Noise-free Cryogenic Wavefront Sensing. This project aims to optimise the prototype adaptive optics technology for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) by leveraging past investment in adaptive optics instrumentation and shortwave infrared detector systems. This project expects to generate significant improvements in GMT performance, with ten times greater image resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope and current estimates of >90% sky coverage, compared with ~50% coverage for current technology ....Noise-free Cryogenic Wavefront Sensing. This project aims to optimise the prototype adaptive optics technology for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) by leveraging past investment in adaptive optics instrumentation and shortwave infrared detector systems. This project expects to generate significant improvements in GMT performance, with ten times greater image resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope and current estimates of >90% sky coverage, compared with ~50% coverage for current technology. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of a highly trained workforce and continued international collaboration in the field of high-technology sensor systems. This contribution to the GMT will provide significant benefits—it will change the way we view the Universe.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100165
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$792,859.00
Summary
Veloce Verde+Azzuro - Tripling the Power of Australia's Planet Foundry. This project aims to better understand humanity’s place in the Universe, including questions such as whether we are alone or if our home in the Solar System is unique or common. This project will enable new observations using a revolutionary Australian facility, Veloce Verde+Azzuro. Moving beyond discovering habitable planets around dim red stars, it will enable science on the properties and system architectures of planets o ....Veloce Verde+Azzuro - Tripling the Power of Australia's Planet Foundry. This project aims to better understand humanity’s place in the Universe, including questions such as whether we are alone or if our home in the Solar System is unique or common. This project will enable new observations using a revolutionary Australian facility, Veloce Verde+Azzuro. Moving beyond discovering habitable planets around dim red stars, it will enable science on the properties and system architectures of planets orbiting stars like the Sun. It will deliver a ten-fold increase in collecting power for Sun-like stars, providing understanding of how exoplanetary systems, and our Solar System, were formed.Read moreRead less
The worlds next door: terrestrial exoplanets with the TOLIMAN space mission. This project aims to to explore our nearest neighbour star system, Alpha Centauri, for the first time probing for exoplanets with physical characteristics that resemble those of Earth. The finding of any such world, with the potential to support a biosphere like our own and lying only 4 light-years away, would profoundly alter our view of our place in the universe. The primary outcome of this project will be the design, ....The worlds next door: terrestrial exoplanets with the TOLIMAN space mission. This project aims to to explore our nearest neighbour star system, Alpha Centauri, for the first time probing for exoplanets with physical characteristics that resemble those of Earth. The finding of any such world, with the potential to support a biosphere like our own and lying only 4 light-years away, would profoundly alter our view of our place in the universe. The primary outcome of this project will be the design, construction, launch and operation of a novel and innovative space telescope: the TOLIMAN mission. This profoundly benefits the Australian space and university sectors, partnering them with international agencies to deliver marquee science with global impact: the search for our first stepping stone to interstellar space.Read moreRead less
The Births and Deaths of Stars. This project aims to investigate how the formation of planets and their stars are intertwined, by determining the ages, masses and compositions of the stars to unprecedented precision. It will probe the nature of compact remnants left behind when stars undergo supernova explosions by using an innovative approach to studying the motions of stars through space. Expected outcomes include the discovery of the closest supernova remnants to Earth, and detailed character ....The Births and Deaths of Stars. This project aims to investigate how the formation of planets and their stars are intertwined, by determining the ages, masses and compositions of the stars to unprecedented precision. It will probe the nature of compact remnants left behind when stars undergo supernova explosions by using an innovative approach to studying the motions of stars through space. Expected outcomes include the discovery of the closest supernova remnants to Earth, and detailed characterisations of the orbits of several hundred binary stars to reveal how stars form. This should provide significant benefits to major Australian astronomical surveys that are trying to understand Earth’s place within our Galaxy.Read moreRead less
Non-equilibrium reacting shock layers. This project aims is to study the non-equilibrium aerodynamic processes involved in hypervelocity flight. The design of vehicles for high speed flight is critically dependent on modelling the interactions between the flow field and the airframe, and the current lack of understanding is restricting the scope and benefit of viable activities in space. The expected outcomes include the ability to design optimised heat shields and air-frames with minimum mass a ....Non-equilibrium reacting shock layers. This project aims is to study the non-equilibrium aerodynamic processes involved in hypervelocity flight. The design of vehicles for high speed flight is critically dependent on modelling the interactions between the flow field and the airframe, and the current lack of understanding is restricting the scope and benefit of viable activities in space. The expected outcomes include the ability to design optimised heat shields and air-frames with minimum mass and maximum payload, precisely targeting specific flight conditions and vehicle shapes. The prospective benefits include increased productivity and reliability and reduced cost of missions to and from space, and a proliferation of new applications which this understanding will facilitate.Read moreRead less
Dispersion of spacecraft components during re-entry. Destructive re-entry trajectories for used satellites are designed so debris remaining after re-entry falls harmlessly to the Earth. However, the dramatic increase in the mass of orbiting objects has outpaced improvements in predicting hazardous impact zones. This project aims to develop the experimental and theoretical methods needed to study separation of objects in hypersonic flow in order to better predict the dispersion of debris from re- ....Dispersion of spacecraft components during re-entry. Destructive re-entry trajectories for used satellites are designed so debris remaining after re-entry falls harmlessly to the Earth. However, the dramatic increase in the mass of orbiting objects has outpaced improvements in predicting hazardous impact zones. This project aims to develop the experimental and theoretical methods needed to study separation of objects in hypersonic flow in order to better predict the dispersion of debris from re-entering space objects. New hypersonic wind tunnel experiments, modelling, and computational simulations will be performed to enhance our understanding and improve predictions of how spacecraft components are dispersed during re-entry.Read moreRead less