Media

Moon to Earth: WA to host space communications station

October 12, 2020

An optical communications station capable of receiving high-speed data transmissions from space is set to be built in Western Australia. The advanced communications ground station will be able to receive data from spacecraft anywhere between low-Earth orbit and the surface of the Moon. It has the potential to support ground-breaking space projects, including NASA’s Artemis mission to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.

Astronomers turn up the heavy metal to shed light on star formation

October 6, 2020

Astronomers from The University of Western Australia’s node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have developed a new way to study star formation in galaxies from the dawn of time to today.

Australian telescope finds no signs of alien technology in 10 million star systems

September 8, 2020

A radio telescope in outback Western Australia has completed the deepest and broadest search at low frequencies for alien technologies, scanning a patch of sky known to include at least 10 million stars.

Preparations complete in Western Australia for construction of world’s largest telescope

June 10, 2020

Following seven years of design and prototyping work, the Curtin University node of ICRAR has completed its preparations for the construction of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in Western Australia.

Cosmic bursts unveil Universe’s missing matter

May 27, 2020

Astronomers have used mysterious fast radio bursts to solve a decades-old mystery of ‘missing matter’, long predicted to exist in the Universe but never detected—until now.

Supercomputer time to explore how black holes and jets have changed our Universe

April 23, 2020

Astronomers from WA, Tasmania and the UK have been awarded 45 million units of supercomputing time to study the influence of supermassive black holes on their host galaxies.