Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100106
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$780,000.00
Summary
A global fireball observatory. This project aims to expand the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) and build a Global Fireball Observatory. Nearly everything known about the origin and evolution of the solar system comes from analysis of meteorite falls, but scientists have almost no constraint on where they come from. This project will address this constraint by tracking hundreds of meteorite falls, and pinpointing each one’s origin in the solar system. Benefits include capitalising on the innovation ....A global fireball observatory. This project aims to expand the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) and build a Global Fireball Observatory. Nearly everything known about the origin and evolution of the solar system comes from analysis of meteorite falls, but scientists have almost no constraint on where they come from. This project will address this constraint by tracking hundreds of meteorite falls, and pinpointing each one’s origin in the solar system. Benefits include capitalising on the innovations and technologies that underpinned the DFN, and leveraging a NASA partnership for administrative support and advanced instrumentation development. Tracking for space situational awareness is also expected to benefit Australian national security.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100064
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,000.00
Summary
A facility for sensitive and precise isotopic dating of the earth's and extraterrestrial rocks. SPIDE2R will be a new generation mass spectrometer for very precise and sensitive dating and forensics applications in earth and planetary sciences, hydrology, climate studies, and nuclear and archaeological fingerprinting. The unprecedented sensitivity of this unique instrument will provide enhanced capabilities for solving long-standing problems requiring precise geological time resolution, as well ....A facility for sensitive and precise isotopic dating of the earth's and extraterrestrial rocks. SPIDE2R will be a new generation mass spectrometer for very precise and sensitive dating and forensics applications in earth and planetary sciences, hydrology, climate studies, and nuclear and archaeological fingerprinting. The unprecedented sensitivity of this unique instrument will provide enhanced capabilities for solving long-standing problems requiring precise geological time resolution, as well as opening new areas of research. It will be the instrument of choice for analysing small, rare samples such as those returned by space missions. The Australian-built high sensitivity source and ion detection systems can be retrofitted onto other mass spectrometers, opening a new area of commercialisation.Read moreRead less
Role of water in earth and planetary evolution. This project aims to understand the role of water in the building of our solar system, Mars and Earth. Surprisingly little is known about key issues surrounding the origin of water and its subsequent recycling on Earth. This project will use new techniques for measuring low abundances of water along with oxygen isotopes, to measure water abundances and oxygen isotopes in meteorites and terrestrial rocks to establish how water was delivered to Earth ....Role of water in earth and planetary evolution. This project aims to understand the role of water in the building of our solar system, Mars and Earth. Surprisingly little is known about key issues surrounding the origin of water and its subsequent recycling on Earth. This project will use new techniques for measuring low abundances of water along with oxygen isotopes, to measure water abundances and oxygen isotopes in meteorites and terrestrial rocks to establish how water was delivered to Earth and to understand how water is geologically recycled. This is expected to have direct bearing on where and how Earth's water originated, how water is retained in mantle and crustal minerals and it will have broad implications for understanding volcanic hazards and formation of ore deposits. This will lead to a new capability for combined water and oxygen isotope analysis in Australian geoscience leading to technological development and commercialisation of instrumentation.Read moreRead less
Revealing the deep Earth in deep time. This project aims to determine the nature of the chemical and dynamical transformation of the Earth’s interior at the end of the first 25 per cent of its history. This will provide a new understanding of the related establishment of modern surface features such as extensive continents and an oxygenated atmosphere, as well as investigate causal relationships with west Australia’s mineral resources. The expected outcome will be a significant new understandin ....Revealing the deep Earth in deep time. This project aims to determine the nature of the chemical and dynamical transformation of the Earth’s interior at the end of the first 25 per cent of its history. This will provide a new understanding of the related establishment of modern surface features such as extensive continents and an oxygenated atmosphere, as well as investigate causal relationships with west Australia’s mineral resources. The expected outcome will be a significant new understanding of the chemical and thermal history of our planet.Read moreRead less
Bromine isotopic evolution of the Earth and solar system. A world first capability of innovative isotopic tracing within the earth and solar system materials will be developed. Insights into how planets are formed and the transport of materials and heat within them will be tracked through the application of the naturally occurring isotopes of Bromine.
