Astronomy & Astrophysics
About
The ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics operates Australia’s largest optical observatory and has access to the world’s largest optical telescopes.
Our staff and students have made major contributions to astronomy, mapping the structure and formation of the Milky Way, discovering planets orbiting other stars, measuring dark matter both within our Galaxy and in the wider Universe, and discovering the accelerating expansion of the Universe.
Our astronomers include winners of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science and the Nobel Prize.
At our administrative home at the Mount Stromlo Observatory we host the Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre which is a national facility established to support the development of the next generation of instruments for astronomy and space science.
Our research telescopes are situated in the ANU Siding Spring Observatory, located in the Warrumbungle region of New South Wales. The observatory began as a field station for the Mount Stromlo Observatory and has since become Australia’s premier optical and infrared observatory, housing the state-of-art SkyMapper telescope.
The University also has a ten per cent share in the Giant Megellan Telescope under construction in Chile. When completed, it will be the world’s most powerful telescope.
Facilities
The Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre (AITC) at the University’s Mount Stromlo Observatory is a world-class facility for the design, manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing of ground-based and space-based instruments, and small satellites.
The Centre for Advanced Microscopy (CAM) provides state-of-the art microscopy and microanalysis equipment to researchers, students and industry partners.
The Giant Magellan Telescope will be the world’s most powerful telescope, with a resolution ten times better than the Hubble Space Telescope.
The 348-hectare ANU Kioloa Coastal Campus is one of Australia’s premier field stations, offering a diverse ecology which encourages research across all scientific disciplines.
The ANU MakerSpace is an initiative by the Research School of Physics and Engineering, where we know people learn by doing.
The Mount Stromlo Observatory (MSO) is the headquarters of RSAA, located in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory.
The National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) is home to the Southern Hemisphere’s most highly-integrated supercomputer and filesystems, Australia’s highest performance research cloud, and one of the nation’s largest data catalogues—all supported by an expert team.
The CPAS Podcast Studio is open to staff and students throughout ANU (not just scientists!) to record and grow podcast series. Your success is our success: we want to help you make the biggest and best podcast series in the world.
Our new $240-million science precinct on the ANU campus has state-of-the-art biological and chemical research laboratories, as well as a teaching hub.
Siding Spring Observatory, on the edge of the Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran, NSW, is Australia's premier optical and infrared astronomical observatory.
SkyMapper is a state-of-the-art automated wide-field survey telescope that represents a new vehicle for scientific discovery.
News
The “music” of starquakes – enormous vibrations caused by bursting bubbles of gas that ripple throughout the bodies of many stars – can reveal far more information about the stars’ histories and inner workings than scientists thought.
Students from the ANU School of Art and Design are showcasing astronomically inspired work as part of the Enlighten festival.
Nobel Prize-winning astronomer Professor Brian Schmidt reflected on a century of science and progress in an interview with ABC journalist Annabel Crabb.
Astronomers around the world are celebrating an announcement from the European Union that they will fund development of a concept for an ‘ultimate survey telescope’ in Chile.
Much mystery still surrounds Pluto and its moons. But in new research published in Nature Communications researchers announced they’ve found carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Pluto's largest moon, Charon.
ANU PhD scholar Peter Swanton is using Indigenous knowledge of our night skies to unlock the secrets of our universe, and inspiring young people along the way.