RTApipe, a framework to develop astronomical pipelines for the real-time analysis of scientific data

TL;DR

RTApipe is a framework that streamlines the development of real-time analysis pipelines for astronomical data, enhancing rapid transient detection and alert sharing in multi-messenger astronomy.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new framework that simplifies creating real-time analysis pipelines, demonstrated with the AGILE mission and planned for future projects.

Findings

Successfully used for AGILE data analysis pipelines

Facilitates rapid transient detection and alert sharing

Planned application for CTA and other projects

Abstract

In the multi-messenger era, astronomical projects share information about transients phenomena issuing science alerts to the Scientific Community through different communications networks. This coordination is mandatory to understand the nature of these physical phenomena. For this reason, astrophysical projects rely on real-time analysis software pipelines to identify as soon as possible transients (e.g. GRBs), and to speed up external alerts' reaction time. These pipelines can share and receive the science alerts through the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network. This work presents a framework designed to simplify the development of real-time scientific analysis pipelines. The framework provides the architecture and the required automatisms to develop a real-time analysis pipeline, allowing the researchers to focus more on the scientific aspects. The framework has been successfully used to develop real-time pipelines for the scientific analysis of the AGILE space mission data. It is planned to reuse this framework for the Super-GRAWITA and AFISS projects. A possible future use for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project is under evaluation.