ANNUAL REPORT 2015 CAASTRO acknowledges the support of the Australian Research Council and of NSW Trade and Investment. We also acknowledge the financial and in-kind support provided by our participating organisations: The University of Sydney, The University of Western Australia, The University of Melbourne, Swinburne University of Technology, The Australian National University, Curtin University and The University of Queensland. © CAASTRO 2015. This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, reproduction of any part by any process without prior written permission from the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics is not permitted. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights can be made by contacting Ms Kate Gunn, Chief Operating Officer (University of Sydney). www.caastro.org Design by Go Media Design CAASTRO 1 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 CONTENTS Introduction from the Chair 2 Vision & Mission Statement 4 Director’s Report 6 Research Programs 8 Case Studies 24 Activity Plan 2016 34 2015 Publications 37 Student Life 48 Governance 54 Membership 56 Awards & Honours 58 Gender Action Committee 60 Presentations 61 Workshops 77 Conferences 81 Education & Outreach 83 CAASTRO Locations 87 Linkages 121 Collaborations 126 KPI Dashboard 128 Financial Statements 129 CAASTRO People 132 2 INTRODUCTION FROM THE CHAIR DR ALAN FINKEL AO FTSE CHAIR, CAASTRO ADVISORY BOARD CAASTRO 3 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 I have been privileged to be the Chair of the Advisory programs such as the Astronomer in Residence Board of CAASTRO since its inception but at the end of program at Uluru. Our CAASTRO in the Classroom 2015 I formally retired in order to take up my new role initiative uses video conferencing to bring our young as Chief Scientist for Australia. Although I am excited astrophysicists into the classroom to inspire students by the opportunities in this new role I am saddened to about science and technology. be leaving CAASTRO. To satisfy my ongoing wonder Sometimes outreach opportunities emerge directly from about our presence in the Universe I will have to make the science. When Undergraduate Student Cleo Loi, do with keeping an eye on CAASTRO’s outputs in supervised by Tara Murphy (University of Sydney), was coming years. using the Murchison Widefield Array for astronomy, As CAASTRO Chair I have been supported by a she followed her curiosity to examine atmospheric superb Board that has a skills mix covering research distortions and discovered huge tubular congregations methodology, astronomy expertise, science of electrons in the atmosphere. Cleo’s work won the communication, organisational management and 2015 Canon Extreme Imaging prize and the video commercial knowledge. Bronwyn Evans, Rachel Nowak featuring her work has been viewed 1.1 million times. and Hugh Durrant-Whyte this year completed their first Australian science, research and innovation received a full year as Board members. Peter Davies joined us later big boost in early December with the announcement in the year. They and the more seasoned members of the Federal Government’s National Innovation and contributed to the ongoing responsibilities of the Board Science Agenda. The existing operators of national-scale across the full range of CAASTRO’s activities. research equipment were provided with funding for the But without doubt the credit for leading CAASTRO next ten years, as was the Australian Synchrotron, and to success should go to the Director Elaine Sadler, the Square Kilometre Array telescope project received the Chief Operating Officer Kate Gunn and the other substantial funding. Equally important is the newfound members of the Executive. During the year Brian optimism among the research and innovation community Schmidt accepted the Vice-Chancellorship of the reflecting the fact that we now have a government that Australian National University (ANU) and Steven Tingay understands and cares about science, is willing to take a was appointed the founding director of the new Italian risk and to invest in the future. Radio Astronomy Observatory. I wish them both much My final task is to thank my fellow Board members, success, and take this opportunity to welcome Carole the staff and the students of CAASTRO for providing Jackson (Curtin University) and Christian Wolf (ANU) as me personally with an extraordinary opportunity to new members of the 2016 CAASTRO Executive team. intersect with the brilliance and the imagination inherent CAASTRO itself has not submitted a bid for another in the world of astronomy. round of Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence funding; instead, we have supported a new bid for a Centre called CAASTRO-3D. This has been shortlisted, and if funded will come into existence in 2017. Our near-term ambition within CAASTRO is to achieve as many of our goals as possible, irrespective of the outcome of the CAASTRO-3D bid. To this end we undertook a strategy-planning session in November to identify our highest-impact research opportunities and a transition plan that will ensure the best outcomes for ongoing careers and projects. We also identified enduring contributions beyond the science that might assist future Centres of Excellence, for example in their management methodology or gender-equity programs. One of our key responsibilities beyond astronomy is outreach. As expected, CAASTRO scientists talk frequently to the public but we also run novel 4 VISION &MISSION STATEMENT Molongolo shows the Milky Way Credit: Fabian Jankowski CAASTRO 5 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 The CAASTRO Vision The CAASTRO Mission CAASTRO aims to be an CAASTRO is carrying out key science with 21st century telescopes. international leader in widefield Our underlying goals are: astronomy, positioning Australia DISCOVER To make groundbreaking advances in our understanding of to address fundamental the Universe, thereby cementing Australia’s reputation as a world leader in unsolved questions about the astrophysical research; Universe with the dramatic capabilities of next-generation INNOVATE To develop innovative new ways of surveying the entire sky, telescopes and advanced of processing enormous volumes of astronomical measurements, and of instrumentation. visualising complex datasets, so as to build unique expertise in widefield radio and optical astronomy; PERFORM To make high-impact discoveries using Square Kilometre Array pathfinder telescopes, thus positioning Australia to lead the science programs planned for the SKA; EDUCATE To provide compelling new opportunities for students and early- career researchers and exciting stories to inform the public; and UNITE To bring the top astronomers from Australia and around the world together into a focused collaborative environment. About CAASTRO Astronomy has entered a golden age, in which we seek underpinned by a strong focus on training and enabling to understand the complete evolution of the Universe the next generation of scientists, thus providing a and its constituents. But the key unsolved questions in legacy extending well beyond the Centre’s lifetime. astronomy demand entirely new approaches, requiring The students we mentor and inspire will lead the MISSION enormous datasets covering the entire sky. scientific discoveries made on future widefield facilities, In recent years, Australia has invested more than culminating in the ultimate all-sky telescope, the Square $420 million both in innovative widefield telescopes Kilometre Array. CAASTRO is further motivated by the and in the powerful computers needed to process belief that science is a passionate undertaking and this the resulting torrents of data. Using these new tools, passion should be contagious. We aim to leverage the Australia now has established itself at the vanguard of high impact of our discoveries and the strong public the upcoming information revolution centred on all-sky interest they generate to highlight Australian innovation astrophysics. to the general public, and to inspire students to The ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics consider careers in science and engineering. (CAASTRO) has assembled the world-class team who now lead the flagship scientific experiments CAASTRO is receiving more than $30 million in funding on these new widefield facilities. CAASTRO is over the period 2011–2018. CAASTRO is led by The delivering transformational new science by bringing University of Sydney, in conjunction with The University together unique expertise in radio astronomy, optical of Western Australia, The University of Melbourne, astronomy, theoretical astrophysics and computation, Swinburne University of Technology, The Australian and by coupling all these capabilities to the powerful National University, Curtin University and The University technology in which Australia has recently invested. of Queensland, complemented by a group of world-class CAASTRO is pursuing three interlinked scientific Australian and international partners. programs, each of which can be addressed only with the all-sky perspective provided by widefield telescopes: The Evolving Universe: When did the first galaxies A Universal Perspective form, and how have they evolved since? A universal perspective of the cosmos, exploring the The Dynamic Universe: What is the high-energy sky in its entirety not just section by section. physics that drives change in the Universe? A universal perspective of science, engaging The Dark Universe: What are the dark energy and teams, scientists and the public in an inclusive and dark matter that dominate