You can measure a black hole with echoes.
OzGrav PhD student Hugh explains how astronomers use the flickering of light around supermassive black holes to measure their mass from afar.
Echoes become rulers.
youtube.com/shorts/40IIQ...
This week, OzGrav researchers from two of our key programs came together at the University of Melbourne for a Collaboration Planning Workshop — bringing different expertise into the same room, sharing tools and approaches, and creating space to spark new projects.
A study led by Anais Möller, Simon Stevenson & Jade Powell has now been featured in Nature Astronomy.
The research explores how kilonovae will appear in data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
🔗 Read the highlight: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We’re excited to share that OzGrav has been featured on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day 🌌
This stunning visual combines real astrophotography of the Tarantula Nebula with an OzGrav simulation of two black holes in their final “death dance”.
🔗 See the full feature: apod.nasa.gov/apod/fap/ap2...
What if some stars explode… and leave nothing behind? 💥
OzGrav-led research has uncovered evidence of pair-instability supernovae—explosions so powerful they completely obliterate the star.
🔗 Read more: www.ozgrav.org/news/new-stu...
Congrats to OzGrav’s Dr Cullan Howlett - awarded the 2026 Pawsey Medal 👏
His research, focused on assembling the largest & most complete map of our universe ever made, has shaped our understanding of the fundamental forces & ingredients that make up the world around us.
vimeo.com/1164875635/b...
OzGrav postdoc Dr Rowina Nathan attended Science Meets Parliament last week, bringing gravitational-wave science into conversations with policymakers.
From discussing the role of missions like GRACE in tracking water movement during floods, to learning how science can better inform policy!
Our first Space Times newsletter for 2026 is out now 🚀
This March edition highlights new insights into twin black hole mergers, alongside the outreach, mentoring, and Centre-wide efforts that keep OzGrav thriving.
Explore the latest edition:
www.ozgrav.org/space-times-...
→ Click March 2026
OzGrav Associate Investigator Dr Anaïs Möller explains how the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is about to create a 10-year “movie” of the southern sky — and help us probe dark energy.
She also co-leads Fink, one of Rubin’s AI-powered community brokers.
Read more:
theconversation.com/20-billion-g...
A cosmic explosion with the force of a billion Suns went unseen — until we caught its echo.
OzGrav’s Prof Tara Murphy & PhD student Ashna Gulati have uncovered what may be the clearest “orphan afterglow” yet, the radio ghost of a hidden gamma-ray burst.
Read: theconversation.com/a-cosmic-exp...
When two neutron stars collide, they shake spacetime and light up the cosmos in a brilliant flash called a kilonova. OzGrav researchers Dr Anais Möller, Dr Jade Powell and Dr Simon Stevenson explore how the Vera C. Rubin Observatory could help spot these rare events.
aasnova.org/2026/02/04/h...
🕳️ New fear unlocked: runaway black holes
What happens when two black holes merge unevenly? OzGrav’s Prof David Blair explains how uneven black-hole mergers can launch newly formed black holes across galaxies at extraordinary speeds.
👉 Read more: theconversation.com/new-fear-unl...
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...
Read more in the paper, available now: doi.org/10.3847/2041...
Media Release: www.ozgrav.org/news/twin-bl...
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!
Find out more about Australia’s story in gravitational wave science in our full documentary, available on YouTube now youtu.be/n12Ml1sI2Kw
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...
We recognise that this loss may be deeply felt by many in our community, particularly those
who had the privilege of working closely with Rai.
Our thoughts are with you during this time.
His legacy lives on through the discoveries we continue to make, including the GWTC-4 results that have just been announced, and through the thriving community of researchers he inspired.