Astrocombs

How can we create tools for measuring colours – different wavelengths of light – that maintain extreme accuracy over decades for discovering Earth-like planets in other solar systems, track our Universe’s expansion in real time and test whether physics itself may have changed over the Universe’s lifetime? 

One of the first key steps in finding an Earth-like planet is identifying a star that resembles our sun. Just as our own sun ‘wobbles’ due to the gravitational pull of Earth in its orbit, we can look for this same ‘wobble’ in other stars to locate potential Earth-like planets.   

However, measuring these ‘wobbles’ is very challenging, as they are tiny and occur over many years.  

Current measuring techniques are not reliable enough to last several years without significant interruptions, jeopardising our chance of seeing the stars’ tiny wobbles. 

If we can successfully measure such tiny wobbles in a star, we may also be able to track our Universe’s expansion in real time – testing whether Einstein’s theory of cosmology is correct. 

Astronomy also allows us to test whether the laws of physics have changed over the history of the Universe, or in strange environments we cannot access in laboratories on Earth, like the centre of our Milky Way galaxy where dark matter is concentrated.  

To achieve this, we need accurate ‘colour rulers’ to measure the tiny anomalies in the colours of distant stars and quasars caused by such fundamental changes in physics. 

Ultimately, we are trying to measure the colour of the precious light our giant telescopes manage to capture from the cosmos. The bluer the wavelength we can push, the more sensitive our measurements are for detecting new planets, tracking our Universe’s expansion and testing our understanding of physics. 

Our team are hoping to use new ways of controlling light on tiny chips – called integrated photonics – to create astrocombs that are smaller, more stable, reliable and cost-effective.  

The key step is for our team to demonstrate the work in the lab, then deploy them to the world’s largest telescopes in Hawaii, Chile and here in Australia. There, the work will begin to detect Earth-like planets and to confirm – through the first ever direct measurement – how fast the Universe was expanding early in its history.

Our vision is that this will be fundamental technology that will transform astronomy and cosmology in general.  

Our team works closely with: 

Microcomb Science and Technology to develop new core astrocomb technologies by enhancing their robustness and pushing them to bluer wavelengths. 

The application themes to see how our findings in building robust, compact and reliable microcombs could also be used in: 

• sensing and biomedical imaging (Spectroscopy and Microscopy theme)
• sensing our environment, particularly our earth’s movements (Sensing and Measurement theme) 
• our internet transmission (Information and Intelligence theme)