Ultra-faint signatures of galaxy growth seen through the cosmic haze. This project aims to uncover the cosmic cannibalism of galaxy mergers, by using innovative new instrumentation to detect some of the faintest structures ever seen by astronomers. The project will provide a comprehensive measurement of the mass growth experienced by large galaxies consuming their smaller siblings, which will provide a critical test of our understanding of dark matter. The project will also conduct ultra-high-se ....Ultra-faint signatures of galaxy growth seen through the cosmic haze. This project aims to uncover the cosmic cannibalism of galaxy mergers, by using innovative new instrumentation to detect some of the faintest structures ever seen by astronomers. The project will provide a comprehensive measurement of the mass growth experienced by large galaxies consuming their smaller siblings, which will provide a critical test of our understanding of dark matter. The project will also conduct ultra-high-sensitivity measurements of the foreground haze from nearby interstellar clouds, a crucial step towards mitigating its impact on billion-dollar projects such as the Euclid space telescope. The statistics of spatial structures in these clouds will help us to understand how new stars are born in our own Milky Way.Read moreRead less
Mapping the nearest habitable planetary systems with FunnelWeb and Veloce. This project aims to address questions of whether Earth is a uniquely habitable environment in the Universe. Within just a few years, we will discover the best planets to target in humanity's search for life outside our Solar System. Likely to be found orbiting low-mass M-dwarf stars, these planets will be the focus of bio-signature space missions for decades. Understanding how common these habitable M-dwarf planets are r ....Mapping the nearest habitable planetary systems with FunnelWeb and Veloce. This project aims to address questions of whether Earth is a uniquely habitable environment in the Universe. Within just a few years, we will discover the best planets to target in humanity's search for life outside our Solar System. Likely to be found orbiting low-mass M-dwarf stars, these planets will be the focus of bio-signature space missions for decades. Understanding how common these habitable M-dwarf planets are requires a comprehensive model for how the whole population of M-dwarf planets formed and evolved. This project will use new Australian facilities, FunnelWeb and Veloce, to map that broader landscape for M-dwarfs and their planets, and so deliver the critical context needed to interpret the coming wave of habitable planet discoveries.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE210100015
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,680,000.00
Summary
The Cherenkov Telescope Array - From Production towards Operation. The Cherenkov Telescope Array is a transformational facility in very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. It will be 10 times more sensitive than current instruments and will revolutionise many topics in high energy astrophysics, and in astro-particle physics such as dark matter. Over 1000 scientists from over 30 countries are involved and the first telescopes on the southern hemisphere site in Chile will be installed from about 2021 ....The Cherenkov Telescope Array - From Production towards Operation. The Cherenkov Telescope Array is a transformational facility in very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. It will be 10 times more sensitive than current instruments and will revolutionise many topics in high energy astrophysics, and in astro-particle physics such as dark matter. Over 1000 scientists from over 30 countries are involved and the first telescopes on the southern hemisphere site in Chile will be installed from about 2021. This project will ensure Australia's contribution to complete the facility, leading into its operations phase (starting in 2027). It will also fund unique optical astronomy hardware that will enable Australian scientific leadership in supporting some of the Cherenkov Telescope Array's Key Science Projects.
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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100104
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,390,000.00
Summary
The Cherenkov Telescope Array - Production phase. This project aims to ensure Australia’s contribution to the five-year production phase of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a very high energy gamma-ray astronomy instrument that is expected to transform both high energy astrophysics and astro-particle physics. Gamma-ray astronomy probes extreme processes in the Universe such as exploding stars, black holes, and mysterious dark matter. The project will maintain Australian access to all data an ....The Cherenkov Telescope Array - Production phase. This project aims to ensure Australia’s contribution to the five-year production phase of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a very high energy gamma-ray astronomy instrument that is expected to transform both high energy astrophysics and astro-particle physics. Gamma-ray astronomy probes extreme processes in the Universe such as exploding stars, black holes, and mysterious dark matter. The project will maintain Australian access to all data and key science programmes of the CTA. Australian astronomers will be able to directly influence the major astrophysics goals of CTA, and link in with Australia's flagship astronomical infrastructure. This is expected to benefit astrophysics, big data processing, electronics, atmospheric physics and optics.Read moreRead less
Galactic seismology: a new window on Milky Way's evolution. This project aims to investigate how the Milky Way responds to the passage of a small dwarf galaxy through its plane. This is motivated by the observational discovery of largescale waves crossing the Milky Way disc, and by new related supercomputer simulations. The project expects to generate new knowledge in this field, based on further supercomputer simulations and comparison of the predictions with new data from the Gaia space missio ....Galactic seismology: a new window on Milky Way's evolution. This project aims to investigate how the Milky Way responds to the passage of a small dwarf galaxy through its plane. This is motivated by the observational discovery of largescale waves crossing the Milky Way disc, and by new related supercomputer simulations. The project expects to generate new knowledge in this field, based on further supercomputer simulations and comparison of the predictions with new data from the Gaia space mission. Expected outcomes of the project include a demonstration of the diagnostic power of this new seismological approach to galaxy evolution. The project promises significant benefits in the form of establishing Australia as a leader in Galactic seismology, as it is in the field of Galactic archaeology.
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Magnetic fields and atomic gas flows in the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds. This project aims to understand how gas and magnetic fields interact to set the fate of galaxies. Magnetism, alongside gravity, is one of the most influential forces in determining the structure and evolution of the Universe, and yet one of the least understood. Using Australia's newest astronomy investment, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, this project hopes to reveal the linkage of magnetism and atomi ....Magnetic fields and atomic gas flows in the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds. This project aims to understand how gas and magnetic fields interact to set the fate of galaxies. Magnetism, alongside gravity, is one of the most influential forces in determining the structure and evolution of the Universe, and yet one of the least understood. Using Australia's newest astronomy investment, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, this project hopes to reveal the linkage of magnetism and atomic gas flows in our own Milky Way and between its galactic neighbours, the Magellanic Clouds. The expected outcomes of this project include the delivery of one of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder key science projects, improved understanding of how galaxies evolve and training students in scientific skills.Read moreRead less
Probing dark matter through the small scale structure of the universe. This project aims to discover clues to the nature of dark matter buried in small-scale structures. Although observational probes reliably constrain these systems, theoretical progress is hampered by difficulties disentangling the complex baryonic physics from the micro-physics of the dark matter particle in shaping the structure of low-mass galaxies. The project will tackle this problem using sophisticated numerical simulatio ....Probing dark matter through the small scale structure of the universe. This project aims to discover clues to the nature of dark matter buried in small-scale structures. Although observational probes reliably constrain these systems, theoretical progress is hampered by difficulties disentangling the complex baryonic physics from the micro-physics of the dark matter particle in shaping the structure of low-mass galaxies. The project will tackle this problem using sophisticated numerical simulations which separate these effects, allowing them to be isolated. The results are expected to show how low-mass galaxy formed, and to have important implications for modelling dark matter annihilation and for interpreting data from forthcoming surveys.Read moreRead less
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