Our Publications
Explore some of our research outputs (since 2020)
Books
Hamacher, D.W. with Elders & Knowledge Holders (2022) The First Astronomers: How Indigenous Elders Read the Stars. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Noon, K. and De Napoli, K. (2022) Astronomy – Sky Country. First Knowledges series, edited by Margo Neal. Thames & Hudson
Book Chapters
Norris, R.P.; Fuller, R.S.; Hamacher, D.W.; Leaman, T.M. and Anderson, G.M. (2025)The Role of Astronomy in Australian Indigenous Knowledge. In Oxford Handbook of Global Indigenous Archaeologies, edited by Claire Smith, Dorothy Lippert, Sally May, Alok Kumar Kanungo, Kellie Pollard, and Sandra Lopez Varela. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Chapter 18.
Hamacher, D.W. (2024) The Art of Star Knowledge. In 65,000 Years: a short history of Australian art, edited by Marcia Langton and Judith Ryan. Thames & Hudson, pp. 323−331.
Hamacher, D.W. and Nakata, M. (2024) Research Frameworks in Indigenous Astronomy. In Indigenous Knowledge: Australian Perspectives, edited by Marcia Langton, Aaron Corn, and Samuel Curkpatrick. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, pp. 46−57.
Hamacher, D.W., Goldfarb, A.; Kelly, B. and Barnett, E. (2024) Indigenous Astronomy at the University of Melbourne. In Dhoombak Goobgoowana: A History of Indigenous Australia and the University of Melbourne, Volume 1: Truth, edited by Ross Jones, James Waghorne, and Marcia Langton. Melbourne: Melbourne University Publishing, pp. 341–347.
Bush, M. and Hamacher, D.W. (2023) World Developments: Australasian and Oceanic Cultures. In A Cultural History of the Universe in the Age of Enlightenment. Volume 4, edited by Clifford Cunningham. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Fuller, R.S. and Hamacher, D.W. (2023) The Astronomy of the Aboriginal Peoples of the Sydney Basin. In From Radio Astronomy to Ethnoastronomy: Essays in Honour of Wayne Orchiston, edited by Steven Gullberg and Peter Robertson. New York: Springer Press, pp. 635–659.
Leaman, T.M. and Hamacher, D.W. (2023) Using the Significant Horizons methodology to determine potential astronomical use of Aboriginal stone arrangements. In From Radio Astronomy to Ethnoastronomy: Essays in Honour of Wayne Orchiston, edited by Steven Gullberg and Peter Robertson. New York: Springer Press, pp. 661–679.
Noon, K.; De Napoli, K.; Swanton, P.; Guedes, C. and Hamacher, D.W. (2023) Safeguarding Indigenous sky rights from colonial exploitation. InHandbook on Social Studies of Outer Space, edited by Juan Francisco Salazar and Alice Gorman. London: Routledge, pp. 235−248.
Hamacher, D.W. and Anderson, G.M. (2023) Solar Eclipses in First Nations Traditions. In Eclipse Chasers: total solar eclipses in Australia, by Nick Lomb and Toner Stevenson. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, pp. 12–25.
Hamacher, D.W.; Napoli, K. and Mott, B. (2020) Whitening the Sky: light pollution as a form of cultural genocide. ArXive (Physics), DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2001.11527.
Research Papers
Hamacher, D.W. (2024) Recognising Indigenous Knowledge when naming meteorite craters: an Australian case study. Australian Studies Journal (Zeitschrift fur Australienstudien), Vol. 39, pp. 67–88.
Hamacher, D.W. (2024) Astronomy, Rigour, and Rock Art. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology, Vol. 9(2), pp. 252–258.
Kelly, B.; Kemp, C.; Little, D.R.; Hamacher, D.W. and Cropper, S.J. (2023) Visual Perception Principles in Constellation Creation. Topics in Cognitive Science, Vol. 2024, pp. 1–13.
Hamacher, D.W.; Nunn, P.; Gantevoort, M.; Taylor, R.; Lehman, G.; Law, K.H.A. and Miles, M. (2023) The Archaeology of Orality: Dating Aboriginal Tasmanian Oral Traditions to the Late-Pleistocene. Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 159, 105819.
