Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100111
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
A database for Australian optical astronomy. We will build an astronomy data facility to provide database facilities to analyse data from three major Australian optical astronomy projects, SkyMapper, WiggleZ and GAMA. The facility will provide efficient analysis tools not only for the researchers immediately involved with the projects, but, for the entire national and international astronomical community when the data become public. Long-term maintenance of the facility is vital, so the facilit ....A database for Australian optical astronomy. We will build an astronomy data facility to provide database facilities to analyse data from three major Australian optical astronomy projects, SkyMapper, WiggleZ and GAMA. The facility will provide efficient analysis tools not only for the researchers immediately involved with the projects, but, for the entire national and international astronomical community when the data become public. Long-term maintenance of the facility is vital, so the facility will be standards-compliant and stable to facilitate long-term support. For this reason the facility will be based at the ANU Supercomputer Facility (ANUSF) to leverage substantial expertise in this area and to provide long-term operations support.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100031
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,000,000.00
Summary
Expanding our view of the Universe with the Murchison Widefield Array. Expanding our view of the Universe with the Murchison Widefield Array:
This project aims to build a Phase 2 Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) to boost the capabilities of the Phase 1 MWA by an order of magnitude. The Epoch of Reionisation (EoR), when the first stars and galaxies lit up the universe, is the last unstudied phase of cosmic evolution. The MWA is at the frontier of EoR research and all-sky survey astrophysics, is t ....Expanding our view of the Universe with the Murchison Widefield Array. Expanding our view of the Universe with the Murchison Widefield Array:
This project aims to build a Phase 2 Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) to boost the capabilities of the Phase 1 MWA by an order of magnitude. The Epoch of Reionisation (EoR), when the first stars and galaxies lit up the universe, is the last unstudied phase of cosmic evolution. The MWA is at the frontier of EoR research and all-sky survey astrophysics, is the only low frequency precursor for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), and is the only SKA precursor delivering science quality data. This project to construct a Phase 2 MWA would double the number of antennas in the array, double the maximum baseline length, and boost our all-sky survey and EoR capabilities. Read moreRead less
Will Antarctic telescopes detect the first new habitable planets? Within the next fifteen years the first habitable-zone planets will almost certainly have been detected around other stars. If, as we believe, Antarctic observatories play a leading role in this emerging field, Australia's astronomers will be exceptionally well placed to lead and to partner major international programs. This will bring Australian industry increased access to cutting edge technology, and create business opportuni ....Will Antarctic telescopes detect the first new habitable planets? Within the next fifteen years the first habitable-zone planets will almost certainly have been detected around other stars. If, as we believe, Antarctic observatories play a leading role in this emerging field, Australia's astronomers will be exceptionally well placed to lead and to partner major international programs. This will bring Australian industry increased access to cutting edge technology, and create business opportunities in the infrastructure and support of Antarctic research. This project aims to ensure that the lead Australia currently holds in Antarctic astronomy is maintained, allowing us to fully capture the benefits of future international investment.Read moreRead less
Do black holes exist? This project aims to verify if black holes can actually exist in our Universe. It is still unknown if any of the candidate objects possess the key black hole feature -- a trapped region from which no signal can escape. By focusing on conditions for existence of trapped regions, this project expects to describe their neighborhoods and observable properties. This information is critical for interpretation of the data from the next generation of gravitational wave detectors an ....Do black holes exist? This project aims to verify if black holes can actually exist in our Universe. It is still unknown if any of the candidate objects possess the key black hole feature -- a trapped region from which no signal can escape. By focusing on conditions for existence of trapped regions, this project expects to describe their neighborhoods and observable properties. This information is critical for interpretation of the data from the next generation of gravitational wave detectors and radio telescopes, and for determining the true nature of astrophysical black hole candidates. Further benefits include simplification of calculations of the observable properties of compact objects and resolution of a long-standing black hole information loss paradox.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989347
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,000.00
Summary
