NGC 7331, one of the nearby galaxies studied by the extragalactic astrophysics group to understand the spectral energy distributions of all galaxies.
Monash astrophysicists use observations and computational modelling to understand the universe and the celestial objects within it. Their research spans much of astrophysics, including: star formation from the first stars to the present, stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis and Galactic chemical evolution, the sun and solar systems, galaxies, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, neutrinos and gravity waves, supernovae and gamma-ray bursts.
Many research projects are conducted using major computational and observational facilities located around the globe. Working with these research supervisors, Monash students have gained new insights into the nature of celestial objects and have published their research in major scientific journals.
Professor Csaba Balazs Particle astrophysics Dark matter properties Charged cosmic rays (Extra-)Galactic gamma rays Cosmic matter-antimatter asymmetry Particle cosmology Inflation models Dark energy model Associate Professor Michael Brown Galaxy evolution Active galactic nuclei Star formation within galaxies Wide-field astronomical surveys Galaxies and dark matter Large-scale structure Dr Simon Campbell Observational and computational stellar astrophysics; Evolution and nucleosynthesis of low-mass stars; Multidimensional fluid dynamics; Chemical abundance problems in globular clusters High-resolution stellar spectroscopy Asteroseismology Dr Andrew Casey Chemical tagging the Milky Way; The relationship between planets and their host stars; Extremely metal-poor stars and the high redshift universe; Machine learning applications to big data problems Associate Professor Duncan Galloway Structure and properties of neutron stars Thermonuclear X-ray bursts and pulsations in neutron-star binaries Searches for gravitational waves Astrophysical transients with next-generation wide-field telescopes Professor Alexander Heger Cosmic explosions Massive and supermassive stars First generations of stars Transport processes in stars Neutron stars and black holes Origin of elements Nucleosynthesis and Galactic chemical evolution Supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and X-ray bursts Associate Professor Amanda Karakas The evolution and nucleosynthesis of AGB stars The effect of reaction rate uncertainties on stellar nucleosynthesis Abundances in planetary nebulae and globular clusters The AGB contribution to the chemical evolution of galaxies & globular clusters Pre-solar grains extracted from meteorites Barium stars and related chemically-peculiar stellar systems Circumbinary disks around evolved stars and wind accretion Professor John Lattanzio Evolution and structure of stars Nuclear astrophysics Mixing in stars Chemical evolution of the Galaxy Observing stellar abundances Numerical hydrodynamics with supercomputers Dr Paul Lasky Gravitational Waves (LIGO and Pulsar Timing) Neutron Stars Gamma ray bursts General Relativity and Strong-field gravity Dr Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway Supernova remnants Molecular clouds and astrochemistry Planetary habitability Astronomy and physics education, active learning approaches, work integrated learning and employability Dr Rosemary Mardling Extrasolar planets - observations and theory Stability and long-term evolution of stellar and planetary systems Tides in planets and stars Planet formation The three-body problem Chaos in conservative systems Dr Bernhard Mueller Computational astrophysics Core-collapse supernovae Massive stars Neutrino and gravitational wave astronomy Nucleosynthesis Physics of dense matter Radiation transport Associate Professor Daniel Price Computational astrophysics Star and planet formation Accretion discs Magnetic fields Turbulence Dust and the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method Associate Professor Eric Thrane Gravitational waves (aLIGO) Neutrino astrophysics Cosmology
