Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100055
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$560,000.00
Summary
The Australian European Southern Observatory Positioner (AESOP). The Australian European Southern Observatory Positioner (AESOP): The aim of the Australian European Southern Observatory Positioner (AESOP) is to fund the construction costs of an innovative instrument to be built in Australia and installed onto the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) VISTA telescope. Australia leads the world in fibre-positioning instrumentation and their scientific exploitation. This project will allow Australi ....The Australian European Southern Observatory Positioner (AESOP). The Australian European Southern Observatory Positioner (AESOP): The aim of the Australian European Southern Observatory Positioner (AESOP) is to fund the construction costs of an innovative instrument to be built in Australia and installed onto the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) VISTA telescope. Australia leads the world in fibre-positioning instrumentation and their scientific exploitation. This project will allow Australian researchers to take a leading role through major studies of the spatial distributions of galaxies. The outcomes of the project will be construction and delivery of an optical fibre-positioning system to the ESO, resulting in general access to the ESO's premier survey facility for eight Australian researchers.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100145
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,000.00
Summary
Australian membership of the European 4MOST Consortium. Australian membership of the European 4MOST consortium:
The objective of this project is to build the positioner at the Australian Astronomical Observatory to enable participation in the upcoming programs of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The 4MOST Consortium is modifying one of the ESO telescopes for a 10-year campaign of dedicated wide-field astronomy programs. A key component of this upgrade will be the Australian built fibre- ....Australian membership of the European 4MOST Consortium. Australian membership of the European 4MOST consortium:
The objective of this project is to build the positioner at the Australian Astronomical Observatory to enable participation in the upcoming programs of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The 4MOST Consortium is modifying one of the ESO telescopes for a 10-year campaign of dedicated wide-field astronomy programs. A key component of this upgrade will be the Australian built fibre-positioning system. In exchange for covering the labour costs associated with this instrument, Australian astronomers are being provided with the opportunity to lead one of the eight design reference missions and to participate in the other seven. The potential benefits are therefore two-fold: showcasing Australian technologies, and a leadership role for Australian scientists on one of ESO’s key facilities.Read moreRead less
Detection and Localisation of Gravitational Waves using Pulsar Timing Array. This project aims to contribute to one of the most significant breakthroughs in science - the direct detection of gravitational waves. It will develop innovative techniques to detect and localise gravitational waves in the nanohertz frequency band from radio timing data of millisecond pulsars. The technique developed by this project will help maximise the scientific output of Australia's legendary Parkes Radio Telescope ....Detection and Localisation of Gravitational Waves using Pulsar Timing Array. This project aims to contribute to one of the most significant breakthroughs in science - the direct detection of gravitational waves. It will develop innovative techniques to detect and localise gravitational waves in the nanohertz frequency band from radio timing data of millisecond pulsars. The technique developed by this project will help maximise the scientific output of Australia's legendary Parkes Radio Telescope, and boost the opportunities of the first detections of gravitational waves using the upcoming radio telescopes, Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) and Square Kilometre Array (SKA).Read moreRead less
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.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100030
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,000.00
Summary
Koala: a new integral field capability for the Anglo-Australian Telescope. This new instrument will be used by the Anglo-Australian Telescope and will be capable of simultaneously collecting over one thousand individual spectra from a region of sky. The data obtained will provide a wealth of information on extended astrophysical sources, such as star clusters, planetary nebulae and nearby galaxies.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100023
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$185,000.00
Summary
Detailed spectrophotometric/velocity mapping of galaxies and identifying transient Gamma-Ray Burst Sources (GRBs) and the first stars with the unique upgraded Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) facility. This project will allow light from galaxies be more efficiently detected and analysed. In particular details of a galaxy's composition, rotation, recessional velocity and star formation history will be possible following extensive refurbishment of the Siding Spring Observatory's Wide Field Spectrog ....Detailed spectrophotometric/velocity mapping of galaxies and identifying transient Gamma-Ray Burst Sources (GRBs) and the first stars with the unique upgraded Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) facility. This project will allow light from galaxies be more efficiently detected and analysed. In particular details of a galaxy's composition, rotation, recessional velocity and star formation history will be possible following extensive refurbishment of the Siding Spring Observatory's Wide Field Spectrograph and installation of new extremely sensitive charged couple device (CCD) detectors.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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100070
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$270,000.00
Summary
The Cherenkov Telescope Array. The Cherenkov Telescope Array: The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a major advance in very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. It will be ten times more sensitive than current instruments and will transform many topics in high energy astrophysics concerning extreme particle acceleration, and in astro-particle physics such as dark matter. Over 1000 scientists from over 25 countries are involved and prototype telescopes are under construction. This project will enabl ....The Cherenkov Telescope Array. The Cherenkov Telescope Array: The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a major advance in very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. It will be ten times more sensitive than current instruments and will transform many topics in high energy astrophysics concerning extreme particle acceleration, and in astro-particle physics such as dark matter. Over 1000 scientists from over 25 countries are involved and prototype telescopes are under construction. This project will enable a hardware contribution to the pre-production array of telescopes, bringing with it full membership, plus access to all data and core science programmes of CTA. Australian astronomers can then influence astrophysics goals of CTA, and add new scientific value to Australia's radio astronomical facilities.Read moreRead less
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.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100316
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$325,515.00
Summary
Seeing in the dark: measuring the signature of the early Universe with low-frequency radio telescopes. This project will detect and measure the signature of the first ionising sources in the early Universe. It uses a unique intersection of information theory and analysis methodology to design and implement a method of extracting the faint neutral hydrogen signal of reionisation from complex datasets. The hydrogen structure around these first light sources will be measured using data from the Mur ....Seeing in the dark: measuring the signature of the early Universe with low-frequency radio telescopes. This project will detect and measure the signature of the first ionising sources in the early Universe. It uses a unique intersection of information theory and analysis methodology to design and implement a method of extracting the faint neutral hydrogen signal of reionisation from complex datasets. The hydrogen structure around these first light sources will be measured using data from the Murchison Widefield Array telescope in Western Australia, revealing the signature of reionisation for the first time. Measurement of this signal constrains our understanding of the large-scale evolution of the Universe, defines properties of the first generation of stars and galaxies, and expands our understanding of the full history of the Universe.Read moreRead less