Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100164
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
GNOSIS: a new window on the early universe using revolutionary photonic technology. Australian astronomers have a long history in innovative instrumentation and are some of the early pioneers in infrared astronomy. The GNOSIS project brings together leading Australian astronomers to build on past success. This facility instrument makes use of recent technological advances in photonics—a key strength of Australian research and industry—to provide a dramatic improvement in observational sensitivit ....GNOSIS: a new window on the early universe using revolutionary photonic technology. Australian astronomers have a long history in innovative instrumentation and are some of the early pioneers in infrared astronomy. The GNOSIS project brings together leading Australian astronomers to build on past success. This facility instrument makes use of recent technological advances in photonics—a key strength of Australian research and industry—to provide a dramatic improvement in observational sensitivity at these wavelengths. This will allow Australian astronomers to carry out new science programmes that have not been possible to date. These programmes include unprecedented observations of very cool low mass stars, the first chemical information on dust-embedded star clusters, and accurate ages for distant galaxies.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100013
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
A sensitive tip-tilt wave-front sensor for the multi-conjugate adaptive-optics system on the Gemini south telescope. A sensitive tip-tilt wavefront sensor for the multi-conjugate adaptive-optics system on the Gemini South telescope: This project will construct a sensitive tip-tilt wavefront sensor for GeMS, the multi-conjugate adaptive-optics system on the Gemini South telescope in Chile. GeMS is a unique and revolutionary new system that delivers near-infrared images at similar resolution to th ....A sensitive tip-tilt wave-front sensor for the multi-conjugate adaptive-optics system on the Gemini south telescope. A sensitive tip-tilt wavefront sensor for the multi-conjugate adaptive-optics system on the Gemini South telescope: This project will construct a sensitive tip-tilt wavefront sensor for GeMS, the multi-conjugate adaptive-optics system on the Gemini South telescope in Chile. GeMS is a unique and revolutionary new system that delivers near-infrared images at similar resolution to the Hubble Space Telescope at optical wavelengths over wide fields. With this improvement in technology it will be possible to do this on much fainter objects than is currently possible using this new wave-front sensor. This will allow GeMS to routinely study the morphologies of external galaxies at high angular resolution - greatly extending its science scope. Sharper images will also be obtained for all objects that are currently accessible, leading to higher quality science data.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100094
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
The Mopra Radio Telescope. The Mopra Radio Telescope:
This project aims to use Australia’s Mopra Radio Telescope – the largest millimetre-wave dish in the southern hemisphere – to complete a survey of the distribution of molecular gas across the southern Milky Way. The millimetre-wavelength sky holds the key for understanding molecular clouds in which stars are born, and the Mopra Telescope is the world’s most capable facility for imaging these clouds. The expected outcome is an order of magnit ....The Mopra Radio Telescope. The Mopra Radio Telescope:
This project aims to use Australia’s Mopra Radio Telescope – the largest millimetre-wave dish in the southern hemisphere – to complete a survey of the distribution of molecular gas across the southern Milky Way. The millimetre-wavelength sky holds the key for understanding molecular clouds in which stars are born, and the Mopra Telescope is the world’s most capable facility for imaging these clouds. The expected outcome is an order of magnitude improvement in the clarity of our view of this central component of the Galaxy. The project also aims to enable Mopra to serve as a key element in the Australian Long Baseline Array. The project aims to ensure Australian involvement in three grand design international endeavours.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101364
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$316,720.00
Summary
Exploring Distant Worlds using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration space telescope Kepler is currently revolutionising planetary and stellar astrophysics through the detection of thousands of new extrasolar planets and oscillating stars. This project will use Kepler data to measure oscillations in exoplanet host stars, detect new planets around red-giant stars and improve our understanding of all stars observed by Kepler. The results are expected to y ....Exploring Distant Worlds using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration space telescope Kepler is currently revolutionising planetary and stellar astrophysics through the detection of thousands of new extrasolar planets and oscillating stars. This project will use Kepler data to measure oscillations in exoplanet host stars, detect new planets around red-giant stars and improve our understanding of all stars observed by Kepler. The results are expected to yield the first precisely measured radius of an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone around a Sun-like star, lead to breakthrough discoveries in the theory of the formation and composition of gas-giant planets and result in the first accurate estimate of the frequency of Earth-like planets in our galaxy.Read moreRead less
