Authors: Alister W. Graham
Abstract: Dark Matter, the search for extra-solar planets, and even the eventual fate of the Universe, are all topics of research actively being pursued by astronomers at Mount Stromlo Observatory near Canberra, in Australia. The first of these, the search for dark matter in the Milky Way, is the primary objective of the `MACHO' Project; while the hunt for planetary bodies associated with stars other than our own Sun is an exciting spin-off of this international research collaboration. MACHO, an acronym for Massive Astronomical Compact Halo Object - coined by Kim Griest, a member of the collaboration - has become a common word in astronomical circles for any compact dark object of astrophysical size which is made of the type of ordinary matter that we are familiar with in our everyday lives. MACHOs actually belong to the more generic family of objects collectively known as `dark matter' - so called for their complete invisibility at all observed wavelengths. It is the goal of the MACHO Project to try and detect such objects in our Galaxy. Originally scheduled to run for only four years, the huge success of the MACHO Project has led to it being extended to nearly double this period - and the results are fascinating.