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Massive black holes in dense star clusters. This project will be investigating the metamorphosis of dense star clusters containing millions of stars into massive black holes at the centres of galaxies. The research will be undertaken using the world's largest optical telescopes and one of the nation's fastest supercomputers.
The hearts of galaxies. The centres of galaxies harbour fascinating astrophysical objects, such as black holes one thousand million times more massive than our Sun. This project will measure the damage that they have caused, searching for binary black holes, and helping to determine the extent to which galaxies have collided.
Numerical modelling of the solar atmosphere. This project will develop a complete and realistic model of the magnetic solar activity using computer simulations of the interconnected solar interior and atmosphere. The results of this project will provide a deeper insight into the physical processes behind solar activity phenomena and will help in the development of methods of solar activity prediction.
FIRE-DRIVE: Feedback in Realistic Environments to DRIVE turbulence. This project aims to understand galactic turbulence, which controls the formation of stars in the Universe and determines galaxy evolution and planet formation. Galactic turbulence is not yet well understood. This project’s goal is to determine the turbulence driving with realistic simulations and compare them to observations, to predict star, planet and galaxy formation and evolution. The simulations and observational tools dev ....FIRE-DRIVE: Feedback in Realistic Environments to DRIVE turbulence. This project aims to understand galactic turbulence, which controls the formation of stars in the Universe and determines galaxy evolution and planet formation. Galactic turbulence is not yet well understood. This project’s goal is to determine the turbulence driving with realistic simulations and compare them to observations, to predict star, planet and galaxy formation and evolution. The simulations and observational tools developed in this project will transform our understanding of galactic cloud and star formation, advancing international and Australian research on galaxies, stars and planets.Read moreRead less
SkyMapper and the Southern Sky Survey. The Southern Sky Survey is the first digital imaging survey of the entire southern hemisphere sky. The resulting information on a billion stellar and galaxy images underpins a number of significant national science programs of international prominence. These include the discovery of the oldest stars in our galaxy, fossils from its formation.
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
The formation of the first stars in the universe. This project aims to solve one of the fundamental problems in astrophysics, how the first stars in the Universe were formed after the Big Bang. Using high-resolution simulations, including magnetic fields and jet/outflow feedback, the mass function of the first stars can be determined. The project will transform our understanding of how the first heavy elements were created in the Universe, providing crucial input for Australian-lead internationa ....The formation of the first stars in the universe. This project aims to solve one of the fundamental problems in astrophysics, how the first stars in the Universe were formed after the Big Bang. Using high-resolution simulations, including magnetic fields and jet/outflow feedback, the mass function of the first stars can be determined. The project will transform our understanding of how the first heavy elements were created in the Universe, providing crucial input for Australian-lead international and national observational surveys, and semi-analytic models of galaxy, star and planet formation, all directly following the formation of the first stars. This project will contribute to three of the six big questions defined in the Decadal Plan for Australian Astronomy 2016-2025, expand knowledge in the physical sciences and drive the next generation of large facilities and Australian frontier technologies.Read moreRead less
“Beacons in the Night” unveiling how galaxies light up dark matter. How dark matter influences the formation and evolution of galaxies is to this day an outstanding question in astrophysics. To answer it, world-class facilities and a unique combination of observations and theory are required. This DP team, a world-class team of observers and theorists, will tackle this question by leveraging on two multi-million dollar projects: the MAGPI galaxy survey and the hydrodynamical simulations suite EA ....“Beacons in the Night” unveiling how galaxies light up dark matter. How dark matter influences the formation and evolution of galaxies is to this day an outstanding question in astrophysics. To answer it, world-class facilities and a unique combination of observations and theory are required. This DP team, a world-class team of observers and theorists, will tackle this question by leveraging on two multi-million dollar projects: the MAGPI galaxy survey and the hydrodynamical simulations suite EAGLE-XL. MAGPI will deliver exquisite kinematics for hundreds of galaxies in the middle ages of the Universe, providing a view to the effect of dark matter on galaxies at this critical time, while EAGLE-XL represents the technological frontier in simulations and provides the best interpretative framework for MAGPI.Read moreRead less
Continuous Reaction Networks that Model Chemical Evolution of RNA. This Project aims to develop experimental models for chemical evolution that may have happened on the early Earth and which were important to the emergence of life. This Project expects to uncover synthetic pathways for ribonucleotide production using a combination of ionizing radiation and dry-wet cycles. Expected outcomes include an increased understanding of the range of physical and chemical parameters that will allow for rib ....Continuous Reaction Networks that Model Chemical Evolution of RNA. This Project aims to develop experimental models for chemical evolution that may have happened on the early Earth and which were important to the emergence of life. This Project expects to uncover synthetic pathways for ribonucleotide production using a combination of ionizing radiation and dry-wet cycles. Expected outcomes include an increased understanding of the range of physical and chemical parameters that will allow for ribonucleotide production to occur under the proposed geochemical settings. The knowledge gained in this Project will benefit the understanding of the chemical evolution of complex chemical mixtures relevant to early Earth environments and provide new mechanisms for how ribonucleotides could have arisen abiotically.Read moreRead less
The birth of stars and planets. How are stars and planets formed? The question is critical to understanding the evolution of the Universe. This project will address four questions: Does turbulence determine the mass of stars? How do magnetic fields in the star formation process change the mass distribution of stars? Can we model the formation of stars on the scale of observed stellar nurseries in the Milky Way? What are the starting ingredients for planet formation? The project will achieve this ....The birth of stars and planets. How are stars and planets formed? The question is critical to understanding the evolution of the Universe. This project will address four questions: Does turbulence determine the mass of stars? How do magnetic fields in the star formation process change the mass distribution of stars? Can we model the formation of stars on the scale of observed stellar nurseries in the Milky Way? What are the starting ingredients for planet formation? The project will achieve this by performing the world's largest and most detailed supercomputer simulations of star cluster formation, while developing new algorithms and simulation methods for fluid dynamics, building collaborations across six countries and publicly releasing a major simulation code.Read moreRead less