Tara Murphy is a Professor in physics at the University of Sydney. Her area of research is radio astronomy, and in particular radio transients. Her team played a key role in the detection of radio emission from the first neutron star merger detected by LIGO, GW170817.
Tara is leading the VAST project: An ASKAP Survey for Variables and Slow Transients. This project is investigating astronomical objects that vary on rapid timescales. These objects act as a laboratory for studying extreme physics. VAST will allow us to answer questions about the formation of black holes, the missing mass in our Galaxy, and the origin of many exotic objects that burst and flicker in the distant universe. Tara is also working on transients surveys with the Murchison Widefield Array, a low frequency SKA pathfinder.
