The past few months have seen some highly impactful publications from ICRAR staff working on data from the Murchison Widefield Array. Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker led a team involving a number of ICRAR staff and students that discovered a strange new pulsating radio source with a period of 18 minutes, publishing their results in Nature. Dr Ben McKinley and his team published a spectacular new image of our nearest radio galaxy, Centaurus A. The ICRAR team working to detect the Epoch of Reionisation also released the most detailed view to date of the intervening radio sources that inhibit our view of the early Universe.
Congratulations to Dr Claudia Lagos who has been awarded the somewhat-delayed International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) 2020 young astronomer prize. Congratulations also to PhD candidate Ruby Wright who was awarded a Fulbright Visiting Scholarship to take to the Flatiron Institute in New York, and to Elisabete da Cunha who is a new member on the Australian Research Council's College of Experts.
Major papers arising from the WALLABY, DEVILS and SAMI surveys have been published recently, as well as analysis of large-scale simulations of galaxy formation and evolution.
Since the start of the year, we have welcomed several new domestic and international PhD students to begin their studies at ICRAR, and we look forward to the great work they will undertake over the coming years.
Please enjoy our recent highlights and news from the past few months!
Professor James Miller-Jones, ICRAR-Curtin Science Director & Professor Lister Staveley-Smith, ICRAR-UWA Science Director
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MYSTERIOUS OBJECT UNLIKE ANYTHING ASTRONOMERS HAVE SEEN BEFORE
A team mapping radio waves in the Universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour, and it’s unlike anything astronomers have seen before. The team who discovered it think it could be a neutron star or a white dwarf—collapsed cores of stars—with an ultra-powerful magnetic field.
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BEYOND THE MILKY WAY - VR DOCUMENTARY
Experience one of the greatest international scientific endeavours in history as you step onto Australia’s future site of the incredible SKA telescope in an immersive 25-minute, 360° virtual reality cinema experience at WA Museum Boola Bardip.
Last screenings Sunday 13th March 2022.
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Our researchers engage with industry, government, non-government organisations, communities and community organisations to translate our research beyond academia to benefit society.
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ICRAR-Curtin welcomes digital artist Scott Bell, who has been visualising the work of ICRAR’s researchers. His efforts began through an undergraduate internship with Innovation Central Perth, and a successful pilot project to illustrate engineering concepts of the SKA-Low.
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ICRAR-UWA researchers are collaborating with the ARC Industrial Transformational Research Hub for Transforming energy Infrastructure through Digital Engineering (TIDE) on data science and deep learning, and the Astrophotonics Group was successful in receiving a Defence Science Centre Research Higher Degree top-up scholarship.
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We are always looking for further developing key partnerships in translation and impact opportunities. Head to our website for more details.
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The ICRAR Outreach team ran school holiday workshops for Curtin University's DISCOVER and UWA's Santos Science Experience. We ran astronomy lectures, a "Build a Solar System" challenge, and promoted the SKA and a career in radio astronomy to the students.
We also hosted a troupe of grade 12 students for the National Youth Science Forum, who learned how to use the TRT (Tiny Radio Telescope).
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January saw the inaugural STARgirls camp. Over 20 high school students, grade 8 – 11, came to ICRAR for a week of space-related experiences, such as talks with experts across both nodes of ICRAR, using the SPIRIT remote internet telescope and a visit to Pawsey Supercomputing Centre.
The week ended with a BBQ and viewing night along the river with all the students and their families invited. This event was a success in promoting astronomy-based careers to young women and we will be expanding the program in the future.
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MARINE FORECASTING CASE STUDY
Our big data experts and The UWA Oceans Institute oceanographers have joined forces to improve wave forecasts off the WA coast.
The project has already boosted weather predictions at Barrow Island, and could one day lead to more accurate forecasts for surfers, recreational boaters and industry.
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HONEY SIGNATURES CASE STUDY
ICRAR-UWA's data intensive astronomer Kevin Vinsen recently worked with the Cooperative Research Centre for Honey Bee Products & the bee industry on a project to identify the unique chemical signature of different honey varieties.
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Three ICRAR researchers gave talks at the recent TEDx Perth event. Check them out online.
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There is nothing advertised right now at ICRAR, but keep an eye on our website for up to date job postings.
- SKA-Low Finance & Procurement Business Partner. Apply thorough SKAO.
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Check out a 3D look at one of the antenna arrays or 'stations' in the low-frequency SKA, or SKA-Low.
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Have you met Dr Robin Cook? He’s a postdoctoral researcher at ICRAR-UWA, working on galaxy evolution.
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ICRAR's astrophotonics group at UWA is one of the leading groups around the world in developing technology around optical communications.
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Latest edition of CONTACT, the SKA magazine with all the latest news from the SKA Office in Manchester, UK.
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