Professor Bryan Gaensler

 

Patron of Macarthur Astronomical Society

Professor Bryan Gaensler was appointed as Patron of Macarthur Astronomical Society in November 2009. He is seen (below) addressing MAS members at UWS in November 2010.

Bryan was born and raised in Sydney and has been Professor of Physics at The University of Sydney since 2006. He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1995 with First Class Honours in Physics. His final mark of 100%, the highest ever awarded in the Faculty of Science, saw him awarded the University Medal in Physics

As part of his PhD research in radio astronomy, Bryan set out to understand why the remnants from exploding stars form particular patterns rather than just scatter off in random directions. He surprised the astronomical world by showing that these remnants all line up with the Galaxy's magnetic field like giant compasses. For this and other work, Bryan received his doctorate from The University of Sydney in 1999.

 Bryan was the 1999 Young Australian of the Year and gave the 2001 Australia Day Address to the Nation.

In the USA

Bryan took up a Hubble Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, was a Clay Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution and taught astronomy at Harvard University. As an Associate Professor at Harvard, Bryan built the world's leading research group for studying neutron stars and supernova remnants.

Back in Australia

Bryan returned to The University of Sydney as Professor of Physics in 2006. His research group at Sydney is now focusing it's work on the origin of magnetism in the Universe; and on the demography of neutron stars and black holes in our Milky Way.

He is playing a leading role in developing the Square Kilometre Array and is currently using the unique capabilities of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) to conduct the Polarisation Sky Survey of the Universe's Magnetism (POSSUM).   In mid-2011 he takes up a position as Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO).

In 2010 Bryan won the Pawsey Medal for his pioneering studies of cosmic magnetism which have opened a new window on the Universe. > Here <

Professor Bryan Gaensler has been listed as one of the 100 most influential people in Sydney.  > Here <

Bryan is seen here addressing the General Meeting of MAS  in May 2009:

Projects

Bryan is Chair of the Board of theMurchison Wide Field Array, He was a Member of the Anglo-AustralianTelescope Board (2009-10) and was also  a member of the steering committee for the Australia Telescope National Facility. He is Chair of the Science & Technical Advisory Group for the Australian 'Square Kilometre Array coordination committee. Bryan is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Cosmos science magazine and is Editor In Chief of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia.

Bryan Gaensler Links:

Bryan's Home Page

Bryan's Publications page

Bryan's Wikepedia page

Brains Matter - Professor Gaensler audio interview "Magnetism in the Universe"

"The Magnetic Universe" article in Australian Science Magazine

Article in "Cosmos" magazine, August 2005

A New Way of Looking at the Sky

The following two video clips of Bryan were posted on YouTube by Sydney Consortium following their September 2010 symposium at Sydney's Australian Museum: "Biodiversity and the Arts" :