New Dimensions in Radio Astronomy: Mining Sparse Datasets with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. Radio astronomy is entering a new era, driven by technological advances that make rapid surveys of the sky possible. As leaders of three major surveys for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope, we will explore three new dimensions of astronomy: searching for transient sources, detecting faint galaxies and investigating cosmic magnetism. The project will pu ....New Dimensions in Radio Astronomy: Mining Sparse Datasets with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. Radio astronomy is entering a new era, driven by technological advances that make rapid surveys of the sky possible. As leaders of three major surveys for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope, we will explore three new dimensions of astronomy: searching for transient sources, detecting faint galaxies and investigating cosmic magnetism. The project will put Australian astronomers at the forefront of international research. In addition to novel scientific results we will produce data resources and software that will be critical for future Square Kilometre Array projects. These will be available online to amateur astronomers and the general public. We will train the next generation of astronomers with the skills required to make breakthrough discoveries.Read moreRead less
Caught in the act by PAndAS: An unparalleled view of galaxy evolution. How do galaxies, like our own Milky Way, form? Using a new survey of the nearby cosmos, we will search for the signatures of galactic cannibalism, the disrupted bodies of smaller galaxies, and use this archaeology to piece together the formation history. We will also reveal the presence of local dark matter, whose action has shaped our own galaxy's formation.
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL100100114
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,784,765.00
Summary
A Survey of the Universe's Magnetism. This project will significantly advance our understanding of the structure and evolution of the Universe and will maintain our nation's outstanding track record of astronomical discovery by delivering ground-breaking world-class scientific discoveries, produced by Australian astronomers using an Australian telescope. The project will help demonstrate the viability of the technology that Australia is advocating for the design of the Square Kilometre Array by ....A Survey of the Universe's Magnetism. This project will significantly advance our understanding of the structure and evolution of the Universe and will maintain our nation's outstanding track record of astronomical discovery by delivering ground-breaking world-class scientific discoveries, produced by Australian astronomers using an Australian telescope. The project will help demonstrate the viability of the technology that Australia is advocating for the design of the Square Kilometre Array by carrying out innovative experiments with powerful new instrumentation. Finally, the project will provide new capacity for research and innovation by training the next generation of scientists and by providing them with unique skills and expertise.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100375
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$315,000.00
Summary
Extragalactic archaeology: our galaxy as a rosetta stone of galaxy evolution. This project aims to measure the stellar populations of nearby galaxies that are apparently similar to the Milky Way. The stellar population of a galaxy provides a fossil record of its entire history and is a key window into galaxy evolution. The project will use the well-studied stellar population of our own galaxy as a galactic Rosetta Stone to interpret the light from nearby galaxies, revealing their chemical compos ....Extragalactic archaeology: our galaxy as a rosetta stone of galaxy evolution. This project aims to measure the stellar populations of nearby galaxies that are apparently similar to the Milky Way. The stellar population of a galaxy provides a fossil record of its entire history and is a key window into galaxy evolution. The project will use the well-studied stellar population of our own galaxy as a galactic Rosetta Stone to interpret the light from nearby galaxies, revealing their chemical compositions and star formation histories. This project will advance understanding of galaxy evolution and reveal the evolutionary history of galaxies that are similar to our own Milky Way. The highly novel approach used will enable Australia to capitalise on its investment in optical astronomy, provide training and inspiration for the next generation of scientists, and maintain Australia’s international reputation for cutting-edge optical astronomy research.Read moreRead less
Caught in the act: an unparalleled view of galaxy evolution. How do galaxies, like our own Milky Way, form? Using a new survey of the nearby cosmos, this project will search for the signatures of galactic cannibalism, the disrupted bodies of smaller galaxies, and use this archaeology to piece together the formation history. This project will also reveal the presence of local dark matter, whose action has shaped our own formation.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100461
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$353,379.00
Summary
The mysterious thick disk: Unifying Galactic and extragalactic dynamics. The origin of the Milky Way’s ancient thick disk currently defies any easy explanation. This project aims to resolve this problem and will directly challenge existing models of disk formation. The new innovative approach to answering this question will be to simultaneously measure both the chemical and dynamical properties of nearby Milky Way analogues. By unifying the perspectives of Galactic and extragalactic dynamics the ....The mysterious thick disk: Unifying Galactic and extragalactic dynamics. The origin of the Milky Way’s ancient thick disk currently defies any easy explanation. This project aims to resolve this problem and will directly challenge existing models of disk formation. The new innovative approach to answering this question will be to simultaneously measure both the chemical and dynamical properties of nearby Milky Way analogues. By unifying the perspectives of Galactic and extragalactic dynamics the project seeks to deliver new understandings about thick disk formation. Expected outcomes include, robust new evidence about disk galaxy formation, discovery of a large number of dynamical Milky Way analogues, and establishing the most plausible Milky Way formation pathway from cosmological simulations.Read moreRead less
Revealing the Unseen Universe with Gravitational Lensing. This project will analyse new Australian led observations from the Hubble Space Telescope of light being bent around massive galaxies by gravity. To analyse these images we must develop advanced physical models and statistical techniques. This analysis will give us highly magnified views of early galaxy evolution revealing physical details otherwise impossible to see. It will also allow us to put constraints on the nature of invisible dar ....Revealing the Unseen Universe with Gravitational Lensing. This project will analyse new Australian led observations from the Hubble Space Telescope of light being bent around massive galaxies by gravity. To analyse these images we must develop advanced physical models and statistical techniques. This analysis will give us highly magnified views of early galaxy evolution revealing physical details otherwise impossible to see. It will also allow us to put constraints on the nature of invisible dark matter with the possibility of detecting warm dark matter signatures and enable us to probe the expansion of the Universe, testing whether the unseen dark energy is evolving in time. The Hubble sample is much larger and a major advance on previous work, and enables breakthrough science in these areas.Read moreRead less