Black hole phenomena »

Our theoretical astrophysicists develop and run sophisticated computational models to simulate the physical processes at work in these complex systems. They use powerful high-performance computing systems, including the Computational Astrophysics Laboratory (COALA) at RSAA, the ANU Supercomputer Facility (ANUSF), and other supercomputers in Australia.

Galactic archaeology »

The Southern Sky Survey that is being carried out by the SkyMapper telescope will be instrumental to scientists studying the properties of the Milky Way, since it will provide a census of over 5 billion stars in the Galaxy. The instrument and survey design will allow astronomers to derive measurements of metallicity, gravity, temperature, and variability for many of these stars, and to continue to map the structure of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds in increasing detail.

Instrumentation »

The Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre (AITC) provides advanced facilities for the instrumentation scientists and engineers of the school, who work on projects in the areas of optics and detector science, integral-field spectroscopy, adaptive-optics technologies, instrumentation for the next generation of ground-based telescopes, and survey astronomy.

Stellar and planetary astronomy »

Stars and stellar systems may contain only a tiny fraction of the mass in the universe, but they are responsible for the chemical diversity of matter that allows life to exist.

Structure and evolution of the Cosmos »

Research led by cosmologists at ANU led to the discovery that the Universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate; work for which the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded. RSAA astronomers continue to investigate what this means for theoretical models of the Universe, to understand the role of dark energy or the cosmological constant that drives this accelearation.