|
I am an astronomer, working as Director of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, and also as Professor of Astronomy in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. My main research interests are cosmic magnetism, wide-field astronomy, polarimetry, time-domain astrophysics, interstellar turbulence, neutron stars and the Square Kilometre Array.
My main focus is to use the unique capabilities of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) to conduct the Polarisation Sky Survey of the Universe's Magnetism (POSSUM). POSSUM is based around an effect called "Faraday rotation", in which light from a background object is subtly changed when it passes through a cloud of magnetised gas. By measuring the Faraday rotation in the emission from millions of distant galaxies over 70% of the sky, POSSUM aims to transform our understanding of magnetic fields in galaxies, clusters and in diffuse intergalactic gas, and to thus address key unanswered questions on Milky Way ecology, galaxy evolution and cosmology. The data from POSSUM will provide a substantial legacy to the astronomical community, while the new instrumentation required for this project will test the technology needed for the SKA.
If you are a UofT student interested in working with me, please feel free to email me.
I did my postgraduate work at The University of Sydney and at CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility. I subsequently held postdoctoral fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, was an associate professor of astronomy at Harvard University, and then was an ARC Federation Fellow and Australian Laureate Fellow at The University of Sydney.
Now follow the links...
"Cutting Edge" (interview on Weekend Sunrise)
"A rare magnetic star is born - with a push in the right direction" (article for The Conversation)
accesses since 29-Feb-1996.