CYCLOPS - A Better Way to Find Extrasolar Planets. The primary scientific driver for this new facility is the search for planets orbiting other stars. Australian astronomers, and the Anglo-Australian Telescope, have played a leading role in this new frontier for astronomy, detecting 25 of the 250-odd extrasolar planets known to orbit nearby stars. The CYCLOPS project brings together a team of leading Australian astronomers to build on this track record with a new facility that further advances A ....CYCLOPS - A Better Way to Find Extrasolar Planets. The primary scientific driver for this new facility is the search for planets orbiting other stars. Australian astronomers, and the Anglo-Australian Telescope, have played a leading role in this new frontier for astronomy, detecting 25 of the 250-odd extrasolar planets known to orbit nearby stars. The CYCLOPS project brings together a team of leading Australian astronomers to build on this track record with a new facility that further advances Australia's capabilities in both this field, and several other high-profile astronomical endeavours: including the study of seismology in stellar interiors, the detailed measurement of elemental abundances in stars throughout our Galaxy, and the mapping of spot features on the surfaces of stars.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101585
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$388,463.00
Summary
Harnessing Astrophotonics and Adaptive Optics to Discover Habitable Planets. This project aims to improve spectrographic design in order to increase precision in astronomical research. The discovery of Earth's twin, a habitable world in another stellar system, is one of the most remarkable scientific endeavours of our time. The gravitational tug of the planet on its host star causes a periodic Doppler shift of the star’s spectrum which is recorded using spectrographs. The instrumental precision ....Harnessing Astrophotonics and Adaptive Optics to Discover Habitable Planets. This project aims to improve spectrographic design in order to increase precision in astronomical research. The discovery of Earth's twin, a habitable world in another stellar system, is one of the most remarkable scientific endeavours of our time. The gravitational tug of the planet on its host star causes a periodic Doppler shift of the star’s spectrum which is recorded using spectrographs. The instrumental precision required to detect an Earth-like planet is a few centimetres per second, significantly better than the best current spectrographs can provide. This project plans to combine novel technologies from adaptive optics and astrophotonics into an innovative spectrograph design that will improve Doppler precision by a factor of ten, sufficient to find planets.Read moreRead less
Understanding the sources of the slow solar wind. This project aims to reveal the origins of the slow solar wind, a continuous stream of plasma emanating from the Sun that fills the solar system and impacts the Earth. This project expects to enhance our understanding of how this solar wind is accelerated and structured using a suite of state-of-the-art computational simulations. In doing this, the project expects to provide critical physical understanding to allow interpretation of data from NA ....Understanding the sources of the slow solar wind. This project aims to reveal the origins of the slow solar wind, a continuous stream of plasma emanating from the Sun that fills the solar system and impacts the Earth. This project expects to enhance our understanding of how this solar wind is accelerated and structured using a suite of state-of-the-art computational simulations. In doing this, the project expects to provide critical physical understanding to allow interpretation of data from NASA and ESA's flagship space missions Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter. Benefits should include enhanced physical understanding that will contribute to the international effort to develop reliable space-weather forecasting systems, critical for space exploration and space-based technology.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0238884
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$220,000.00
Summary
Development of the CANGAROO III Very High Energy Gamma-ray telescope. This international project will explore the only part of the electromagnetic spectrum yet to be subjected to detailed astronomical study. CANGAROO III will span the energy range from ~100GeV to >10TeV, expanding upwards the range of satellite observations, and downwards the range accessible from previous ground-based systems. Gamma-ray observations have opened a new window on the universe and it is clear that there is much to ....Development of the CANGAROO III Very High Energy Gamma-ray telescope. This international project will explore the only part of the electromagnetic spectrum yet to be subjected to detailed astronomical study. CANGAROO III will span the energy range from ~100GeV to >10TeV, expanding upwards the range of satellite observations, and downwards the range accessible from previous ground-based systems. Gamma-ray observations have opened a new window on the universe and it is clear that there is much to be discovered with this new instrument. This project will provide an Australian infrastructure contribution to support the multi-million dollar contribution of our Japanese partners, and thus provide Australian access to a key astrophysical field at very modest cost.Read moreRead less
A Stress-relax Model for Stellar Flares. This project aims to improve our ability to predict solar and stellar flares by developing a theoretical model for the build-up and release of magnetic stress in stellar atmospheres. Solar flares are the most energetic events in the solar system, and together with associated coronal mass ejections can create hazardous conditions in our local space environment. Stellar flares are thousands of times more energetic and produce dangerous space weather for exo ....A Stress-relax Model for Stellar Flares. This project aims to improve our ability to predict solar and stellar flares by developing a theoretical model for the build-up and release of magnetic stress in stellar atmospheres. Solar flares are the most energetic events in the solar system, and together with associated coronal mass ejections can create hazardous conditions in our local space environment. Stellar flares are thousands of times more energetic and produce dangerous space weather for exoplanets orbiting flare stars. Expected outcomes include insight into the flare mechanism, and new approaches to flare prediction. The major potential benefit is improved solar and stellar space weather forecasting to protect human safety and infrastructure.Read moreRead less