Boosting the performance of big dishes

A special kind of radio-wave receiver called a phased-array feed can make possible new kinds of research with large single-dish radio telescopes, tests led by CAASTRO researchers have shown. CAASTRO PhD candidate Tristan Reynolds and Evolving Theme leader Professor...

Astronomers spun up by galaxy-shape finding

For the first time astronomers have measured how a galaxy’s spin affects its shape. It sounds simple, but measuring a galaxy’s true 3D shape is a tricky problem that astronomers first tried to solve 90 years ago. “This is the first time we’ve been able to reliably...

Why massive galaxies don’t dance in crowds

Heavyweight galaxies living in a dense crowd of galaxies tend to spin more slowly than their lighter neighbours, and an Australian-led team has found out why. “Contrary to earlier thinking, the galaxy’s mass determines its spin rate,” said team leader Associate...

Dark Matter, we know where you are!

New result rivals precision of cosmic microwave background measurements, supports view that dark matter and dark energy make up most of the cosmos. An international team of scientists, including researchers from the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence...

Gender-equity efforts win CAASTRO a golden award

A Gender Action Toolkit and a raft of family-friendly initiatives have won CAASTRO, the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics, a Gold Pleiades Award for promoting gender equity. The award is given by the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Astronomy (IDEA)...