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Astronomy and Astrophysics

The school's astronomy research covers a wide range of time, distance and energy scales in the observable universe; from the earliest moments of the big bang, through the epoch of galaxy formation, to the deaths of massive stars and the high-energy properties of the resulting stellar remnants. Researchers use a wide range of techniques, including theoretical studies of the supersymmetric origins of matter and the high-energy particle reactions within our own galaxy, and observational studies using state-of-the-art international observatories (both terrestrial and space-based), such as Kitt Peak National Observatory, the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Read on for more details of the individual researchers and projects currently active in the school.

PhD and Honours Student Research Projects

Monash University's School of Physics is seeking intelligent and highly motivated students to study astrophysics for their PhD or as a component of their honours year. Details of project opportunities can be obtained from individuals listed below. More details of the course structure and the many benefits of an honours year can be found on the Honours Programme page.

Research Areas

photo from NASA of the Bullet Cluster
Image credit: Wikipedia
Particle Cosmology — Dr. Csaba Balázs
Recent observations suggest that 95% of the Universe's energy lies in a dark sector: forms of yet undiscovered matter and energy, with unknown composition and origin, called dark matter and dark energy. Elementary particle theorists try to understand how these new phenomena fit into the known framework of physical laws. Theoretical research indicates that near future astrophysical observations and particle collider experiments together may shed light not only on the dark side of the Universe, but discover precursors to new fundamental laws of Nature.
For more information email Csaba.Balazs<at>sci.monash.edu.au
NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS) in the constellation of Bootes
Galaxy Evolution — Dr. Michael Brown
How galaxies evolve over cosmic time is one of the most important and long-standing topics in astrophysics. Our Milky Way is continuing to grow, with stars being stripped from companion galaxies and new stars are being formed in gaseous clouds such as the Orion Nebula. However, most of the stars in the nearby Universe were formed roughly ten billion years ago, when the Universe was very young. As a result, how galaxies grow over cosmic time remains a matter of ongoing and vigourous debate. Dr Brown's research focuses on how galaxies grow over cosmic time. To measure this, he and his collaborators have obtained vast surveys of the distant Universe, using satellites and large telescopes. As the speed of light is finite, these surveys are able to look into the distant past and observe how galaxy populations once were. By comparing the number, mass and spatial distribution of galaxy populations as a function of distance (and time), he and his students are building up a picture of how galaxies evolve over the eons.
For more information email Michael.Brown<at>sci.monash.edu.au
High Energy Gamma Rays from the Galactic Center Ridge
HESS source of the month June '06
Particle Astrophysics of the Galactic Centre — Dr. Roland Crocker
The nucleus of the Milky Way presents a superb laboratory of modern astrophysics where astronomers and astrophysicists can study at unprecedented spatial resolution and across the entire electromagnetic spectrum physical processes that may also happen in the cores of other galaxies. In common with most other galaxies, right at the centre of our Galaxy lurks an enormous black hole (ours has a mass around four million times that of the sun). Processes occurring close to this object may ultimately be responsible for powering many of the high-energy phenomena seen in the Galactic centre region. For instance, observations conducted by the HESS instrument in Namibia have recently revealed that the molecular gas pervading the central few hundred lightyears around our Galactic centre glows brightly in high-energy gamma rays. It may very well be that these gamma rays are created in collisions between a population of high-energy cosmic rays (accelerated relatively close to the event horizon of the super-massive black hole) and ambient gas.
For more information email Roland.Crocker<at>sci.monash.edu.au
artist's impression of a spinning neutron star
Image credit: NASA/Dana Barry
Neutron Star Binaries — Dr. Duncan Galloway
The stellar remnants of supernova explosions consist of matter under extreme conditions of temperature, density and magnetic field. Neutron stars in binary systems appear as bright X-ray sources to space-based observatories, thanks to gas donated from the stellar companion and heated to tens of millions of degrees in the process. These objects exhibit thermonuclear bursts, in which the accreted fuel is ignited and burns in a bright flash of X-rays once every few hours, and a few exhibit pulsations at hundreds of cycles per second, which allows measurement of their extremely rapid spin rates. Research priorities include the detailed burst properties and underlying thermonuclear reactions; searches for, and characterisation of, new transient pulsing systems; and measurements of the mass and radius so as to constrain the interior composition.
For more information email Duncan.Galloway<at>sci.monash.edu.au
or visit http://users.monash.edu.au/~dgallow
A supernova explosion
Supernova Remnants - Dr. Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway
A supernova explosion marks the endpoint of a massive star's evolution, resulting in an expanding supernova remnant (SNR), and a neutron star (or black hole). The input of energy and nuclear fusion products into the interstellar medium make SNRs, dynamically and chemically, one of the most important objects in galaxies. Research interests include the general physical properties of SNRs, via X-ray and radio observations; particle acceleration in SNRs (a possible origin of low-energy cosmic rays) using non-thermal X-ray emission and TeV Gamma-ray emission; the interaction of SNRs with dense molecular clouds using X-ray, mm- and cm-band radio, and IR observations; and various types of neutron stars, as well as pulsar wind nebulae, created by the powerful relativistic wind from some pulsars.