Last week we brought together more than 160 OzGrav members for our combined ECR Workshop and Annual Retreat in Melbourne. It was a full week of learning, collaboration, and community. Thank you to everyone who contributed, presented and helped make the week such a productive and enjoyable one.

Congrats to OzGrav Associate Investigator, Matt Dodds, recipient of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools! We’re incredibly proud to see Matt’s dedication to STEM education recognised on a national stage. 🙌 #PMPrizes www.ozgrav.org/awards/ozgra...

Happy Halloween from OzGrav! Space can be spooky, from black holes to zombie stars, and the eerie silence to the possibility of life. Here's what our OzGrav'ers think is the most spooky about the universe. Music by Mikhail Smusev from Pixabay youtube.com/shorts/0ULtz...

We’re closer to solving dark matter thanks to these black holes! OzGrav PhD student at ANU, Aswathi, was part of the analysis team of the GW241011+GW241110 special event paper. Here she explains how these events helped refine our understanding of dark matter. youtube.com/shorts/wW4yp...

Two #blackhole mergers, GW241011 & GW241110, detected a month apart in 2024 are helping scientists learn how black holes form, spin & evolve. Researchers from OzGrav & ANU, incl. PhD student Aswathi P Subhash & CI Dr Ling (Lilli) Sun contributed key analysis. www.ozgrav.org/news/twin-bl...

New research by OzGrav PhD student Paul Disberg and Chief Investigator Prof. Ilya Mandel (Monash University) explores how newborn neutron stars get a powerful natal kick — a supernova shove that launches them at hundreds of km/s! 👉 aasnova.org/2025/09/24/k... #Astrophysics #NeutronStars #Supernova

✨ OzGrav Space Times is back! We’re thrilled to relaunch our official newsletter, your go-to source for updates, discoveries, and stories from the gravitational-wave community. Check out the October 2025 issue and catch up on all things OzGrav! 🔗 www.ozgrav.org/space-times-...

Celebrating 10 Years of Gravitational Waves! Last week, OzGrav hosted a two-day workshop at Swinburne to mark a decade since the first detection of gravitational waves, GW150914, a discovery that reshaped astrophysics and confirmed Einstein’s prediction. Here’s to the next decade of discovery!

This happened 10 years ago, and it was weird! GW150914 was the first ever detection of gravitational waves, when two black holes collided, sending ripples through space. youtube.com/shorts/_GEr2...

A decade ago, we heard the universe for the first time. Gravitational waves changed physics forever. Here’s how Australia helped make it happen. 🎓 Discover the story in our new documentary: youtu.be/n12Ml1sI2Kw

A new gravitational wave event rocked detectors almost 10 years after the first detection. But this time, it was up to four times as loud thanks to a decade of upgrades. OzGrav Associate Investigator Dr Simon Stevenson explains more in The Conversation: theconversation.com/10-years-ago...

Ten years ago, we heard the universe for the first time. Now, we’ve heard it again... only louder. OzGrav researchers, Neil Lu, PhD student at the Australian National University (ANU), and Teagan Clarke, PhD student at Monash University, explain! youtube.com/shorts/edkqk...

New in Nature Astronomy: An international study co-authored by OzGrav’s Prof Ilya Mandel reveals massive stars are just as likely to form in close binaries in the early Universe as today, reshaping our understanding of stellar evolution & gravitational wave origins. www.ozgrav.org/news/binary-...

Congratulations to OzGrav's Deputy Director, Professor Tamara Davis AM, recipient of the 2025 Moyal Medal awarded by Macquarie University for her outstanding contributions to astrophysics and cosmology. Read more here: lighthouse.mq.edu.au/media-releas...

Vale Rai Weiss Image: Rainer Weiss after receiving his Nobel Prize at the Stockholm Concert Hall, 10 December 2017. (Credit: Pi Frisk/Nobel Media AB 2017)

Congratulations to OzGrav Partner Investigator Dr Michael Kramer and OzGrav Chief Investigator Prof Adam Deller, whose international team has been awarded the 2025 Frontiers of Science Award for their research on the Double Pulsar. Read more here: www.ozgrav.org/awards/gravi...

