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RESEARCH SCHOOL OF ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

RSAA is a Research Schools in the Australian National University’s College of Science. The mission of the RSAA is to: (a) advance the observational and theoretical frontiers of astronomy and its enabling technologies, (b) provide national and international leadership, and (c) train outstanding scientists.

Consistent with this mission statement, members of the academic staff at RSAA are engaged in research and participate in the School’s graduate (PhD) and undergraduate research training and teaching programs. They are also involved in the other activities of the School, of the College of Science and of the University generally. The School conducts observational and theoretical research in most areas of astronomy and astrophysics. Fields of particular activity include: exoplanetary science, stellar astrophysics, interstellar medium physics, stellar dynamics, galactic structure, high-energy astrophysics, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology.

A list of the main research interests of the academic staff can be viewed here

RSAA is also known internationally for its highly successful astronomical instrumentation program now housed in the newly built state-of-the-art Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre.

RSAA is an active member of the Giant Magellan Telescope Consortium.

Academic Staff

Director

BUTCHER, Harvey Raymond, BSc CalTech , PhD ANU

Associate Directors

BICKNELL, Geoffrey Vincent, MSc PhD Syd (Academic Affairs)

ARC Federation Fellows

SCHMIDT, Brian P, BS Ariz , AM (Astron) PhD Harv, NAS

Professors

BESSELL, Michael Stanley, BSc Tas, PhD ANU

BRIGGS, Franklin Humphrey IV, BS Swarthmore, MS PhD Cornell

DA COSTA, Gary Stewart, BSc Mon, PhD ANU

FREEMAN, Kenneth Charles, BSc WA , PhD Camb, FAA, FRS

NORRIS, John Edward, BSc PhD ANU

SACKETT, Penny Diane, BSc Nebr, MS PhD Pitts

Senior Fellows

JENKINS, Charles Roderick, BSc Witwatersrand, PhD Camb

LINEWEAVER, Charles Howe, BSc Mun, MA PhD Berk

McGREGOR, Peter John, BSc Adel, PhD ANU

WOOD, Peter Robert, BSc Qld, PhD ANU

Fellows

FRANCIS, Paul, BA, PhD Camb (& Senior Lecturer, Department of Physics)

JERJEN, Helmut, Dipl Math, PhD Basel

SUTHERLAND, Ralph S, BSc, PhD ANU

Stromlo Fellow

KOBAYASHI, Chiaki, BSc, MSc, PhD Tokyo

Research Fellows

KELLER, Stefan, BSc Syd , PhD ANU

YONG, David, BSc Mon , PhD Texas

Postdoctoral Fellows

KARAKAS, Amanda BSc Monash, PhD Monash

PRACY, Michael, BSc UOW, PhD UNSW

SALMERON, Raquel, BAeroEng UNEFA, PhD Syd

TISSERAND, Patrick, MSc PhD UNSA, CEA-Saclay

WYLIE DE BOER, Elizabeth Claire, BSc PhD Canterbury

Visiting Fellows

FORD, Vince

KALNAJS, Agris

PETERSON, Bruce Alrick

Adjunct Faculty

BLAND HAWTHORN, Joss, USyd

Emeritus Professor

DOPITA, Michael Andrew, MA Oxf, MSc PhD Manc, FAA

Academic Visitors to the RSAA

There is a steady stream of academic visitors from overseas and within Australia who are invited to visit the RSAA for periods of a week to a year or more. Visitors contribute to the academic life of the School, often giving seminars and lectures to staff and students as well as using the telescopes and computing facilities.

Support Staff

There are altogether approximately 40 general staff who work in the areas of mechanical, electronic and optical engineering, computing support and various administrative services.

Annual Report

Available on request to the Director, RSAA or may be downloaded from: http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/annualReport/

 

RSAA Website

For information on RSAA, its history and current research activities, see:

http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/

 

STUDENTS

PhD Students

There are generally approximately 30 graduate students enrolled full-time in the PhD degree program, of whom typically 6-10 are from overseas. The course consists of an introductory program of short research projects, guided reading and attendance at seminars and courses followed by a major research project for the PhD thesis.  Most students submit their thesis within 4 years of commencing.

Summer Research Scholars

Each year during the summer vacation from end November to late January five or six third year undergraduate students from Australian and New Zealand Universities come for eight to twelve weeks to undertake guided research projects to introduce them to the discipline of astronomy. Accommodation, travel and a stipend are paid for each scholar. Some subsequently return to undertake a PhD at RSAA.

BSc Honours Program in Astronomy and Astrophysics

This comprehensive program provides training in Astronomy and Astrophysics for undergraduates in their honours year. The Program caters for both experimentally and theoretically oriented students.  There are also astronomy and astrophysics courses taught at the first through third years of the undergraduate degree.

TELESCOPES, COMPUTING AND LIBRARY FACILITIES

The main facilities of the School are situated at Mt Stromlo Observatory which is approximately 18km from downtown Canberra and from the main campus of the ANU.  The School also operates Siding Spring Observatory which is sited approximately 600km to the North of Canberra in rural New South Wales.

