Academics

   
Professor John K. Webb
BSc (University of Surrey), PhD (Cambridge University)

John's present research interests divide into two areas: cosmology, and extra-solar planets. Cosmology: quasar spectroscopy allows us to test fundamental physics. The long look-back time to quasars permit a check on the constancy of the fundamental constants (in particular, the fine-structure constant). Similar observations provide measurements of the the baryonic density, one component of the energy content of the universe, hence telling us about its expansion history. The observations come from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Keck 10m telescope, and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. Extra-solar planets: the APT group has taken extensive observations by searching for tiny drops in the host star brightness as the planet eclipses. This makes use of the Automated Patrol Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, NSW.

Professor Michael C. B. Ashley
MSc (Caltech), BSc, PhD (Australian National University)

Michael's research interests cover three broad areas: (1) Antarctic astronomy: the group at UNSW is leading the Australian effort to establish a large infrared telescope on Antarctic plateau and has ten years of experience working at the US South Pole station, (2) wide-field robotic telescopes: he runs the UNSW Automated Patrol Telescope and is a member of the ROTSE collaboration studying the optical counterparts of gamma ray bursts, (3) astronomical instrumentation (electronics and optics) and computing, primarily using GNU/Linux, C, and Java.

Professor Chris G. Tinney
BSc, Hons (University of Sydney), PhD (Caltech)

Chris' research focuses on extra-solar planets and brown dwarfs. Currently an ARC Australian Professorial Fellow, he's a member of the Anglo-Australian Planet Search which has discovered over 20 extrasolar planets via their Doppler reflex wobble, using the Anglo-Australian Telescope. He has also used the AAT, Gemini and Magellan telescopes to search for unbound planets moving freely in nearby star clusters, and habitable planets orbiting low-mass stars.


Postdocs & Support Staff

   
Dr. M. Andre Phillips
BSc, Hons (University of Canterbury), PhD (University of Adelaide)

Andre is the APT and ROTSE-IIIa Support Scientist. His PhD involved constructing and operating an atmospheric radar at Australia's Mawson Antarctic Station (68S, 63E), the data from which were used to investigate the dynamics of the high latitude mesosphere. Later work at Saskatoon, Canada concerned winds in the mesosphere and combined radar-measured winds with those from a Doppler Fabry-Perot instrument.

Graduate & Honours Students

   

Tom B. Young
BA, MA (Cambridge University)

Tom is a PhD student working on the APT extrasolar planet search. He is developing a systematic removal algorithm as well as designing and building 'Super HAT PM3' (the Super High Altitude Temperature-Based Precipitation Monitor): an infrared camera used to detect cloud cover for automated observing of the APT.


Former and Adjunct Members

   

Marton G. Hidas
BSc, Hons, PhD (University of New South Wales)

Marty obtained a PhD from UNSW in 2005. His work involved setting up a new search for transiting extrasolar planets using the 0.5m Automated Patrol Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. This project is now generating a steady trickle of planet candidates, eclipsing binary systems and variable stars. He started as a postdoc at the University of California- Santa Barbara and Los Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope in January 2007. His work involves using the LCOGT telescopes to try to confirm transiting planet candidates, and search for transit-timing variations in known planets. He is also interested in following up some of the low-mass eclipsing binary systems found by transit searches.

Jessie L. Christiansen
BSc (Griffith Univ.), Hons (Australian National Univ.), PhD (Univ. of New South Wales)

Jessie finished a PhD in January 2008 working with the APT group. She is now a Postdoc at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Duane W. Hamacher
BSc (University of Missouri), MSc (University of New South Wales)

Duane completed a research Masters in March 2008 searching for exoplanetary transits. His focus was on follow-up observations of APT and ESO planet candidates as well as implimenting new planet selection criteria. He is now working on a PhD in Archaeoastronomy at Macquarie University.

Hiroyuki Toyozumi
PhD (University of New South Wales)

Hiroyuki completed his PhD in 2005. He studied the Intra-Pixel variation of the APT CCD to compute the variation from observed star images.

Mitchell Kardan
BSc, Hons (University of New South Wales)

Mitchell completed his BSc with Honours in 2006 under the supervision Prof John Webb. He developed a program to detect planetary transits and identify systematic trends in light curves. He now lives in London and works in finance.