Professor Matthew Bailes, from OzGrav and Swinburne University, has been awarded the 2024 Prime Minister's Prize for Science for his role in the discovery of 'fast radio bursts' and leadership in the field of radio astronomy.
In 2007, Professor Bailes and his collaborators discovered the first known fast radio burst when they were re-processing archival data collected using Murriyang, CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope on Wiradjuri Country. They used an innovative algorithm designed to search for transient events.
Fast radio bursts are mysterious, intense pulses of radio waves from space lasting a few milliseconds.
Since their discovery, astronomers using research infrastructure including Murriyang and CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope have helped to further study the phenomenon.
What causes the bursts remains a mystery, although recent research suggests they may be related to magnetars, dense stellar remnants with magnetic fields a thousand trillion times stronger than Earth's magnetic field.
Professor Bailes said receiving the Prime Minister's Prize for Science was an amazing honour.
"There's so many of us pushing against the frontiers of knowledge that every now and then one of us hits the jackpot. And so I see this really as a prize for the entire astronomical sector.
"When we first saw the fast radio burst, my colleague started laughing because it just seemed too good to be true. It was ridiculously bright and absolutely perfect. I was very fortunate to be part of the discovery team."
CSIRO's Director of Space and Astronomy Dr Douglas Bock offered his congratulations to Professor Bailes on receiving this prestigious award.
"Matthew and his collaborators kick-started an exciting new area of astrophysics," Dr Bock said.
"I'm proud Murriyang, our Parkes radio telescope, played an important role in discovering the first known bursts and our ASKAP radio telescope is also contributing to pushing the boundaries of knowledge."
Murriyang and ASKAP are part of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), which is owned and operated by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, on behalf of the nation.
"CSIRO are stewards of research infrastructure such as the ATNF, which enables researchers from across Australia and around the world to advance our understanding of the Universe," Dr Bock said.
"Matthew is a valued member of our Australian radio astronomy community who has a long association with the ATNF, as a past member of the ATNF Steering Committee and a partner in the development of new instrumentation for Murriyang over the past 20 years."
