The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO), formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory, was an optical and near-infrared astronomy observatory with its headquarters in North Ryde in suburban Sydney, Australia. Originally funded jointly by the United Kingdom and Australian governments, it was managed wholly by Australia's Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. The AAO operated the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) and 1.2-metre UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) at Siding Spring Observatory, located near the town of Coonabarabran, Australia.
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), and headquarters, are located at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the United Kingdom. The SKA cores are being built in the southern hemisphere, where the view of the Milky Way galaxy is the best and radio interference at its least.
Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University (ANU), incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a collection of other telescopes owned by the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, and other institutions. The observatory is situated 1,165 metres (3,822 ft) above sea level in the Warrumbungle National Park on Mount Woorat, also known as Siding Spring Mountain. Siding Spring Observatory is owned by the Australian National University (ANU) and is part of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories research school.
The Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) is a radio telescope operating at 843 MHz. It is operated by the School of Physics of the University of Sydney. The telescope is located in Hoskinstown, near the Molonglo River and Canberra, and was constructed by modification of the east–west arm of the former Molonglo Cross Telescope, a larger version of the Mills Cross Telescope.
The Paul Wild Observatory, also known as the Narrabri Observatory and Culgoora Observatory, is an astronomical research facility located about 24 km west of Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the Australia Telescope Compact Array, and the Culgoora Solar Observatory.
The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE) is an astronomical institution located on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. The site is owned by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The ROE comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) of STFC, the Institute for Astronomy of the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh, and the ROE Visitor Centre.
Bryan Malcolm Gaensler is an Australian astronomer based at the University of Toronto. He studies magnetars, supernova remnants, and magnetic fields. In 2014, he was appointed as Director of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, after James R. Graham's departure. He is currently the co-chair of the Canadian 2020 Long Range Plan Committee with Pauline Barmby.
The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is a joint project between an international consortium of organisations to construct and operate a low-frequency radio array. 'Widefield' refers to its very large field of view. Operating in the frequency range 70–300 MHz, the main scientific goals of the MWA are to detect neutral atomic Hydrogen emission from the cosmological Epoch of Reionization (EoR), to study the sun, the heliosphere, the Earth's ionosphere, and radio transient phenomena, as well as map the extragalactic radio sky. It is located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO).
Frederick Garnett Watson AM is an English-born astronomer and popular scientist in Australia. He holds the role of Australia's First Astronomer at Large with the Commonwealth Government of Australia, relaying the important aspects of Australian astronomy to the government, the general public, and associated organisations.
MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Radio Telescope in Africa, and the locally designed and built MeerKAT was incorporated into the first phase of the SKA. MeerKAT was launched in 2018.
The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is a radio telescope array located at Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in the Mid West region of Western Australia.
The Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) was established by CSIRO in 2009. It lies in a designated radio quiet zone located near Boolardy Station in the Murchison Shire of Western Australia, about 800 kilometres (500 mi) north of Perth on the traditional lands of the Wajarri peoples.
Brian J. Boyle is a Scottish astrophysicist based in Australia since 1996. His primary research interests are in the fields of quasars, active galaxies and cosmology.
Macarthur Astronomy Forum is a monthly public forum organised by Macarthur Astronomical Society, providing leading national and international professional astronomers with a platform to address the Forum on topics of astronomical interest; also providing members of the Society and the general public with opportunities to learn and ask questions.
Lisa Harvey-Smith is a British-Australian astrophysicist, Australia's Women in STEM Ambassador and a Professor of Practice in Science Communication at the University of NSW. Her research interests include the origin and evolution of cosmic magnetism, supernova remnants, the interstellar medium, massive star formation and astrophysical masers. For almost a decade Harvey-Smith was a research scientist at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), including several years as the Project Scientist for the Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and later Project Scientist for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) Telescope.
The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) is an international "centre of excellence" in astronomical science and technology based in Perth, Western Australia, launched in August 2009 as a joint venture between Curtin University and the University of Western Australia. The ICRAR attracts researchers in radio astronomy, contributing to Australian and international scientific and technical programs for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, the world's biggest ground-based telescope array which is in its design phase and the two Australian SKA precursors, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), both located in Murchison. The headquarters of the ICRAR is located in Crawley.
Warrick John Couch is an Australian professional astronomer. He is currently a professor at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. He was previously the Director of Australia's largest optical observatory, the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO). He was also the president of the Australian Institute of Physics (2015–2017), and a non-executive director on the Board of the Giant Magellan Telescope Organization. He was a founding non-executive director of Astronomy Australia Limited.
Elaine Margaret Sadler is an Australian astrophysicist. She is the Australia Telescope National Facility Chief Scientist and a Professor of Astrophysics in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney. She was elected as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) in 2010 and commenced a 4-year term as Foreign Secretary of the AAS in 2018. She was previously director of the CAASTRO centre (2014-2018).
Giampaolo Vettolani is an Italian astrophysicist, scientific director of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome (INAF) since 2012.
Melanie Johnston-Hollitt is an Australian astrophysicist and professor. She has worked on the design, construction, and international governance of several radio telescopes including the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and the upcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA). She was the director of the Murchison Widefield Array until December 2020 and is a professor at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy at Curtin University and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research. Since August 2020, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt is the director of the Curtin Institute for Computation.
