Note: Top-up scholarships may be available for some PhD projects.
PhD Projects
High Velocity Clouds and the Galactic All Sky-Survey
The Milky Way is surrounded by a population of high velocity clouds(HVCs),
some of which are believed to be remnants of the formation of the Galaxy,
while another fraction are believed to be material expelled from the
Galactic disk. In all cases it is obvious that these objects are
intimately tied to the evolution of the Milky Way.HVCs can be used to
probe the properties of the halo through a study of the interaction of the
HVCs with the halo gas that surrounds the Milky Way. For all HVCs magnetic
fields are expected to play an important role in stabilising the clouds.
However, as yet, no magnetic fields have been detected in HVCs.
The aim of this project will be to study the structure of HVCs and search
for potential magnetic fields. The student will make use of new atomic
hydrogen (HI) data and an HVC catalog from the Galactic All-Sky Survey,
to study the structure of HVCs. We will also acquire new data from the ATCA
to measure the magnetic field component of these clouds.
This project will involve close collaborations with B. Gaensler (U of Sydney),
D.J. Pisano (NRAO-Green Bank) and T. Murphy (U of Sydney).
The Structure and Dynamics of the Inner-most Milky Way
The structure of the inner-most 5 kiloparsecs of the Milky Way is
not well known. We know that non-circular motions, driven by
spiral structure, the stellar bar and potentially energetic
explosions dominate the region and force gas into extreme orbits. However,
the nature of these orbits and their relation to the main
structural features such as the stellar bar, the 3 kpc arm, and the
molecular ring, are poorly understood.
The aim of this project will be to produce a model for the structure and
dynamics of the inner 5 kpc of the Galaxy. The student will need to
develop dynamical models for the inner Galaxy to compare with observational
data. This project will primarily make use of atomic hydrogen (HI) data
from the Southern Galactic Plane Survey Galactic Centre Project,
supplemented with data of molecular gas emission and star-forming regions
and targeted new observations. Comparing the HI and molecular gas
dynamics with the distribution of stars and star-forming regions the
student will attempt to answer: what are the dynamical effects of the
stellar bar? what is the full extent of the 3 kpc arm? and what is the
relationship of the 3 kpc arm to the molecular ring?
This project will involve close collaborations with J. Dickey (U of Tasmania).
The structure of the Magellanic Leading Arm
The Magellanic Clouds
are the nearest galaxies to the Milky Way. They have long been known to be
engaged in a complicated tidal and/or ram pressure stripping interactiong
with the Milky Way, which has produced the Magellanic Stream and Leading
Arm.
Large Scale Motions in the Milky Way
Rotation curves of galaxies
are useful tools for probing the mass distribution and dynamics of a Galaxy.
Unfortunately, because of our position within the Galaxy, the Galactic
rotation curve is poorly understood. H
I studies of
the rotation curve are limited by a distance ambiguity interior to the solar
circle. There is some possibility that this ambiguity can be partially
resolved by associating hydrogen recombination lines with ambient neutral
hydrogen gas. The HIPASS dataset contains a number of recombination lines
which, when examined in conjunction with the H
I
emission, may allow us to better understand the velocity field of the Milky
Way. Our position within the Galaxy offers us the one advantage that we can
study departures from circular rotation on relatively small scales. We will
hopefully be able to search for evidence of large-scale outflows and the
effects of spiral arms on the Galactic velocity field.
This project will involve close collaborations with J. Dickey (U of Tasmania).