Ordinary Meeting

Guest Speaker: Ian Kemp, ASNSW, ICRAR

Title: Australia will be in the news for the next 10 years because of discoveries in Radio Astronomy.

Abstract: Radio astronomy is often seen as a bit of a fringe activity populated by geeky people with soldering irons and bits of cable. But that is changing, rapidly, as the field matures from ‘cottage industry’ to ‘industrial enterprise'.  Over the next 10 years you should expect Radio Astronomy to be at the forefront of astronomy research - as new instruments generate a flood of discoveries addressing fundamental questions like how the first stars, the first galaxies and the first black holes formed when the universe was young.

What’s more, Australia and South Africa will be at the forefront, because the world’s largest science project is underway with the construction of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), partly in the desert of Western Australia, and partly in the Karoo of South Africa. A number of technology ‘test beds’ (SKA precursors) have already been constructed to help prove the technology for the SKA, and these mini-telescopes are already delivering a stream of new discoveries. 

Perth is the main centre for the Australian contribution to the SKA, and ICRAR is a research institute crossing two universities (UWA and Curtin) employing around 200 astronomers, computing specialists, data scientists and engineers. In this talk, Ian Kemp from ICRAR will give an introduction to radio astronomy. He will explain why it matters, how the actual technology works, and why supercomputers are so important to radio astronomers.  He will also explain what exactly a radio astronomer does all day, and why it’s a great career option for any young folk you might be able to influence. The talk will of course outline some of the recent discoveries and gorgeous images coming from the SKA precursor telescopes.

Finally Ian will explain how you can build your own radio telescope in your backyard and create images of the spiral arms of the milky way.

Biography: Ian Kemp started his professional life in academic research - with a degree, PhD and postdoc in Materials Science. He then went off to work in Industry and government for a while (25 years) before getting back to research and obtaining a Masters degree in Astronomy. He currently works as a research scientist at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Perth - working partly on ‘big data’ (i.e., extremely big, massive data) and partly on astrophysics research. https://www.icrar.org/people/ikemp/