Collaborative research and industry engagement
We work with researchers at Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) to develop new technologies and deliver innovative instruments to major ground-based observatories.
Our expertise in telescope design, optomechanical engineering, optical design and engineering also makes us ideally positioned to contribute to the design and fabrication of instruments for satellite telescopes, CubeSats and Earth-observation satellites.
Learn more about the projects we are undertaking, the researchers engaged in them, and who you can contact to get involved.
Novel spacecraft optical systems
The AAO are innovating in the area of novel space-based optical systems for applications outside of astronomy.
For example, we are working on an agile steering mirror than can point a telescope to another location on Earth within a fraction of a second.
Technology such as this can increase the mission efficiency for projects like the Aquawatch mission, which will monitor water quality across the entire Australian continent.
Various HDR projects are available:
- simulating impact of new capabilities
- designing custom optical systems
- space qualifying our technology.
Reach out to the supervisors for more information.
Supervisors:
Astrophotonics
Astrophotonics is the application of photonics to astronomical instrumentation and AAO is at the forefront of this rapidly developing field.
Photonic technologies have the potential to transform astronomical instruments through miniaturisation, stability and new functionalities impossible with traditional optics.
There are multiple directions of study available, including both theoretical modelling and laboratory based work. Projects include:
- designing miniature spectrographs, with a fraction of the size and cost of traditional instruments
- OH molecule suppression using optical fibres to filter atmospheric emission, enabling enhanced observations of the distant universe
- silicon photonics, which use novel ‘optical circuit boards’ to deliver truly miniaturised instruments.
Supervisor: Simon Ellis
Multi-object adaptive optics
The full potential of the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes comes from the combination of their light collecting power and the exquisite angular resolution at the diffraction limit of the telescope.
Exploiting the diffraction limit of the telescope requires using adaptive optics to correct for the effects of turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere.
This project will study a new concept for deployable wavefront sensors and deployable adaptive optics units to allow multi-object adaptive optics, ie the ability to correct the effects of turbulence locally at any location over a large field of view.
Supervisor: Simon Ellis
The Huntsman Telescope: Ultra-faint galactic structures, subsecond transient searches, event cameras and daytime observing
The Huntsman Telescope is an astronomical imaging system that makes use of a large array of Canon telephoto camera lenses.
Normally used for sports and wildlife photography, this lens array has distinct advantages over conventional telescopes for imaging faint and spatially-extended stellar structures in nearby galaxies.
The PhD student on this project will have exclusive access to this new facility based at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.
A variety of projects are available in areas related to:
- subsecond transient searches
- daytime observations
- new technology development (eg event-based cameras).
Supervisor: Lee Spitler
Adapting the Huntsman Telescope for laser communications
We propose to adapt the Huntsman Telescope for a novel application in free-space optical communications.
We’ll create a diffractive optical component that can be incorporated into the Huntsman Telescope for free-space optical communications, for example, communicating with line-of-sight between buildings. We are working on the fabrication of the diffractive optical component with external collaborators.
The student’s project would entail the characterisation of the diffractive optical component and its integration into the Huntsman Telescope in remote New South Wales.
Supervisors:
An ultra-stable infrared spectrograph to search for Earth-like planets
Discovering a habitable world in another stellar system is one of the most compelling scientific endeavours of our time.
This project will develop a testbed instrument for tackling this challenge, combining novel technologies from astrophotonics and adaptive optics into an innovative spectrograph design that will enable the measurement precision required to detect rocky planets around small and red stars.
This project involves learning optical raytracing software (Zemax) as well as CAD software to design the optical mechanics, and developing expertise in assembling and aligning optical and laser systems, with potential collaboration with Subaru Observatory (Hawai‘i).
Supervisor: Christian Schwab