Kemp, C.; Hamacher, D.W.; Little, D.R. and Cropper, S.J. (2022) Comparing constellations across cultures. Nature Astronomy, Vol. 6, pp. 406–409.
Kemp, C.; Hamacher, D.W.; Little, D.R. and Cropper, S.J. (2022) Perceptual Grouping Explains Similarities in Constellations Across Cultures. Psychological Science, Vol. 33(3), pp. 354–363.
Gullberg, S.R.; Hamacher, D.W.; Lopez, A.M.; Mejuto, J.; Munro, A.M. and Orchiston, W. (2020). A Cultural Comparison of Dark Constellations of the Milky Way. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Vol. 23(2), pp. 390–404.
Lee, A.S.; Maryboy, N.; Begay, D.; Buck, W.; Catricheo, Y.; Hamacher, D.W.; Holbrook, J.; Kimura, K.; Knockwood, C.; Painting, T.K. and Varguez, M. (2021) Best Practices and Protocols for Including Indigenous Astronomy in the Planetarium Setting. Proceedings of the International Planetarium Society, Vol. 25, pp. 69–77.
Hamacher, D.W. (2020) Native American Traditions of Meteor Crater, Arizona: Fact, Fiction, or Appropriation? Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Vol. 23(2), pp. 375–389.
Hamacher, D.W., Leaman, T.M., Fuller, R.S. and Bosun, D. (2020) Solstice and solar position observations in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Vol. 23(1), pp. 89–99.
Magazine Articles
Hamacher, D.W. (2024). Astrophysicists tap ancient star knowledge. Traces Magazine, Vol. 26, pp. 8−11.
Hamacher, D.W. (2022). Astronomer Duane Hamacher shares the stories behind Outback landscapes. Escape, 25 April 2022.
Swanton, P. and Hamacher, D.W. (2021). Supernova Traditions of Aboriginal Australians. COSMOS Magazine, Issue 93, pp. 32–35.
De Napoli, K. andHamacher, D.W. (2021). Aurora Traditions of the First Australians. COSMOS Magazine, Issue 92, pp. 26–29.
Banks, K. andHamacher, D.W. (2021). Solar System knowledge of the First Australians. COSMOS Magazine, Issue 91, pp. 32–35.
Noon, K.A. and Hamacher, D.W. (2021). Lunar Traditions of the First Australians. COSMOS Magazine, Issue 90, pp. 56–59.
Ferrari, J. and Hamacher, D.W. (2020). Eyes in the Sky: First Australians’ Animal Connections to the Stars. COSMOS Magazine, Issue 89, pp. 68–71.
Reeve, P. and Hamacher, D.W. (2020). Learning the Star Knowledge of First Australians. COSMOS Magazine, Issue 88, pp. 28–31.
Blogs
Hamacher, D.W. and Bosun, D. (2024) ‘The ghost has taken the spirit of the Moon’: how Torres Strait Islanders predict eclipses. The Conversation (Australia), 25 March 2024.
Hamacher, D.W.; Goldfarb, A.; Kelly, B. and Barnett, E. (2024) The Boorong pride themselves upon knowing more of astronomy than any other. Pursuit, 28 May 2024.
Hamacher, D.W., Lehman, G.; Nunn, P. and Taylor, R. (2023) Rising seas and a great southern star: Aboriginal oral traditions stretch back more than 12,000 year. The Conversation (Australia), 14 August 2023.
Hill, T. and Hamacher, D.W. (2021) How to see tonight’s conjunction of Venus and Mars in the evening sky. The Conversation (Australia), 13 July 2021.
Hamacher, D.W.(2021) The Moon plays an important role in Indigenous culture and helped win a battle over sea rights. The Conversation (Australia), 12 February 2021.
Hamacher, D.W. (2020) New coins celebrate Indigenous astronomy, the stars, and the dark spaces between them. The Conversation (Australia), 14 September 2020.
Hamacher, D.W. (2020) From 7809 Marcialangton to 7630 Yidumduma: 5 asteroids named after Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Conversation (Australia), 26 August 2010.
Hamacher, D.W.; Anderson, M.G.; Towney, S.; Leaman, T. and Fuller, R.S. (2020). Coins and Constellations. Pursuit, 28 May 2020