What is MilkyWay@home?

Milkyway@Home uses the BOINC platform to harness volunteered computing resources, creating a highly accurate three dimensional model of the Milky Way galaxy using data gathered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This project enables research in both astroinformatics and computer science.

In computer science, the project is investigating different optimization methods which are resilient to the fault-prone, heterogeneous and asynchronous nature of Internet computing; such as evolutionary and genetic algorithms, as well as asynchronous newton methods. While in astroinformatics, Milkyway@Home is generating highly accurate three dimensional models of the Sagittarius stream, which provides knowledge about how the Milky Way galaxy was formed and how tidal tails are created when galaxies merge.

Milkyway@Home is a joint effort between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's departments of Computer Science and Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy. Feel free to contact us via our forums, or email astro[at]cs.lists.rpi[dot]edu.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute accessibility statement

Read more on our Science Page, or check out our YouTube Channel!

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People

Milkyway@Home is currently run by:

Travis Desell, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of North Dakota
Heidi Newberg, Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Malik Magdon-Ismail, Professor of Computer Science
Carlos Varela, Associate Professor of Computer Science
Boleslaw Szymanski, Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor of Computer Science
Jake Weiss, Postdoctoral Researcher in Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Eric Mendelsohn, Graduate Research Assistant in Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Kevin Roux, Graduate Research Assistant in Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Blurf, Volunteer Forum Moderator

With Ongoing Support from:

Siddhartha Shelton, PhD Physics
Matthew Newby, Adjunct Faculty in Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Jeffery Thompson, Graduate Research Assistant in Physics, Apllied Physics, and Astronomy
Matt Arsenault, Graduate Research Assistant in Physics

With previous support from:

Benjamin Willet, Postdoctoral Researcher in Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy
Nathan Cole, Graduate Research Assistant in Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy
Maia Marchetti, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Adam Susser, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Jake Bauer, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Steve Ulins, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Physics
Colin Rice, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Physics
Shane Reilly, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Computer Science
Joe Doran, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Computer Science
Brian Chitester, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Computer Science
Dave Przybylo, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Computer Science
John Vickers, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy
Anthony Waters, Graduate Research Assistant in Computer Science
Clayton Rayment, Graduate Research Assistant in Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy

Funding

Milkway@home is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendtions expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.

Individual grants are listed on the information page.

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News

Admin Updates
Hello everyone,

This thread will be used as a place for project admins to post updates.
If you have a comment or a question, you should post those in the appropriate threads.
There is also an Admin Updates Discussion thread for further discussion on the updates.

Thank you,
Kevin
15 Dec 2023, 19:56:07 UTC · Discuss

Admin Updates Discussion
Hello everyone,

This thread will be used to discuss posts made in Admin Updates.

Thanks,
Kevin
15 Dec 2023, 19:53:02 UTC · Discuss

Commenting on Recent Issues with the server
Hello everyone,

I wanted to apologize for the recent server issues. The migration brought unforeseen challenges, particularly with DNS changes. As a newcomer to server management and BOINC projects, I've been on a steep learning curve to transition this project to a new server.

As mentioned in a previous post, and reiterated here, we have set up a temporary DNS entry for milkyway-new that now points to the server. The changes will take some time to become effective (I don't have a specific timeline, but I'm closely monitoring the process). This update will allow for downloading older work units linked to milkyway-new and uploading completed ones.

I'm immensely grateful to all the volunteers who have suggested fixes and assisted others with client-side issues. Your contributions have significantly accelerated problem-solving during this server migration. I can't thank you enough for your support.

To those who have voiced frustrations, I apologize for any shortcomings in my expertise. I recognize the value of the computing time you generously volunteer and understand your desire for acknowledgment of your contributions. I encourage you to continue sharing your concerns, as long as they are respectful. Destructive or derogatory comments don't contribute constructively to our project. We aim to foster a positive environment at MilkyWay@home for everyone passionate about science and distributed computing, free from unnecessary negativity.

One common concern has been the need for better communication. Despite my efforts to preemptively share updates, it appears more is needed. I would like to improve in this area. I'm considering regular updates (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) and would appreciate your thoughts on this. Please share your ideas in the comments on how I could improve communication.

On a related note, we are excited to announce that we're currently developing a new version of the n-body code. This upgrade will allow for the fitting of additional parameters, such as orbit parameters, along with other minor improvements. We anticipate implementing these changes in the coming weeks.
Additionally, we are making plans to reintroduce support for Mac users. More details will be provided as soon as we have further information.

Once again, I apologize for the recent issues with MilkyWay@home and am very thankful for your patience.

Best regards,
Kevin
29 Nov 2023, 22:02:25 UTC · Discuss

Migrating MilkyWay@home to a New Server
Hello everyone,

We are preparing to migrate MilkyWay@home to a new server on 1 November 2023 at 2 pm UTC. This new server has better hardware (specifically more memory), which we expect will improve the performance of the website and the rate at which you can get new workunits. We are forced to perform this migration at a fast pace due to RPI requiring that we update the server OS to ensure proper security.

We expect that this migration will take one day to complete. If it looks like the downtime will be longer than that, we will update you on our Facebook page. It is possible that the server might experience some unexpected behavior after this migration, but I will be closely monitoring the situation to resolve any issues as they may come up. In particular, I will be watching the message boards closely, and I will make a thread for people to report issues with the new server.

That being said, there were some issues with getting BOINC to recognize the binary up on the new server, so we had to increment the binary version from 1.82 to 1.83. I am not sure what this means for workunits that are awaiting validation after the switch, but I will do what I can to make sure everyone gets as much credit as possible for their work. Unfortunately, it is plausible that you may lose some credit due to the migration, which we apologize for.

I apologize for the short notice and thank you in advance for your patience as I try and make this switch as smooth as possible.

Thank you,
Kevin
31 Oct 2023, 1:25:46 UTC · Discuss

Server Maintenance 6/28/2023 12 PM EDT (4 PM UTC)
Hey Everyone,

I'll be shutting the server down for about an hour or two tomorrow at noon EDT (4 PM UTC) to take care of the loads of WUs stuck waiting for validation. They are from leftover Separation WUs trickling in after the project was shut off. Unfortunately I do not think that credit will be given out for these stuck WUs, as they were turned in after the project was shut down, and the validator is not running to give people credit.

N-body WUs will not be affected by this, and all credit will be assigned as per usual for N-body WUs.

Best,
Tom
27 Jun 2023, 17:02:13 UTC · Discuss

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