Bending Spines for Next Generation Spectroscopic Survey Telescopes

The Universe is big; with many billions of stars in each of many billions of galaxies. Open questions in astronomy: what is dark energy? what is dark matter? how do galaxies evolve? can only be answered by obtaining data from huge samples of stars and galaxies. With this grant we aim to develop technologies critical to enable future telescopes to build spectroscopic surveys of over 100 million objects. We propose an innovative concept for a “bending-spine” optical-fibre-positioner using technologies from medical and photography sectors. This will benefit: Australian scientists through access to future facilities; Australian industry, through reverse knowledge transfer; and Australian society, through enhanced understanding of the Universe.