Screenshot of LinkedIn post from ARC saying that DP27 EOI outcomes will be released on RMS on the 26th Feb 2026.
The ARC have said (on LinkedIn) they will release outcomes for Discovery Projects Expressions of Interest (2027) tomorrow👇
Big if true!!
An MSP in close orbit around Sagittarius A* would lead to some incredible tests of relativity
Aurora appearing as a hazy green band with hints of pinky-purple streaks above it
Person posing with arms outstretched in front of the aurora
Intense aurora with bright green horizontal streaks below pink and purple pillars of light
Pink pillars of light extending up from the horizon
Incredible display of the Aurora Australis on Jan 20. Never thought I’d get to see the auroral oval this close up from Melbourne!
Li et al. monitored a repeating fast radio burst (FRB). They identify a transient excursion of its rotation measure (RM), which increases by orders of magnitude for 2 weeks. Possible causes include a coronal mass ejection from a binary companion star. ☄️ #radioastro
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Sleepy 😴
Aaaaand the papers are live on the Open Journal of Astrophysics!!
#RadioAstronomy
Diagram of a pulsar with different regions of interest highlighted
Cross-sectional cutaway of a pulsar, with different layers and their composition highlighted.
And of course, this meant flexing my Adobe Illustrator skills! Here’s a couple nice graphics that I put together for the SKA pulsar magnetospheres and interiors papers 😁
#RadioAstronomy
I was involved in 3/12 of the updates
- Magnetospheres: arxiv.org/abs/2512.16157
- Testing gravity: arxiv.org/abs/2512.16161
- Interiors (I helped out with coordinating this one): arxiv.org/abs/2512.16162
It’s SKA Pulsar Day!!
It’s been more than a decade since the previous science case for the SKA was published. So a bunch of us pulsar astronomers put together an update!
🔭☄️
arxiv.org/abs/2512.16152
No worries!
I’m still within 5 years post-PhD, so not eligible to apply for a Future at the moment.
Yep! I’m an ECR and have been asked to review a pair of Future Fellowships.
DECRA success rate is the lowest in 14 years, since 2012 (1st year the scheme ran).
What a pathetic system we have for supporting new ideas, new people…
DE26: 13.1%
25: 17.9
24: 19.6
23: 15.0
22: 19.7
21: 17.1
20: 16.0
19: 17.2
18: 16.3
17: 16.7
16: 16.4
15: 14.3
14: 13.6
13: 15.6
12: 12.8
Geeze. Surely you know you’ve stuffed up when your former science minister, whom *allegedly* despised Australia’s involvement in the SKA, is grilling your parties lack of support for science funding and cuts to the national science agency.
Talk by Wu Jiang (SHAO) showing 2 new 110–120-meter radio telescopes under construction.
China is investing big in #RadioAstronomy.
#EAVN25 🧪🔭📡
Sadly a DECRA can only purchase up to 1/3rd of a house in Sydney, let alone a giant radio telescope…
Or just refurbished the one already there!
Does the telescope actually come with the land? And the buyer could (in theory) do whatever they want with the telescope?
Could tell the antennas were all pointed at the same spot and that data was streaming easily enough!
There was indeed a large cat. But only a single antenna…
Image of a computer screen filled with windows that show various telescope diagnostics and pictures of where they are pointed.
What babysitting a telescope the size of Australia looks like #RadioAstronomy
An institute or grant not budgeting for APCs is apparently a legitimate reason to ask RAS for a fee waiver!
I asked for one during a brief period between MNRAS going gold open access and my institution making a deal with them, and it was granted
And finally, some pulsars live in unusual locations.
Like this millisecond pulsar that I helped find in the central region of our Galaxy! And is embedded in a giant glowing filament of radio light!!
doi.org/10.3847/2041...
Some neutron stars have extremely powerful magnetic field and do all sorts of whacky things. Like emitting beams fast radio bursts 💥
Or behave in totally unexpected ways: doi.org/10.1093/mnra...
And imprint their magnetic fields on the emitted radio waves: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
There’s also a unique “double pulsar” that has provided an extremely powerful tool for testing relativity: www.aanda.org/articles/aa/...
And teaching us about what goes on in the magnetic fields of neutron stars: doi.org/10.1093/mnra...
By carefully tracking the rotation rates of 100’s of pulsars, we’ve been able to peer into their insides: doi.org/10.1093/mnra...
And realise that both the rate at which their spins slow down and emit radio waves are A LOT more variable than once thought: doi.org/10.1093/mnra...
Apparently it’s #NeutronStarWeek, i.e the things I study for my day (and sometimes night) job!
More accurately I look at pulsars, which are neutron stars that are doing interesting things. Like emitting beams of radio waves from above their magnetic poles.
#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy
New repeating FRB found by ASKAP and confirmed with MeerKAT!
#RadioAstronomy #Astronomy
www.astronomerstelegram.org?read=17257
An infographic titled "Why are there two LIGO observatories?" features a map of the United States showing two LIGO locations separated by 3000 km. Three key reasons are illustrated on the right: Noise Discrimination: Each detector is sensitive to local ground vibrations. If both were close together, they’d pick up the same environmental noise, making it difficult to distinguish true gravitational waves. By comparing data from distant locations, LIGO can filter out local noise and isolate real gravitational wave signals. Signal Timing: Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, so any signal detected at both sites with a time difference of over 10 milliseconds can be ruled out as a real wave. This time-based filtering helps validate detections. Source Localization: With two detectors, LIGO can begin to narrow down the area in the sky where a wave originated. Adding more detectors (like Virgo in Italy) greatly improves localization. This was crucial during the 2017 detection of a neutron star collision, where combined data allowed astronomers to quickly identify the galaxy that emitted both gravitational and electromagnetic signals, leading to the most observed astronomical event in history.
Why are there two LIGO observatories?
LIGO has two detectors ~3000 km apart for three main reasons:
🎧 Noise discrimination
⏰ Signal timing
🗺️ Source localization
Find out more www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/ligo-de...
Graphic by Mayara Pacheco 🔭🧪
Picture of a large group of Australian radio astronomers on the stage at the SKAO 2025 meeting.
Incredible showing from Australians past, present and future, at #SKAO2025 in Görlitz.
All very excited about getting the first data from the SKAO telescopes!
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
#RadioAstronomy