RSAA Astronomers have access to the Gemini 8m telescopes through the Australian membership of the Gemini Partnership.  Currently the Australian share of the Gemini partnership is 6.19%.

Major Telescopes at Siding Spring Observatory

3.9m Reflector

Owned by the Anglo-Australian Telescope Board. Completed in 1974, it is currently the largest optical and infrared telescope in Australia. It is frequently used by RSAA academic staff and students.

2.3m Reflector

RSAA's Advanced Technology Telescope; opened in 1984; alt-azimuth mounted. Full suite of modern instruments for imaging and low to moderate dispersion spectroscopy at visible wavelengths using modern detectors. A new imaging spectrograph will be available in late 2007. An infra-red imager spanning 1-5µ wavelength region is also available.

1.3m SKYMAPPER (first light late-2008)

SKYMAPPER, equipped with a large CCD array camera, will be among the first of a new breed of robotic survey telescopes which are able to scan the nighttime skies more quickly than ever before. The Skymapper telescope will provide an extensive digital map of the southern sky which will allow astronomers to study everything from nearby objects such as asteroids in our solar system to the most distant objects in the universe called quasars. The data taken by the SKYMAPPER telescope will be shared with astronomers around the world so that every possible use can be made of this resource.

 

For radio astronomy ANU astronomers have access to the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) which consists of the Compact Array, a 6km east-west array of six 22m-diameter antennas, located near Narrabri, NSW, the Parkes 64m radio telescope and the Mopra telescope, a 22m-diameter antenna of similar design to the Compact Array antennas located near Coonabarabran, NSW. These antennas may be used separately or together to form a Long Baseline Array, often in conjunction with other antennae in Australia and overseas. Computing and other support facilities are located at the ATNF headquarters, Epping, NSW.

Computing Facilities

The computing facilities at the Observatory are based around large Unix file- and compute-servers, currently from Sun's Ultrasparc and Opteron range, which are upgraded a roughly two year cycle. Individual workstations, terminals, PCs and Macs are tied to the servers by 100mbit or gigabit ethernet, which extends throughout the Observatory. The staff of the Computing Section supports not only the hardware infrastructure, but also an extensive suite of application packages, including IRAF, AIPS, Figaro, and IDL. A gigabit fibre link to the main campus gives RSAA researchers ready access to the advanced computational facilities operated by the ANU Supercomputer Facility (ANUSF) and the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computation (APAC). These facilities include a 1680-processor SGI Altix 3700 supercomputer with a peak performance of around 11 teraflops, and the ANU Mass Data Store, which is used for the storage of supercomputer output and other archival purposes. The data store has a capacity in excess of a petabyte. Expert consultants are available to assist in the effective use of these facilities.

 

Library

The ANU Library System has its main libraries on the campus. The collection at Mount Stromlo, specializing in books and journals relevant to astronomy and astrophysics, was destroyed in the January 2003 fires but is being rebuilt and should be in place by mid-2007.   A small collection is located at Siding Spring Observatory.

LOCATION OF THE OBSERVATORIES

Mount Stromlo Observatory (MSO) is about 18 kilometres from the centre of Canberra and from the main Acton campus of ANU.

Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) is about 600 kilometres north of Canberra, near Coonabarabran. There is a lodge at SSO where observers usually stay which provides full board and accommodation. SSO is on a bush covered mountaintop in the Warrumbungle Ranges, much of which is now a national park. The scenery is dramatic.

 

ACCOMMODATION

There is very limited accommodation on Mount Stromlo itself. Most staff and students live in the suburbs of Canberra. Some students live in halls of residence or colleges on the main ANU campus in central Canberra.   The University Accommodation Services operates as a first point of contact for all accommodation enquiries: http://accom.anu.edu.au/HomePage.asp. For short term accommodation contact University House: http://www.anu.edu.au/unihouse/

 

CANBERRA

Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is attractively situated in pastoral, hilly country in the Australian Capital Territory. It is about 320 kilometres by road south-west of Sydney and 640 kilometres north-east of Melbourne. It is served by good air and road services, and by rail. The population is about 300,000 and is increasing steadily. The city is well planned, with many parks and gardens, and covers a broad area. This means that most suburbs are not within walking distance of the main university campus. The city has an efficient bus service, but a car, or bicycle, is a great advantage. There is no public bus service to Mount Stromlo. Canberra has several large shopping centres, supplemented by shops in the residential areas. There is good provision for all the usual leisure, artistic and sporting activities, including rowing and sailing on Lake Burley Griffin which is in the middle of the city. The Snowy Mountains are about three hours drive away and provide excellent bushwalking in summer and skiing in winter. The many beautiful beaches of the coast are about two hours drive away through pastoral and forested country. Canberra is 550-610 metres above sea level. In summer the temperature rarely goes above 35 degrees Celsius and the temperature usually drops considerably at night. There are frosty nights in winter but frequently plenty of sun during the day.