Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




STELLAR CHEMISTRY
New Australian telescope set to find 700,000 galaxies
by Staff Writers
Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Nov 12, 2012


illustration only

Australia's newest radio telescope is predicted to find an unprecedented 700,000 new galaxies, say scientists planning for CSIRO's next-generation Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP).

In a paper to be published Sunday in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Australian researchers have combined computer simulations with ASKAP's specifications to predict the new telescope's extraordinary capabilities.

"ASKAP is a highly capable telescope. Its surveys will find more galaxies, further away and be able to study them in more detail than any other radio telescope in the world until the SKA Is built," said Dr Alan Duffy from The University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research.

"Our simulation is similar to testing a Formula 1 car in a wind tunnel before using it on the track."

ASKAP will start scanning southern skies in 2013 as a forerunner to the massive Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will be shared between Australia-New Zealand and Southern Africa.

Dr Duffy said two ASKAP surveys, WALLABY and DINGO, would examine galaxies to study hydrogen gas - the fuel that forms stars - and how those galaxies had changed in the last 4 billion years, allowing us to better understand how our own galaxy, the Milky Way, grew.

"We predict that WALLABY will find an amazing 600,000 new galaxies and DINGO 100,000, spread over trillions of cubic light years of space."

Dr Duffy said the new ASKAP galaxy surveys would also allow astronomers to probe the nature of one of astronomy's greatest mysteries - Dark Energy.

Combining a large simulation of the Universe with new theories of galaxy formation - including the effects of supermassive black holes - had led scientists to accurately predict where as-yet undiscovered galaxies should be located, Dr Duffy said.

"We calculated how much of the model Universe ASKAP could observe using details of the telescope's capabilities," said co-author Dr Baerbel Koribalski, who has recently been appointed as an Office of the Chief Executive Science Leader at the CSIRO.

Co-author Associate Professor Darren Croton from Swinburne University of Technology also said the predictions would be used to help scientists refine how to handle the large quantity of data ASKAP will produce and test theories of galaxy formation.

"If we don't see this many galaxies, then the Universe is strangely different to our simulations," Associate Professor Croton said.

ASKAP will become part of the world's largest telescope - the SKA.

ICRAR is a joint venture between Curtin University and The University of Western Australia providing research excellence in the field of radio astronomy.

Original Publication: Dr Alan Duffy et al. "Predictions for ASKAP Neutral Hydrogen Surveys" Published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol 426 Issue 4.

.


Related Links
International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Cosmic GDP Crashes 97 percent As Star Formation Slumps
Leiden, Netherlands (SPX) Nov 08, 2012
While parts of the world experience economic hardship, a team of Portuguese, UK, Japanese, Italian and Dutch astronomers has found an even bigger slump happening on a cosmic scale. In the largest ever study of its kind, the international team of astronomers has established that the rate of formation of new stars in the Universe is now only 1/30th of its peak and that this decline is only set to ... read more


STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Moon crater yields impact clues

Study: Moon basin formed by giant impact

NASA's LADEE Spacecraft Gets Final Science Instrument Installed

Astrium presents results of its study into automatic landing near the Moon's south pole

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
More Driving And Imaging At 'Matijevic Hill'

Curiosity Team Switches Back to Earth Time

Survey of 'Matijevic Hill' Continues

Mars Longevity Champ Switching Computers

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Obama Win Keeps NASA's Space Plans on Course

Next steps into the final frontier

CSA: Canada finds its space in space

Clarkson Professor Co-writes Book Promoting Space Exploration

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Mr Xi in Space

China plans manned space launch in 2013: state media

China to launch manned spacecraft

Tiangong 1 Parked And Waiting As Shenzhou 10 Mission Prep Continues

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Crew Prepares for Spacewalk After Progress Docks

Crew Preparing for Cargo Ship, Spacewalk

Russian cargo ship docks with ISS: official

Packed Week Ahead for Six-Member Crew

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Ariane 5 is poised for Arianespace's launch with the EUTELSAT 21B and Star One C3 satellites

Ariane 5 orbits EUTELSAT 21B and Star One C3 satellites

Arianespace's heavy-lift Ariane 5 flight is cleared for liftoff with EUTELSAT 21B and Star One C3

NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building Prepared for Multiple Rockets

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Discovery of a Giant Gap in the Disk of a Sun-like Star May Indicate Multiple Planets

New habitable zone super-Earth found in exosolar system

Cosmic sprinklers explained in active planetary nebula

Nearby six-planet system could be life friendly

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
India unveils new version of 'world's cheapest tablet'

Buzz building for debut of Wii U videogame console

NASA tests 'interplanetary Internet'

Atmospheric CO2 risks increasing space junk: study




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement