Swinburne Astrophysics AProf Michael Murphy Centre for Astrophysics
Swinburne Astrophysics A/Prof. Michael Murphy Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing Swinburne University of Technology
Our mission To inspire a fascination in the Universe through research and education • • Academic & research leadership High-impact research discoveries Innovative online teaching Worldwide, distinctive outreach
Who are we? • 30 research faculty & postdocs • 30+ Ph. D students from 20 different countries
Outstanding research leaders • 3 ‘Hi. Ci’ researchers • 0. 5% most highly cited scientists • Only ~20 in Australia Prof. Warrick Couch (Director) Prof. Karl Glazebrook Prof. Jeremy Mould
Top early/mid-career researchers • 5 Australian Research Council Fellows • 3 QEII Fellows A/Prof. Darren Croton A/Prof. Michael Murphy • 2 Future Fellows A/Prof. Chris Blake A/Prof. Alister Graham Dr. Emma Ryan-Weber
Community recognition • 5 -star ranking in 2010 Excellence in Research for Australia initiative • “Outstanding performance well above world standard” • >$7 M in Australian Research Council (ARC) grants since 2006. • 3 of 12 Chief Investigators in ARC Centre for Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO). • 120 publications per year in top journals.
Exceptional research facilities
The twin Keck Telescopes The view from Hawaii at 4200 m altitude (60% sea-level oxygen)
The twin Keck Telescopes • MOU with Caltech in 2008– 2013. • To be renewed for 2013– 2018. • 15– 20 Keck observing nights per year for Swinburne astronomers. • Only University outside USA with access. • Only Australian university with private access to major telescope facilities. • Full remote control from Hawthorn Campus!
Swinburne’s supercomputers
Swinburne’s supercomputers • New!: g. STAR and swin. STAR • 100 GPUs with 6 GB RAM each • 2000 CPUs with 48– 64 GB RAM each • >100 Teraflops! • >1. 7 Petabytes of storage! • Should enter the world’s Top 500 supcomputers in 2012.
Simulating universes 1 million CPU hours 10 billion “particles”, 3 billion light years across
High-impact research discoveries
A diamond planet! Bailes et al. , 2011, Science
Are the laws of Nature universal? Murphy & collaborators
Do the laws of Nature vary across the Universe? Webb et al. , 2011, Phys. Rev. Lett. Copyright Dr. Julian Berengut, UNSW
Turbulent, nearby galaxies Green et al. , 2010, Nature.
The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) • ~$3 B international project • Site decision: 2/3 in South Africa, 1/3 in Western Australia
SKA “Pathfinders”
Australian SKA Pathfinder – ASKAP
Swinburne’s ASKAP involvement • Prof. Warrick Couch – EMU team • A/Prof. Darren Croton – Simulation basis for Wallaby & Flash • Dr Virginia Kilborn – Co-CI on Wallaby (Science working group 3 leader) • A/Prof. Chris Blake – Wallaby, EMU & Flash • Dr Chris Fluke – Visualisation • Prof. Karl Glazebrook – Wallaby & EMU • Prof. Jeremy Mould – Wallaby and EMU • Dr Emma Ryan-Weber – DINGO and Wallaby (local group science leader)
SKA “Pathfinders” • South Africa’s “Meer. KAT” pathfinder • Prof. Matthew Bailes heading top-rated project! – 20% of $200 M project
Innovative online teaching
Swinburne Astronomy Online
Swinburne Astronomy Online • Pioneers – 14 years of online teaching! • Designed for: • Science educators, • Science communicators, • Amateur astronomers, • Astronomy industry professionals, • Anyone with a love of astronomy • >350 graduates to date
Worldwide, distinctive outreach
Swinburne Astronomy Productions • 2 exceptionally talented 3 D animators • 9 fully 3 D educational movies since 2000
Swinburne Astronomy Productions • A huge next step: $10 M IMAX movie project
Hidden Universe – ‘Rough-cut’ trailer
An ‘emerald-cut’ galaxy Graham et al. , 2012, Astrophysical Journal
- Slides: 32