A changing climate for calcification on the Great Barrier Reef: past, present and future. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a national and international icon, recognised through its inscription as a World Heritage Area and economic and social value to Australians. Maintenance of the GBR as we know it is now compromised by a rapidly changing climate. Ocean acidification, warming water temperatures and increased freshwater will progressively be detrimental to the fundamental reef-building process ....A changing climate for calcification on the Great Barrier Reef: past, present and future. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a national and international icon, recognised through its inscription as a World Heritage Area and economic and social value to Australians. Maintenance of the GBR as we know it is now compromised by a rapidly changing climate. Ocean acidification, warming water temperatures and increased freshwater will progressively be detrimental to the fundamental reef-building process of calcification. Informed policy and management strategies in a rapidly changing physical environment require determination, for short and long time frames, of the regional consequences and impacts of changing reef-building capacity.Read moreRead less
The Galaxy Genome Project 2. The Galaxy Genome Project builds on the Anglo-Australian Observatory's (AAO) major investments and world-leading strengths in wide-field survey astronomy and multi-object spectrographs. Combining the AAO's ongoing and planned survey programs with data from other new Australian facilities, such as SkyMapper and Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, will increase the scientific productivity and impact of all of these major Australian investments and leverage ac ....The Galaxy Genome Project 2. The Galaxy Genome Project builds on the Anglo-Australian Observatory's (AAO) major investments and world-leading strengths in wide-field survey astronomy and multi-object spectrographs. Combining the AAO's ongoing and planned survey programs with data from other new Australian facilities, such as SkyMapper and Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, will increase the scientific productivity and impact of all of these major Australian investments and leverage access for Australian researchers in other leading international astronomical surveys and facilities. The project will also increase the international profile of Australian astronomy and enhance the prospects of Australian scientific and technical involvement in next-generation astronomical facilities such as Square Kilometre Array and Giant Magellan Telescope.Read moreRead less
The Galaxy Genome Project 1. The Galaxy Genome Project builds on the Anglo-Australian Observatory's (AAO) major investments and world-leading strengths in wide-field survey astronomy and multi-object spectrographs. Combining the AAO's ongoing and planned survey programs with data from other new Australian facilities, such as SkyMapper and Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, this project will increase the scientific productivity and impact of all of these major Australian investments an ....The Galaxy Genome Project 1. The Galaxy Genome Project builds on the Anglo-Australian Observatory's (AAO) major investments and world-leading strengths in wide-field survey astronomy and multi-object spectrographs. Combining the AAO's ongoing and planned survey programs with data from other new Australian facilities, such as SkyMapper and Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, this project will increase the scientific productivity and impact of all of these major Australian investments and leverage access for Australian researchers in other leading international astronomical surveys and facilities. The project will also increase the international profile of Australian astronomy and enhance the prospects of Australian scientific and technical involvement in next-generation astronomical facilities such as Square Kilometre Array and Giant Magellan Telescope.Read moreRead less
Australia Surveys the Galaxies: The Central Role of Environment. The success of Australia's premier astronomical facilities is critical to the development of Australian astronomy in the 21st century. Understanding how galaxies grow and evolve (including our Milky Way) is one of the principal goals of these facilities. This program aims to understand galaxy evolution, by exploring the connection between galaxies and their environments. The Super Science Fellows will gain new insights into the lon ....Australia Surveys the Galaxies: The Central Role of Environment. The success of Australia's premier astronomical facilities is critical to the development of Australian astronomy in the 21st century. Understanding how galaxies grow and evolve (including our Milky Way) is one of the principal goals of these facilities. This program aims to understand galaxy evolution, by exploring the connection between galaxies and their environments. The Super Science Fellows will gain new insights into the longstanding problem of galaxy evolution, and build upon Australia's investment in 21st century astrophysics.Read moreRead less
Large-scale maps of the universe: Enabling wide-field science with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and the Square Kilometre Array. Observational capabilities in astronomy continue to make great advances across the electromagnetic spectrum. The first truly global facility for radio astronomy will be the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an international $2.5 billion project scheduled for deployment between 2015 and 2020, for which the proposed Australian site has been short-listed. T ....Large-scale maps of the universe: Enabling wide-field science with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and the Square Kilometre Array. Observational capabilities in astronomy continue to make great advances across the electromagnetic spectrum. The first truly global facility for radio astronomy will be the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an international $2.5 billion project scheduled for deployment between 2015 and 2020, for which the proposed Australian site has been short-listed. The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) is a next generation radio telescope that is on the strategic pathway towards the staged development and deployment of the SKA. By refining the ASKAP technology and enabling its scientific success we address the national strategic goal of ensuring Australia's technological and scientific readiness for the SKA.Read moreRead less