Last chance to register for our National Science Week event! 📅 13 Aug ⏰ 5:30 PM: Science Outreach Activities | 6:30 PM: Panel + Audience Q&A 📍 AMDC301, Swinburne University 🎟️ Tickets: 2 adults for $10 ($5 each!) 👧 Children (0–16 years): FREE Link: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/decoding-t...

Dynamic Radio Sky 2025 at USyd wrapped up last Friday with an amazing turnout of over 90 radio astronomers from Australia and abroad. The feedback has been fantastic, with standout talks from students and experts alike. A huge thank you to everyone who attended and made the conference a success!

Join us this National Science Week! 📅 Date: Wednesday, 13 August 2025 ⏰ Time: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM: Science Outreach Activities | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM: Panel + Audience Q&A 📍 Venue: AMDC301, Swinburne University 🎟️ Tickets: $10 adults | Free for kids Link: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/decoding-t...

Congrats to Natasha Van Bemmel on winning an MNRAS Student Prize. The MNRAS editors selected her first‑author paper, An Optically Led Search for Kilonovae to z~0.3 with KNTraP, as one of six best student‑led publications this year, what a debut! #OzGrav #Swinburne #MNRAS #NatashaVanBemmel

GW231123: Heaviest black‑hole merger yet detected in gravitational waves. ~100 M☉ + ~140 M☉ → ~225 M☉ remnant, spins near physical limit. “This blip forces us to rethink how very heavy, rapidly spinning black holes come to be.” – Prof Eric Thrane Read: www.ozgrav.org/news/ligo-de...

OzGrav has been awarded the Gold Pleiades Award by the Astronomical Society of Australia’s IDEA Chapter! The award recognises our sustained commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, and reflects the collective effort of our community in building an inclusive and supportive research environment.

Blink and you’ll miss it! Astronomers have captured a 30-nanosecond radio ‘spark’ from NASA’s long-silent Relay 2 satellite. See how this surprise find sharpens our hunt for Fast Radio Bursts 👉 www.ozgrav.org/news/astrono...

Swinburne’s Indigenous Astrophysics Work Experience Program returns this July, giving First Nations Year 10-12 students a week of hands-on astrophysics, blending cutting-edge research with the world’s oldest sky stories. 🔗 Read more: nit.com.au/13-06-2025/1... #IndigenousSTEM #OzGrav #Astrophysics

🌟 Huge congrats to OzGrav Deputy Director Prof Tamara Davis AM FAA, newly elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science! Her work on dark energy is changing how we understand the Universe. 🔗 smp.uq.edu.au/article/2025/05/uq-professors-named-australian-academy-science-fellows #WomenInSTEM

inSTEM 2025 wrapped up last week & what an inspiring 2 days it was! Huge thanks to all who joined, especially to Prof Emma Lee OAM for her powerful keynote. Shoutout to OzGrav's Diana Haikal & Kirsten Banks for their brilliant Networking 101 workshop. 📸 ozgrav.org/gallery/instem-2025

Congrats to OzGrav AI, Dr Anais Möller, who has secured a prestigious CNRS International Emerging Actions grant for Project CHANDELIER. This French-Australian collaboration will merge #LSST & #ASKAP data to probe cosmic explosions and dark energy. #CHANDELIER #LSST #ASKAP

Researchers at ICRAR & OzGrav, together with an international collaboration, have identified ASKAP J1832-0911—a long-period transient that emits 2-minute pulses in both radio and X-ray wavelengths every 44 minutes. Results published in Nature. Read more: www.ozgrav.org/news/cosmic-...

Tiny beginnings. Catastrophic endings. One unforgettable night. Public Lecture featuring Dr Katie Mack @astrokatie.com 📅 Date: Tuesday, 15 July 2025 ⏰ Time: 6:00 PM 📍 Venue: AMDC301, Swinburne University 🎟️ Tickets: $15 Link to register: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/public-lec... @spaceaustralia.com

🎉 Huge congratulations to our brilliant Deputy Director Professor Tamara Davis on being elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science! 🌟@tamarastro.bsky.social www.science.org.au/news-and-eve...

