Duane Hamacher

Experience

• 2019–present
  Associate professor, University of Melbourne
• 2022–present
  CAPAS Fellow, Universität Heidelberg
• 2016–2019
  Senior Research Fellow, Monash University
• 2012–2016
  Lecturer, University of New South Wales
• 2012–2012
  Manager, Association for Astronomy, Macquarie University

Education

• 2012 
  Macquarie University, PhD (Cultural Astronomy)
• 2008 
  University of New South Wales, MSc (Astrophysics)
• 2004 
  University of Missouri, BSc (Physics)

Publications

• 2023
  Eclipse Chasers - Chap 2: Solar Eclipses in First Nations Traditions, CSIRO Publishing.
• 2023
  Using the Significant Horizons Methodology to Determine Potential Astronomical Use of Aboriginal Stone Arrangements, Essays on Astronomical History and Heritage: A Tribute to Wayne Orchiston on his 80th Birthday, edited by Steven Gullberg and Peter Robertson. Springer Press, New York.
• 2023
  The Astronomy of the Aboriginal Peoples of the Sydney Basin, Essays on Astronomical History and Heritage: A Tribute to Wayne Orchiston on his 80th Birthday, edited by Steven Gullberg and Peter Robertson. Springer Press, New York.
• 2023
  Research Frameworks in Indigenous Astronomy, Australian Perspectives on Indigenous Knowledge, edited by Marcia Langton and Michael-Shawn Fletcher. Melbourne University Press.
• 2023
  World Developments: Australasian and Oceanic cultures, The Cultural History of the Universe, edited by Nick Campion. Bloomsbury Press,
• 2023
  Safeguarding Indigenous Sky Rights from Colonial Exploitation, Routledge Handbook of Social Studies of Outer Space, edited by Juan Francisco Salazar and Alice Gorman
• 2023
  The Art of Star Knowledge, 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art, edited by Judith Ryan and Marcia Langton. University of Melbourne Press
• 2023
  The Role of Astronomy in Australian Indigenous Knowledge, The Oxford Handbook of Global Indigenous Archaeologies: Chapter 18, edited by Claire Smith, Kellie Pollard, Alok Kanungo, Sally May, Sandra Lopez Varela, and Joe Watkins. Oxford University Press.
• 2022
  The First Astronomers: How Indigenous Elders read the stars, Allen & Unwin
• 2022
  Comparing constellations across cultures, Nature Astronomy, Vol. 6, pp. 406–409.
• 2022
  Perceptual grouping explains constellations across cultures, Psychological Science, Vol. 33(3), pp. 354-363.
• 2021
  Best Practices and Protocols for Including Indigenous Astronomy in the Planetarium Setting, Proceedings of the International Planetarium Society, Vol. 25, pp. 69-77.
• 2021
  World Developments: Australasian and Oceanic Cultures., "A Cultural History of the Universe in the Age of Enlightenment." Volume 4. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
• 2020
  Solstice and solar position observations in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
• 2020
  Native American Traditions of Meteor Crater, Arizona: Fact, Fiction, or Appropriation?, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
• 2020
  Historical Novae and Supernovae, Proceedings of IAU Symposium A30, Cambridge University Press
• 2020
  A Cultural Comparison of Dark Constellations of the Milky Way, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
• 2020
  Whitening the Sky: light pollution as a form of cultural genocide, Journal of Dark Sky Studies
• 2019
  A Comparison of Dark Constellations of the Milky Way, British Archaeological Reports
• 2019
  Baiami and the emu chase: an astronomical interpretation of a Wiradjuri Dreaming associated with the Burbung, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
• 2019
  Indigenous use of stellar scintillation to predict weather and seasonal change, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria
• 2018
  The Planets in Indigenous Australian Traditions, Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Planetary Science
• 2018
  Death and Maier: meteors and mortuary rites in the eastern Torres Strait, Australian Journal of Indigenous Issues
• 2018
  Twin Suns in Australian Aboriginal Traditions, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
• 2018
  A methodology for testing horizon astronomy in Australian Aboriginal cultural sites: a case study, Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry
• 2017
  Observations of red-giant variable stars by Aboriginal Australians, The Australian Journal of Anthropolgy
• 2017
  Environment and Landscape, SAS Encyclopaedia of Archaeological Sciences, edited by Heather Blasco.
• 2016
  Reconstructing the Star Knowledge of Aboriginal Tasmanians, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Vol. 19(3), pp. 327–347.
• 2016
  Aboriginal Astronomical traditions from Ooldea, South Australia, Part 2: Animals in the Ooldean Sky, Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 19(1), pp. 61-78
• 2016
  “Dancing with the stars”: astronomy and music in the Torres Strait, Proceedings of INSAP IX, edited by K. White. Lampeter, UK: Sophia Centre Press.
• 2015
  Identifying seasonal stars in Kaurna astronomical traditions., Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 18(1), pp. 39-52.
• 2014