New frontiers for Australian exoplanetary science. There can be few questions more fundamental for a scientist's research to address than 'Is our home here on Earth unique? Or ubiquitous?' This project will undertake world-leading observations using revolutionary new Australian facilities, to enable breakthrough results that bear on this question.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100087
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$760,000.00
Summary
Veloce - Australia's Next-Generation Planet Foundry. Veloce - Australia's next-generation planet foundry: This project will deliver to Australian astronomers a high-resolution, ultra-stabilised, red-wavelength-optimised spectrograph capable of delivering high-precision doppler velocities for the transiting exoplanet host-stars being discovered now by southern hemisphere transit-planet searches, and for the coming wave of discoveries to be made by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TES ....Veloce - Australia's Next-Generation Planet Foundry. Veloce - Australia's next-generation planet foundry: This project will deliver to Australian astronomers a high-resolution, ultra-stabilised, red-wavelength-optimised spectrograph capable of delivering high-precision doppler velocities for the transiting exoplanet host-stars being discovered now by southern hemisphere transit-planet searches, and for the coming wave of discoveries to be made by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). In addition it will enable a vast suite of new research programs in exoplanetary science and galactic archaeology, as well as providing a sound base of ultra-stable infrastructure enabling future expansion to cover the full optical wavelength range at minimal cost.Read moreRead less
The Evolution of Gas in Galaxy Groups. The evolution of gas in galaxy groups is poorly understood, but is crucial to understanding galaxy evolution. This project provides a training opportunity for a talented postdoc to conduct the first `multiwavelength census' of southern galaxy groups, perform simulations and make predictions of group properties at early times. We will better understand the evolutionary processes in groups and provide a `local anchor' for future surveys. The knowledge gained ....The Evolution of Gas in Galaxy Groups. The evolution of gas in galaxy groups is poorly understood, but is crucial to understanding galaxy evolution. This project provides a training opportunity for a talented postdoc to conduct the first `multiwavelength census' of southern galaxy groups, perform simulations and make predictions of group properties at early times. We will better understand the evolutionary processes in groups and provide a `local anchor' for future surveys. The knowledge gained will feed directly into the design of the future Square Kilometre Array, and raise Australia's profile in this $1B project. We exploit Australia's best astronomical facilities, and establish a new University-CSIRO collaboration.
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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0236657
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$210,000.00
Summary
Renewed Great Melbourne Telescope: Opening a Window on the Universe. We propose to refurbish the Great Melbourne Telescope (GMT) located at Mount Stromlo Observatory with a new state-of-the-art imager. This instrument will be available to the entire Australian Astronomical community, and will allow Australian researchers to undertake cutting edge research with this world leading two colour wide field imager. A fully automated observing and data reduction pipeline, a world first for a telescope o ....Renewed Great Melbourne Telescope: Opening a Window on the Universe. We propose to refurbish the Great Melbourne Telescope (GMT) located at Mount Stromlo Observatory with a new state-of-the-art imager. This instrument will be available to the entire Australian Astronomical community, and will allow Australian researchers to undertake cutting edge research with this world leading two colour wide field imager. A fully automated observing and data reduction pipeline, a world first for a telescope of this size, means astronomers can work on their data, analyzing everything from the Solar System, to the most distant objects in the Universe, rather than spending night after night at the telescope.Read moreRead less
Illuminating the Universe with Exploding Stars. We are using Exploding Stars (Supernovae and Gamma Ray Bursts) to measure fundamental properties of the Universe. We use Type Ia Supernovaeto trace the Expansion History of the Universe and learn about the nature of the Dark Energy which currently dominates the Universe. We use Gamma Ray Bursts to illuminate the gas in and around galaxies to measure the chemical composition and structure of the Early Universe.