The Role of Clouds in Exoplanet Atmospheres. This project seeks to establish whether clouds are important in exoplanets and how their occurrence varies with temperature and other properties. Clouds have major impacts on the structure and composition of a planetary atmosphere, and particularly the appearance of a planet in reflected light. They are important in establishing our ability to directly detect planets and further characterise their atmospheres using direct imaging. The project plans to ....The Role of Clouds in Exoplanet Atmospheres. This project seeks to establish whether clouds are important in exoplanets and how their occurrence varies with temperature and other properties. Clouds have major impacts on the structure and composition of a planetary atmosphere, and particularly the appearance of a planet in reflected light. They are important in establishing our ability to directly detect planets and further characterise their atmospheres using direct imaging. The project plans to use advanced radiative transfer modelling together with a range of observations, including those from a new high precision polarimeter.Read moreRead less
Characterization of extrasolar planets using high-precision polarimetry. Close to a thousand exoplanets have been found since the discovery of a planet around a Sun-like star, 51 Peg in 1995. With the Kepler space telescope, we are now capable of finding Earth-size worlds around other stars. But how do we know if these Earth-like planets have all the right ingredients for life like ours to flourish? Polarimetry is a powerful method of exoplanet characterisation that could one day answer such que ....Characterization of extrasolar planets using high-precision polarimetry. Close to a thousand exoplanets have been found since the discovery of a planet around a Sun-like star, 51 Peg in 1995. With the Kepler space telescope, we are now capable of finding Earth-size worlds around other stars. But how do we know if these Earth-like planets have all the right ingredients for life like ours to flourish? Polarimetry is a powerful method of exoplanet characterisation that could one day answer such questions and can be applied, right now, to the giant planets. An innovative, portable polarimeter will be developed, that will be used to understand the atmospheric composition of exoplanets. Polarimetry is a promising method, which in the future may be the first method that can detect liquid water on extrasolar planets.Read moreRead less
Lunar crustal structure from high-res gravity, topography, and seismic data. This project aims to improve our knowledge of the Moon, including its surface processes, interior structure, modification by geological processes and creation and evolution. The Moon preserves the longest and cleanest records of surface geology in the Solar System’s history, unlike the Earth. The lunar crust should exhibit strong heterogeneity in density (both porosity and composition) given its complex history of impac ....Lunar crustal structure from high-res gravity, topography, and seismic data. This project aims to improve our knowledge of the Moon, including its surface processes, interior structure, modification by geological processes and creation and evolution. The Moon preserves the longest and cleanest records of surface geology in the Solar System’s history, unlike the Earth. The lunar crust should exhibit strong heterogeneity in density (both porosity and composition) given its complex history of impact bombardment and volcanism. This project aims to determine radial and lateral heterogeneity in density and porosity within the Moon's crust, by analysing Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory gravity and spacecraft tracking data, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter topography and in situ Apollo seismological data.Read moreRead less
Calibrating astronomical spectrographs to discover Earth-like planets. This project aims to develop a robust, ultra-precise calibration system that improves the precision of Doppler spectrographs by a factor of ten –sufficient to discover rocky planets. The holy grail of exoplanet research is the discovery of an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. The planet’s tug on its host star causes a periodic Doppler shift of the star’s spectrum which precision astronomical spectrog ....Calibrating astronomical spectrographs to discover Earth-like planets. This project aims to develop a robust, ultra-precise calibration system that improves the precision of Doppler spectrographs by a factor of ten –sufficient to discover rocky planets. The holy grail of exoplanet research is the discovery of an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. The planet’s tug on its host star causes a periodic Doppler shift of the star’s spectrum which precision astronomical spectrographs record. Detecting minute shifts from rocky planets needs better precision than the best spectrographs provide. This project expects to help to discover Earth twins, habitable worlds outside the Solar system.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