International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research

ICRAR launched in August 2009 with funding support from the State Government of Western Australia. Initially funded for five years to support Australia's bid to host the SKA telescopes, its funding was extended for an additional five year periods in 2013 (ICRAR II), 2019 (ICRAR III) and 2024 (ICRAR IV).

In 2013, ICRAR became the first user of the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, based in Kensington.{{cite web |title=Pawsey powerhouse supercomputer crunches pre-SKA data torrent |url=http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201307235860/research/pawsey-powerhouse-supercomputer-crunches-pre-ska-data-torrent |website=www.news.uwa.edu.au |publisher=}}

Although radio astronomy features in the centre's name, its research has expanded to include optical and multi-wavelength astronomy.

Each of the centre's two university nodes specialises in different areas of astronomical research. The Curtin node specialises in extragalactic radio science, accretion physics and slow transients, the epoch of reionisation, and pulsars & other fast transients.{{Cite web |title=Science Program |url=https://www.icrar.org/our-research/science-program/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=ICRAR |language=en}} The UWA node specialises in studying galaxies in the local and distant Universe, and cosmological theory, with a particular focus on galactic and cosmological simulations. The UWA node also operates a data intensive astronomy program, which researches techniques for managing and processing the large amounts of data created by current and future radio telescopes.{{Cite web |title=Data Intensive Astronomy |url=https://www.icrar.org/our-research/data-intensive-astronomy/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=ICRAR |language=en}}

Both nodes also operate engineering research programs, largely dedicated to the design and operation of radio telescopes and development of related spin-off technologies.{{Cite web |title=Engineering Program |url=https://www.icrar.org/our-research/technology-engineering-program/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=ICRAR |language=en}} In particular, the timing and synchronisation system for the SKA-Mid radio telescope{{Cite web |date=2022-11-28 |title=ICRAR to build the 'beating heart' of the Square Kilometre Array |url=https://www.icrar.org/skamids-beating-heart/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=ICRAR |language=en}} and the power and signal distribution system for the SKA-Low radio telescope{{Cite web |date=2023-09-10 |title=ICRAR engineers have designed 'radio-quiet' electronics to power the world's largest radio telescope. |url=https://www.icrar.org/smartbox/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=ICRAR |language=en}} were designed at developed at ICRAR's UWA and Curtin nodes, respectively.

ICRAR has also contributed to the design, technical operations and science programs of several Australian SKA precursors and prototypes, including the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), and the Aperture Array Verification Systems (AAVS1,2&3),{{cite journal |last1=Benthem |first1=P. |title=The Aperture Array Verification System 1: System overview and early commissioning results |date=2021-10-07 |arxiv=2110.03217 |last2=Wayth |first2=R. |last3=Acedo |first3=E. de Lera |last4=Adami |first4=K. Zarb |last5=Alderighi |first5=M. |last6=Belli |first6=C. |last7=Bolli |first7=P. |last8=Booler |first8=T. |last9=Borg |first9=J.|journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |volume=655 |pages=A5 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202040086 |bibcode=2021A&A...655A...5B }}{{cite journal |last1=Macario |first1=Giulia |title=Characterization of the SKA1-Low prototype station Aperture Array Verification System 2 |date=2021-09-24 |arxiv=2109.11983 |last2=Pupillo |first2=Giuseppe |last3=Bernardi |first3=Gianni |last4=Bolli |first4=Pietro |last5=Ninni |first5=Paola Di |last6=Comoretto |first6=Giovanni |last7=Mattana |first7=Andrea |last8=Monari |first8=Jader |last9=Perini |first9=Federico|journal=Journal of Astronomical Telescopes |volume=8 |page=011014 |doi=10.1117/1.JATIS.8.1.011014 |bibcode=2022JATIS...8a1014M }}{{Cite book |last1=Caiazzo |first1=M. |last2=Labate |first2=M. G. |last3=Tirone |first3=L. |last4=Stringhetti |first4=L. |last5=Serylak |first5=M. |last6=Laing |first6=R. |last7=Devereux |first7=D. |last8=Hill |first8=A. |last9=Teale |first9=A. |last10=Bhushan |first10=R. |last11=Keel |first11=R. |last12=Sobey |first12=C. |last13=Trott |first13=C. |last14=Green |first14=J. |last15=Price |first15=D. |chapter=The Latest Aperture Array Verification System AAVS3 for the World's Largest Radio Telescope |date=2024-07-14 |title=2024 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and INC/USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting (AP-S/INC-USNC-URSI) |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10685955 |pages=297–298 |doi=10.1109/AP-S/INC-USNC-URSI52054.2024.10685955|isbn=979-8-3503-6990-8 }} located at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory.

