This page links to other research activities including some of my older work when I was at the Anglo-Australian Observatory (up to end of 2004).

Chirality and the Origin of Life

We have observed surprisingly high levels of circular polarization in star formation regions. We suggest that circularly polarized light from such sources may be responsible for chiral selection in interstellar organic molecules and may account for the excess of L-amino acids found in some meteorites and for the homochirality of biological molecules.  More...

Spectro-astrometry

A technique for detecting structure on milliarcsecond scales in astronomical sources by measuring the relative position changes with wavelength across spectral features. The technique is being used to study the binary nature, disks and outflows in pre-main sequence stars, and the structure of active galactic nuclei.  More...

Astronomical Polarimetry

I have been involved in the development and use of a number of astronomical polarimeters. The most recent is the PlanetPol polarimeter capable of measuring stellar polarization to sensitivites of one part in a million. More...