Ancient stars: the origin of elements. The story of the origin of the elements fascinates mankind and touches many branches of science. This project combines new stellar population models of the oldest stars with new data from the Australian million-star GALactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey to address basic astrophysical problems: mixing in stars, mass transfer in binary stars and measurement of the masses of the first stars. Knowing how these ancient stars behave is crucial to unders ....Ancient stars: the origin of elements. The story of the origin of the elements fascinates mankind and touches many branches of science. This project combines new stellar population models of the oldest stars with new data from the Australian million-star GALactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey to address basic astrophysical problems: mixing in stars, mass transfer in binary stars and measurement of the masses of the first stars. Knowing how these ancient stars behave is crucial to understanding element production in the early Universe, both in our Milky Way and distant galaxies. By statistically comparing new models to the GALAH data, this project aims to measure the masses of the oldest galactic stars directly impacting branches of astrophysics from planets to galaxies.Read moreRead less
Gravitational wave detection through millisecond pulsar timing. This project aims to detect gravitational waves (GWs) using precision pulsar timing observations. Direct detection of GWs is of huge international importance and would place Australia at the forefront of the new research field of GW astronomy. The project provides a link between current GW detection experiments and the GW astronomy that will become commonplace with future telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). It wil ....Gravitational wave detection through millisecond pulsar timing. This project aims to detect gravitational waves (GWs) using precision pulsar timing observations. Direct detection of GWs is of huge international importance and would place Australia at the forefront of the new research field of GW astronomy. The project provides a link between current GW detection experiments and the GW astronomy that will become commonplace with future telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). It will answer important questions in relativistic astrophysics, cosmology and planetary astronomy. The groundwork for SKA science proposed here will demonstrate Australian commitment to the SKA. Read moreRead less
Imaging circumstellar matter at high resolution. Within contemporary astrophysics there is a particular fascination with matter in near-stellar environments. Studies of stellar and planetary systems from formation through to eventual destruction entail observation of material, principally dust and gas, playing their parts on a very remote stage. A new generation of telescopes, known as interferometers, deliver extremely high resolutions enabling our first direct glimpses of these phenomena. Here ....Imaging circumstellar matter at high resolution. Within contemporary astrophysics there is a particular fascination with matter in near-stellar environments. Studies of stellar and planetary systems from formation through to eventual destruction entail observation of material, principally dust and gas, playing their parts on a very remote stage. A new generation of telescopes, known as interferometers, deliver extremely high resolutions enabling our first direct glimpses of these phenomena. Here I propose using a number of these devices in concert in order to dramatically enhance their scientific payoff. In addition to enabling unique studies of stellar systems, new techniques for merging disparate data into powerful combined forms will be devised.Read moreRead less
Gravitational-wave astronomy: detection and beyond. This project aims to detect ripples in the fabric of spacetime known as gravitational waves by using new data analysis techniques while developing technology to enable the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors. Detection of gravitational waves would constitute a revolution in astronomy, allowing us to probe the most dramatic events in the Universe with a new form of radiation. During the next five years, it is probable that gravitatio ....Gravitational-wave astronomy: detection and beyond. This project aims to detect ripples in the fabric of spacetime known as gravitational waves by using new data analysis techniques while developing technology to enable the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors. Detection of gravitational waves would constitute a revolution in astronomy, allowing us to probe the most dramatic events in the Universe with a new form of radiation. During the next five years, it is probable that gravitational waves will be detected. Terrestrial detectors, operating in the audio band, and pulsar timing arrays, operating in the nanohertz band, are both rapidly approaching the required sensitivity. This project is designed to make important contributions to gravitational-wave astronomy at a crucial time.Read moreRead less