Welcome
Thank you for visiting my small, and still not very full, space on the big, wide web. I am a PhD student at the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, located at the Mt. Stromlo Observatory in Canberra, Australia. I study active galaxies - luminous galaxies in which the supermassive black hole at the core is thought to be feeding on infalling matter. By various, some still quite unknown mechanisms, the inflow triggers the output of an enormous amount of radiative energy and in some cases, of particles and energy ejected in powerful winds and relativistic, bipolar jets that extend far from the central black hole and galaxy. These outflows have a significant impact on the host galaxy and the surrounding environment and may return sufficient energy to actually moderate the growth and evolution of the galaxy. In particular, I will be studying the environmental impact of radio galaxies, by observing their extended optical emission using WiFeS (Wide Field Spectrograph), an image-slicing integral field spectrograph that is being built by the RSAA for the 2.3m telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory. More information coming soon to my PhD page...
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On the moon at Mt. Stromlo |
| Header image: Carina Nebula, from The Hubble Heritage Project's panoramic image | |
| Side bar image: Earth from over Canberra, Australia; from the Earth and Moon Viewer by John Walker | |
