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Watching planets grow in real time. This project will conduct the first in-depth examination of the atmospheres of newly born small planets around other stars, yielding a better understanding of how planets evolve early in their lives. The atmosphere of our Earth is its most distinguishing feature. Key outcomes of this project include unveiling the mechanisms that drive the erosion of early planetary atmospheres, leading to a better understanding of the processes that sculpt all planets, includi ....Watching planets grow in real time. This project will conduct the first in-depth examination of the atmospheres of newly born small planets around other stars, yielding a better understanding of how planets evolve early in their lives. The atmosphere of our Earth is its most distinguishing feature. Key outcomes of this project include unveiling the mechanisms that drive the erosion of early planetary atmospheres, leading to a better understanding of the processes that sculpt all planets, including those in our own Solar System. The project leverages Australian and international expertise across exoplanetary, stellar, and Solar System astrophysics, with key outcomes in developing techniques for Australian utilisation of world-class multi-wavelength space facilities. Read moreRead less
Using the sounds of stars to reveal the Milky Way's evolution. This project aims to use a completely new approach to investigate how our Galaxy formed and evolved, by merging two fields within astrophysics – galactic archaeology and the study of stellar oscillations. This will dramatically improve understandings of the fundamental physics that governs the evolution of all cool stars, such as the Sun. This project aims to go beyond classical astronomy, which examines only the surface of stars. Fo ....Using the sounds of stars to reveal the Milky Way's evolution. This project aims to use a completely new approach to investigate how our Galaxy formed and evolved, by merging two fields within astrophysics – galactic archaeology and the study of stellar oscillations. This will dramatically improve understandings of the fundamental physics that governs the evolution of all cool stars, such as the Sun. This project aims to go beyond classical astronomy, which examines only the surface of stars. For the first time, the interior structure of thousands of stars across the Galaxy will be probed to reveal intricate details of its evolution from the imprint of each star's oscillations. This will be possible through access to data of extremely high precision from one European and two National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space telescopes.Read moreRead less
Revealing the history of the Milky Way Galaxy through precision stellar spectroscopy. How did the Milky Way Galaxy form? The answer to this fundamental question lies in the chemical compositions of stars. Enormous investments by the Australian and international community into state-of-the-art facilities and surveys will yield a 1 million star sample for chemical analysis. To fully harvest the information from those surveys requires stellar chemical composition measurements of the highest possibl ....Revealing the history of the Milky Way Galaxy through precision stellar spectroscopy. How did the Milky Way Galaxy form? The answer to this fundamental question lies in the chemical compositions of stars. Enormous investments by the Australian and international community into state-of-the-art facilities and surveys will yield a 1 million star sample for chemical analysis. To fully harvest the information from those surveys requires stellar chemical composition measurements of the highest possible precision. This project aims to use recently pioneered analysis techniques that have led the field of chemical abundance measurements in stars to the unprecedented precision level of 2 per cent (a five-fold improvement) to chart the evolution of our Galaxy over cosmic time.Read moreRead less
The life-stories of galaxies from stellar fossils. This project aims to derive stellar ages and chemical compositions to draw the precise evolutionary history of the Galaxy, using ongoing observational programmes. Stars hold the key to unveil the events that occurred throughout the history of our Galaxy, from the beginning of time until today. Their atmospheres retain a fossil record of the composition of the interstellar medium at the time of their formation, and the twinkling of their light te ....The life-stories of galaxies from stellar fossils. This project aims to derive stellar ages and chemical compositions to draw the precise evolutionary history of the Galaxy, using ongoing observational programmes. Stars hold the key to unveil the events that occurred throughout the history of our Galaxy, from the beginning of time until today. Their atmospheres retain a fossil record of the composition of the interstellar medium at the time of their formation, and the twinkling of their light tells us about their ages. Combining data from space-borne satellites and large Australian ground-based surveys is expected to lead to understanding of galaxy formation as a whole.Read moreRead less
Explosive evidence: connecting stellar abundances to supernova progenitors. This project aims to determine the evolutionary scenarios of thermonuclear supernovae through numerical simulations. Supernova explosions create heavy elements, such as iron, that enable life on Earth, and are instrumental in proving that the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. For all their importance, the nature of their progenitors is still a mystery, which has implications for many fields of astrophysics. ....Explosive evidence: connecting stellar abundances to supernova progenitors. This project aims to determine the evolutionary scenarios of thermonuclear supernovae through numerical simulations. Supernova explosions create heavy elements, such as iron, that enable life on Earth, and are instrumental in proving that the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. For all their importance, the nature of their progenitors is still a mystery, which has implications for many fields of astrophysics. Through building inter-institutional and international collaborations, the project is expected to determine where, when, and how often these explosions occur. Benefits will include development of new technological methods and exploitation of Australian-led survey data from national facilities.Read moreRead less
Revealing star and planet formation via infrared and millimetre-wave observations. Disks of dusty material around young stars are the birth places of planetary systems. By looking at the growth phase of dust from sub-micron to centimetre sizes, the evolution of the dust's composition and mineral structure, and the internal structure of the disk itself, we aim to better understand the physical processes behind planet building.
All-Sky Exoplanetology using NASA's Kepler, K2 and TESS Missions. The NASA space missions Kepler, K2 and TESS have revolutionized astronomy over the past decade through the discovery of thousands of planets orbiting other stars. This project will for the first time combine the data from these missions to perform a homogeneous all-sky characterization of exoplanets and their host stars, and perform follow-up observations using ground-based telescopes to precisely determine masses and architecture ....All-Sky Exoplanetology using NASA's Kepler, K2 and TESS Missions. The NASA space missions Kepler, K2 and TESS have revolutionized astronomy over the past decade through the discovery of thousands of planets orbiting other stars. This project will for the first time combine the data from these missions to perform a homogeneous all-sky characterization of exoplanets and their host stars, and perform follow-up observations using ground-based telescopes to precisely determine masses and architectures of exoplanet systems. The expected outcomes include the first insights into how the radius distribution of small exoplanets varies among different populations of stars in our Galaxy, and breakthrough discoveries into the formation, composition, and evolution of giant exoplanets.
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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
The origin and evolution of heavy elements in the early universe. Everything in our Solar System, including all life on Earth, was created long ago out of material forged inside fiery stellar furnaces. The latest theoretical simulations of element production in red giant stars reveals the processes that gave us our existence, as well as help us to understand the origin of the galaxy that we inhabit.
Directly Imaging Exoplanet Birth. Exoplanet research has now entered a new era. Radial velocity and transit techniques have shown that planetary systems are extremely varied and complex, with the secrets to their taxonomy buried at the earliest epochs of planetary system evolution. This project will directly image these earliest stages of planetary formation through innovative algorithms that make best use of the largest infrared telescopes in the world, utilising their full diffraction limit. R ....Directly Imaging Exoplanet Birth. Exoplanet research has now entered a new era. Radial velocity and transit techniques have shown that planetary systems are extremely varied and complex, with the secrets to their taxonomy buried at the earliest epochs of planetary system evolution. This project will directly image these earliest stages of planetary formation through innovative algorithms that make best use of the largest infrared telescopes in the world, utilising their full diffraction limit. Resulting images will be combined with advanced collaborative modelling and the use of the latest Australian spectroscopic surveys and instrumentation, in order to unravel the secrets of planetary birth.Read moreRead less