Stories of Australian Astronomy 2012 is the latest collection of stories of Australian science from Science in Public. Please feel free to follow up with any organisation whose work captures your interest.

If you’d prefer to read these stories in print format, a PDF of the print version is also available.

Our Universe is getting bigger, faster

• Our expanding Universe
• Galaxies point the way to dark energy
• Spinning galaxies reveal missing matter
• Ten times more galaxies
• Measuring the Universe from start to finish

Dreaming of the sky: Indigenous astronomy

Casting light: Optical astronomy

• From mapping a continent to surveying the Universe
• Mount Stromlo Observatory rising from the ashes
• Australian company brings the Universe within range
• SkyMapper’s 268-megapixel camera
• Keck telescope dons a mask
• Seeing a beach ball on the moon
• Bringing dark corners of the universe to light
• Starquakes reveal family secrets
• Sifting sky data
• Is the Red Rectangle a cosmic Rosetta Stone?
• The destruction of a star

The art of astronomy

Australian astronomers take on the Universe

• Nurturing super astronomers at home

Understanding our home: the Milky Way

• Our gas-guzzling galaxy
• Galactic archaeology— digging into the Milky Way’s past
• Profiling and fingerprinting the stars
• Stellar immigration

Planets

• Defending the Earth against solar attack
• An amateur crashes onto the scene

The search for other Earths

• Doubling up pay dividends in exoplanet hunt
• Bringing undiscovered Earths into focus

Inspiring the next generation

• A star-studded education by remote control
• A student’s out-of-this­-world experience

From Antarctica to the Outback

• Antarctica provides a clear view of the heavens
• Japanese spacecraft calls Australia home
• Alice Springs —gateway to the stars

Radio astronomy

• Radio astronomy’s rapid growth down under
• Recording the impact of a super-massive black hole
• Mega star nursery gives birth to new knowledge
• Supercomputers bring theory to life
• PlayStation graphics chips drive astronomy supercomputer
• Putting Einstein to the ultimate test

Looking forward to the Square Kilometre Array

• Big science tackling the big questions
• Australia’s SKA demonstrator already booked out
• Tracing cosmic rays from radio pulses
• Managing a data mountain
• Telescope of tiles