  Are supernovae recorded in Indigenous astronomical traditions?, Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 7(2), pp. 161-170.
• 2014
  Meteors in the Maori astronomical traditions of New Zealand, WGN - Journal of the International Meteor Organization, Vol. 42(1), pp. 31-34.
• 2014
  Using Modern Technologies to Capture and Share Indigenous Astronomical Knowledge., Australian Academic & Research Libraries, Vol. 45(2), pp. 101-110
• 2014
  Dreamtime Astronomy: development of a new Indigenous program at Sydney Observatory., Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 17(2), pp. 195-204.
• 2014
  Geomythology and cosmic impacts in Australia., West Australian Geologist, Vol. 505, pp. 11-14.
• 2014
  Aboriginal Astronomical traditions from Ooldea, South Australia, Part 1: Nyeeruna and the Orion Story, Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 17(2), pp. 180-194.
• 2014
  Comet and meteorite traditions of Aboriginal Australians, Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, 3rd Edition, edited by Helaine Selin. Springer-Netherlands, pp. 1-4.
• 2014
  Australian Aboriginal astronomy: an overview., Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, Vol. III, edited by Clive Ruggles. Springer-Verlag, pp. 2215-2223.
• 2013
  Aurorae in Australian Aboriginal traditions., Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 16(2), 207-219.
• 2013
  Aboriginal oral traditions of Australian impact craters., Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 16(3), pp. 295-311.
• 2013
  The discovery and history of the Dalgaranga meteorite crater, Western Australia., Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 60(5), pp. 637-646.
• 2013
  Wurdi Youang: an Australian Aboriginal stone arrangement with possible solar indications., Rock Art Research, Vol. 30(1), pp. 55-65.
• 2013
  Recorded accounts of meteoritic events in the oral traditions of Indigenous Australians., Archaeoastronomy, Vol. 25, pp. 99-111.
• 2013
  Astronomical orientations of Bora ceremonial grounds in Southeast Australia., Australian Archaeology, No. 77, pp. 30-37.
• 2012
  Orientations of linear stone arrangements in New South Wales., Australian Archaeology, No. 75, 46-54.
• 2012
  Rock art at the ‘Mini-Yengo’ site near Kulnura, New South Wales., Rock Art Research, Vol. 29(2), pp. 23-25.
• 2011
  "Bridging the gap" through Australian cultural astronomy., Archaeoastronomy & Ethnoastronomy: building bridges between cultures, edited by Clive Ruggles. Cambridge University Press, pp. 282-290.
• 2011
  Astronomical symbolism in Australian Aboriginal rock art., Rock Art Research, Vol. 28(1), pp. 99-106.
• 2011
  Meteoritics and cosmology among the Aboriginal cultures of Central Australia., Journal of Cosmology, Vol. 13, pp. 3743-3753.
• 2011
  Eclipses in Australian Aboriginal Astronomy., Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 14(2), pp. 103-114.
• 2011
  Comets in Australian Aboriginal astronomy. , Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 14(1), 31-40
• 2011
  An impact crater in Palm Valley, Central Australia?, Australian Space Sciences Conference Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Wayne Short & Iver Cairns, National Space Society of Australia, pp. 129-140.
• 2010
  An Aboriginal Australian record of the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae, Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, Vol. 13(3), pp. 220-234.
• 2010
  Meteors in Australian Aboriginal Dreamings., WGN - Journal of the International Meteor Organization, Vol. 38(3), pp. 87-98.
• 2009
  Australian Aboriginal geomythology: eyewitness accounts of cosmic impacts?, Archaeoastronomy, Vol. 22, pp. 60-93.
• 2009
  The astronomy of Aboriginal Australia., The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture, edited by D. Valls-Gabaud & A. Boksenberg. Cambridge University Press, pp. 39-47.
• 2008
  The University of New South Wales Extrasolar Planet Search: a catalogue of variable stars from fields observed 2004-2007., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 385(4), pp. 1749-1763.
• 2007
  The first high-amplitude delta-scuti star in an eclipsing binary system., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 382(1), pp. 239-244.

Grants and Contracts

• 2014
  Discovery Early Career Researcher Award

  Role:

  CI (sole)

  Funding Source:

  Australian Research Council

Professional Memberships

• International Society for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture (Council)
• Australian Anthropological Society (Fellow)
• Astronomical Society of Australia
• Australian Rock Art Research Association
• International Astronomical Union

Research Areas

• Social And Cultural Anthropology (160104)
• Studies Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Society (169902)
• Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Archaeology (210101)
• Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander History (210301)
• History And Philosophy Of Science (Incl. Non Historical Philosophy Of Science) (220206)
• Astronomical And Space Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified (020199)
• Other Studies In Human Society (1699)