Plan for Australian astronomy to lead the world

Astronomers will this week launch a plan to put Australia at the front of international astronomy over the next five years.

Compiled by the Australian Academy of Science’s National Committee for Astronomy, The Mid-Term Review of the Australian Astronomy Decadal Plan 2006-2015 calls for a radio-quiet zone to be maintained in Western Australia and the creation of a central international astronomical data bank linking high-performance resources from astronomy facilities around the world.
Committee Chair and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor Elaine Sadler, said the plan sets out measures to keep Australia at the forefront of international astronomy.

“If Australia is to have a chance at attracting the Square Kilometre Array – the most powerful radio telescope in the world - it is essential that we preserve a radio quiet environment in regions of Western Australia,” she said.

The plan recommends Australia secures continued access to an 8-metre optical telescope – crucial infrastructure for which the best sites are overseas.

“Eight-metre telescopes are the foundation of a large part of current astronomical discovery," Professor Sadler said.

“Failure to retain this crucial part of our astronomical portfolio significantly undermines our other astronomical investments.”

Another proposal, to create an international astronomical data fabric, would open up opportunities for discovery by Australian researchers based on data flowing from major international telescopes, Professor Sadler said.

Achievements in Australian astronomy over the last five years outlined by the Review include:

• Creation of major new astronomy infrastructure in WA
• Dramatic upgrade and improved sensitivity to the CSIRO Australia Telescope
• Australia’s partnership in an Extremely Large Telescope being built in Chile
• Australia’s world-leading astronomers have won prestigious national and international prizes including the Malcolm McIntosh Prize, the Shaw Prize, the Gruber Prize, the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science, and the Pawsey Medals.

The Mid-Term Review of the Australian Astronomy Decadal Plan 2006-2015 will be launched by Professor Sadler and Royal Institution of Australia Director Dr Paul Willis at the 2011 Annual Conference of the Astronomical Society of Australia in Adelaide tomorrow, Monday 4 July.

View the full decadal plan
Professor Sadler is available for interviews.