scientists missed out on significant observation windows, affecting international projects.

“We’re all in this together,” Science.org quoted Gautham Narayan, an astronomer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign whose team is trying to save its chance to observe new supernovas using one of the affected Chilean telescopes, as saying.

The astronomy community has a “grim determination to press on, despite the trying circumstances,” he added.

On August 9, NOIRLab's computer systems, which usually permit astronomers to operate ground-based telescopes remotely, disconnected its computer network from the Mid-Scale Observatories (MSO) network on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachon, making the remote observations impossible at the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter and SOAR telescopes.

According to the reports, the closure impacted eight other affiliated telescopes in Chile.

The NOIRLab team is making efforts to help find out temporary solutions in the absence of remote observing capabilities.

(With inputs from agencies)

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