"What we're trying to do is create a system that allows research astronomers to have greater efficiency in conducting their observations and turning that into a science result," says David Silva, head of the data-flow operations department.

The IT team borrowed from advances in data collection made possible by the Hubble Space Telescope as well as relational databases developed in the banking industry.

"One of our strengths is we look at the commercial market and try to find solutions that are applicable for us," Silva says. How It Works

ESO developed a system with several major components. Web-based interfaces provide information and tools to end users -- the researchers. These interfaces allow researchers to submit detailed observation requests that ESO workers in Chile can then execute. The system stores 30TB of data.

The main user tool for submitting programs is a Java-based client that runs on the astronomers' desktops and exchanges data with a server located at ESO headquarters. ESO operations staffers use another Java-based tool to manage and execute user programs.