ICRAR is governed by a board, with representatives from the governmnent, both universities, and other stakeholders including the CSIRO. The inaugural board chair was Bernard Bowen, (February 2009 - July 2016).{{cite web|url=http://www.icrar.org/about/board|title=Our Board|publisher=ICRAR|access-date=2014-10-06|archive-date=2014-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006135846/http://www.icrar.org/about/board|url-status=dead}} The current chair is David Skellern, appointed March 2024.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-03-28 |title=Dr David Skellern AO appointed as chair of ICRAR board |url=https://www.icrar.org/new-board-chair-david-skellern/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=ICRAR |language=en}}

ICRAR's day-to-day operations are managed by an executive team with members across both university nodes. The founding executive director was Peter Quinn (2009-2022).{{Cite web |last=Rowles |first=Cass |date=2022-07-22 |title=Professor Peter Quinn takes on a new role at UWA |url=https://www.icrar.org/farewell-pq/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=ICRAR |language=en}} The current executive director is Simon Ellingsen.{{cite web|url=http://www.icrar.org/about/executive|title=Executive Team |publisher=ICRAR}}

ICRAR has run several successful citizen science projects.

theSkyNet{{cite web|url=http://pogs.theskynet.org/pogs/|title=theSkyNet POGS - the PS1 Optical Galaxy Survey|website=pogs.theskynet.org|access-date=2014-10-06|archive-date=2013-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725025029/http://pogs.theskynet.org/pogs/|url-status=dead}} employed Internet-connected computers owned by the general public to do research in astronomy using BOINC technology. It combined the spectral coverage of the GALEX, Pan-STARRS1, and WISE to generate a multi-wavelength (ultra-violet - optical - near infra-red) galaxy atlas for the nearby Universe. In September 2014 theSkyNet had 13573 total users, and 5198 recent users.{{cite web|url=http://pogs.theskynet.org/pogs/server_status.php|title=Project status|website=pogs.theskynet.org|access-date=2014-10-06|archive-date=2014-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006221745/http://pogs.theskynet.org/pogs/server_status.php|url-status=dead}} theSkyNet was powered down in 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.theskynet.org/index.html|title=theSkyNet thankyou|website=theskynet.org}}

AstroQuest launched in 2019, and aimed to help Australian scientists understand how galaxies grow and evolve.{{cite web |title=AstroQuest |url=https://astroquest.net.au/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410110139/https://astroquest.net.au/ |archive-date=2019-04-10 |access-date=2019-04-10 |website=astroquest.net.au/}} Users inspected images of galaxies, and used paint tools to help classify light as coming from the galaxy or from other sources. As of 2021, approximately 10,000 users had classified the complete dataset of 60,000 galaxies,{{Cite web |date=2021-09-03 |title=Astroquest |url=https://www.icrar.org/case-studies/astroquest/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=ICRAR |language=en}} and the project is on indefinite hold awaiting more galaxies to classify.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-09-07 |title=Thank you for being part of AstroQuest |url=https://www.icrar.org/astroquest-thankyou/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=ICRAR |language=en}}

In 2022, an unusual slow periodic radio transient was discovered in archival data in GLEAM (GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array Survey), catalogued as GLEAM-XJ162759.5-523504, the astrophysical radio source had an 18 minute period with 1 minute long bursts, not matching any then known periodic variables. {{cite web |url= https://www.icrar.org/repeating-transient/ |title= Mysterious Object Unlike Anything Astronomers Have Seen Before |date= 27 January 2022 |publisher= International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research |author= ICRAR }} {{Cite journal |last1=Hurley-Walker |first1=N. |last2=Zhang |first2=X. |last3=Bahramian |first3=A. |last4=McSweeney |first4=S. J. |last5=O’Doherty |first5=T. N. |last6=Hancock |first6=P. J. |last7=Morgan |first7=J. S. |last8=Anderson |first8=G. E. |last9=Heald |first9=G. H. |last10=Galvin |first10=T. J. |date=2022-01-26 |title=A radio transient with unusually slow periodic emission |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04272-x |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=601 |issue=7894 |pages=526–530 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04272-x |pmid=35082416 |bibcode=2022Natur.601..526H |issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription |arxiv=2503.08033 }}

• List of astronomical societies

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Category:Astronomy organizations

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