A new study led by OzGrav’s Dr Daniel Reardon from Swinburne University used a twinkling pulsar to reveal hidden plasma structures—and for the first time, peer inside a pulsar bow shock. Published in Nature Astronomy. Read more via The Conversation: theconversation.com/twinkling-st...

Happy World Quantum Day! www.linkedin.com/posts/anu-cg...

Missed our latest public lecture? You can now watch The Role of Serendipity in Scientific Discovery by Professor Matthew Bailes—recipient of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science—here: youtu.be/noPK0wUApYg #ScienceLecture #MatthewBailes #Astrophysics #GravitationalWaves #PrimeMinistersPrize

That’s a wrap on LVK Melbourne 2025! OzGrav was honoured to host this incredible gathering of colleagues from LIGO, Virgo & KAGRA here in Australia to collaborate on the future of gravitational wave science. A huge thank you to everyone who attended and contributed. #LVK2025 #LIGO #Virgo #KAGRA

🎇 @ozgrav.bsky.social say they have worked out how massive neutron stars are when they are born

🚀 The 2025 Spring LVK Meeting is live in Melbourne! ET is in the spotlight: 🔹 A. Ghosh shared project updates 🔹 D. Rosińska presented ET’s new logo and comm activites 🔹 M. Hendry outlined support for early-career researchers @ligo-sci-collab.bsky.social @ozgrav.bsky.social @egovirgo.bsky.social

Some of the greatest scientific discoveries didn't happen by design but by chance. Prof Matthew Bailes, recipient of the 2024 Prime Minister's Prize for Science, invites you to explore how serendipity has shaped groundbreaking discoveries in astrophysics. youtube.com/shorts/fEB9j...

Happy International Day of Happiness from us at OzGrav! hashtag#astrophysics hashtag#ozgrav hashtag#swinburne hashtag#internationaldayofhappiness youtube.com/shorts/2a1HM...

A mysterious radio signal from space has been tracked down to an unexpected star! Read The Conversation article by OzGrav postdoc Dr Iris de Ruiter here: theconversation.com/a-mysterious... #OzGrav #Astronomy #NatureAstronomy #RadioPulses #SpaceScience #WhiteDwarf

Join us as we celebrate Professor Matthew Bailes, recipient of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science - The Role of Serendipity in Scientific Discovery! Date: 3rd April | Time: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Venue: AMDC301, Swinburne University Register Now: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-role-o...

❄️ Testing the future of gravitational-wave detectors—at freezing temperatures! OzGrav researchers at ANU, including Disha Kapasi, Terry McRae, Johannes Eichholz, and the team, have just published a new paper on the Low-vibration Cryogenic Test Facility: pubs.aip.org/aip/rsi/arti...

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! What inspires you? youtube.com/shorts/0IRHP...

🌌 Ever wondered how tiny particles like neutrinos & neutron stars shape the universe? Join us on 21 Feb at 5:30 pm for Tiny yet impactful clues to unlocking cosmic mysteries with PhD students Pratyasha & Nimas. Free event! www.eventbrite.com.au/e/tiny-yet-i... 🔭 #SpaceScience #OzGrav

This student just had their first paper published in Nature Astronomy! Joshua Lee and his team discovered a rotating object in space that's spinning oddly slowly. youtu.be/ikqyhIVoLKc?... #astronomy #space #nature #phdstudent

Exciting news! OzGrav Distinguished Professor Susan Scott has been awarded the George Szekeres Medal by the Australian Mathematical Society, recognising her exceptional contributions to mathematical sciences. 🌟 Read about her achievements and impact in Cosmos Magazine:

“The Earth is really just a ship, being bounced across the waves. The universe is constantly changing size. Time is constantly changing. The Earth is just riding that wave.” #GravitationalWaves #Astrophysics #MeerKAT #SpaceScience #OzGrav #CosmicMysteries www.smh.com.au/national/a-s...