Neutral Hydrogen in the Universe. This proposal will improve our understanding of the origin and continuing evolution of galaxies like our own Milky Way. It will do so by using powerful new telescopes such as the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), being constructed by CSIRO in Western Australia, and new supercomputers to be provided by the new Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre for Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Science in Perth. Combined with expertise in areas of astroph ....Neutral Hydrogen in the Universe. This proposal will improve our understanding of the origin and continuing evolution of galaxies like our own Milky Way. It will do so by using powerful new telescopes such as the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), being constructed by CSIRO in Western Australia, and new supercomputers to be provided by the new Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre for Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Science in Perth. Combined with expertise in areas of astrophysics and information technology, the research outlined in this proposal will further advance the case for Australia's bid to host the SKA by establishing a strong community of scientists capable of developing the science and Information and Communication Technologies components for one of the SKA's most important goals.Read moreRead less
Space Science and Astronomy: Dissecting the Galaxy with High Resolution Multi-Object Echelle Spectrograph (HERMES) II: Decisive Observations. Australia has long been a world leader in wide-field astronomical surveys, and the new High Resolution Multi-Object Echelle Spectrograph (HERMES) being built for the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) will enhance that leadership position. Through a combination of Australian technological and scientific advances, the surveys we conduct with HERMES will allow ....Space Science and Astronomy: Dissecting the Galaxy with High Resolution Multi-Object Echelle Spectrograph (HERMES) II: Decisive Observations. Australia has long been a world leader in wide-field astronomical surveys, and the new High Resolution Multi-Object Echelle Spectrograph (HERMES) being built for the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) will enhance that leadership position. Through a combination of Australian technological and scientific advances, the surveys we conduct with HERMES will allow us to study galaxy formation and stellar astrophysics in unprecedented detail. There are powerful synergies between HERMES and Skymapper, another Australian astronomical survey, as well as with Gaia, the billion-dollar European space mission for studying the Galaxy; HERMES will thus promote both national and international research collaboration. In this proposal we lay the observational groundwork for maximising the scientific return from HERMES.Read moreRead less
Accretion and Feedback in Galaxies with Cosmic Time. Australia is a world leader in both astronomy and photonics. This proposal seeks to exploit a revolutionary device that is the first developed from the new cross-over field of astrophotonics. The Gemini Near-infrared OH Suppression IFU System (GNOSIS) instrument will showcase Australian industry development in optical fibres and will keep Australian astronomers at the forefront of international research. This will lead to major advantages wh ....Accretion and Feedback in Galaxies with Cosmic Time. Australia is a world leader in both astronomy and photonics. This proposal seeks to exploit a revolutionary device that is the first developed from the new cross-over field of astrophotonics. The Gemini Near-infrared OH Suppression IFU System (GNOSIS) instrument will showcase Australian industry development in optical fibres and will keep Australian astronomers at the forefront of international research. This will lead to major advantages when developing future instrumentation for next generation telescopes such at the Giant Magellan Telescope, enabling Australia to continue to lead astronomy and astronomical instrumentation into the next decade and beyond.Read moreRead less
Geophysical, Galactic, and Extra-Galactic Science with the AuScope and Australian Pathfinder Arrays. Two new radio telescope arrays are under construction in Australia. One is the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, near Geraldton. The other is a very long baseline array with antennae near Hobart, Katherine, and Yarragadee. These three antennae work together to observe radio sources far away across the universe. Their observations are used to establish a very accurate coordinate syste ....Geophysical, Galactic, and Extra-Galactic Science with the AuScope and Australian Pathfinder Arrays. Two new radio telescope arrays are under construction in Australia. One is the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, near Geraldton. The other is a very long baseline array with antennae near Hobart, Katherine, and Yarragadee. These three antennae work together to observe radio sources far away across the universe. Their observations are used to establish a very accurate coordinate system or reference frame on the earth, to which the global positioning system is aligned. This program will use these new radio telescope arrays to study the Milky Way and other galaxies, and to study continental drift and sea-level rise on the Earth.Read moreRead less
Exploiting the discovery of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies in the southern hemisphere sky. The scientific exploitation of newly discovered southern hemisphere ultra-faint Milky Way satellite galaxies will make Australia a leader in this rapidly developing research field. It will be enabled by access to national and international telescope facilities such as the Anglo- Australian Telescope (AAT), Gemini and Magellan, and by access to national computing resources for theoretical simulations. National ....Exploiting the discovery of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies in the southern hemisphere sky. The scientific exploitation of newly discovered southern hemisphere ultra-faint Milky Way satellite galaxies will make Australia a leader in this rapidly developing research field. It will be enabled by access to national and international telescope facilities such as the Anglo- Australian Telescope (AAT), Gemini and Magellan, and by access to national computing resources for theoretical simulations. National benefit will also flow from collaborations between the team and its Super Science Fellows and researchers at overseas institutions. Results from the project will motivate research programs for the coming era of extremely large telescopes and will position the Fellows as potential future leaders in the exploiting the scientific potential of those facilities.Read moreRead less