Professor PARKER, Quentin A

Current Research

• Astronomy Astrophysics & Space Science

  • Prof. Q.A. Parker arrived at HKU in March 2015 from the Australian Astronomical Observatory and Macquarie University, Sydney, where he was director of leading astrophysics and astrophotonics research centre. After spells as Head of Physics and Associate Dean (global) in the FoS he currently directs the Laboratory for Space Research (see www.lsr.hku.hk). Here he has established a world-leading group in late-stage stellar evolution that includes post-AGB stars, planetary nebulae and massive star ejecta. This task is greatly assisted by the appointment of several postdoctoral research fellows. These currently comprise Dr. Andreas Ritter, Dr. Abdi Sadjadi, Dr. Partha Pal, and Dr. Andy Kong, together with PhD, MPhil students and several RAs. Significant contributions to this research field and other LSR activities have been made by his group including seven HKU press releases and several papers in Nature and Nature Astronomy between 2018 and 2022. Exciting research opportunities exist for additional research postgraduate students to join the team. This group also has strong synergies to existing astrophysics and space science expertise elsewhere in the FoS.

Research Interests

• Space Science and the NewSpace Economy
• Astronomy, Astrophysics & Space Science
• Planetary Nebulae
• Supernova Remnants
• Large Scale Widefield Surveys
• Astronomical Instrumentation
• Galactic Archaeology
• Chinese Bronze and Antiquities
• Science education pedagogy

Representative recent Publications since 2015

• Fragkou, V., Vazques. R., Parker, Q.A., Goncalves, D.R., Lomeil-Nunez, L., “The physical association of planetary nebula NGC 2818 with open cluster NGC 2818A”, April 2025, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 696, 146

• Yushan., L., Parker., Q.A., Peng., J., “First discovery and confirmation of planetary nebula candidates from AI and deep learning techniques applied to VPHAS+ survey data”., December 2024., Astronomy & Astrophysics, 692, 103

• Tan. S., Parker, Q.A., “Whither or Wither  the Sulfur Anomaly in Planetary nebulae?”
  February 2024, ApJ Letters., 961, 47 ; https://www.scifac.hku.hk/press/release/hku-astrophysicists-crack-the-case-of-the-disappearing-sulphur-in-planetary-nebulae

• Tan, S., Parker, Q.A.,  Zijlstra, A.A., Ritter, A., Rees, B., “When the Stars Align: A 5σ Concordance of Planetary Nebulae Major Axes in the Center of Our Galaxy” July 2023, Ap J Letters.,  951, 44; https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/when-the-stars-align-astronomers-find-answers-to-mysterious-action-of-ghost-stars-in-our-galaxy/

• Fragkou, V., Parker, Q.A., Zilstra, A.A., Vasquez, R., Sabin, L.,  Rechy-Garcia, J.S., “The Planetary Nebula in the 500 Myr Old Open Cluster M31, August 2022, Ap J Letters.,  935, 35; https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/24977.html
• Parker, Q.A., “Planetary nebulae and how to find them: A concise review”, June 2022, Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science, 9, 5287
• V. Fragkou, Q.A. Parker, A.A. Zijlstra, R. Vasquez, L. Sabin & J. Rechy-Gaercia. Discovery of the oldest visible planetary nebula hosted by a 500 million year old galactic cluster. ApJ Letters, 935, 35, August 2022: https://www.scifac.hku.hk/news/discovery-of-the-oldest-visible-planetary-nebula-hosted-by-a-500-million-year-old-galactic-cluster
• S. SeyedAbdolreza, Q.A. Parker, C-H. Hsia &  Z. Yong.  A Theoretical Study of Infrared Spectra of Highly Positively Charged C60 Fullerenes and Their Relevance to Observed UIE Features. ApJ, 934, 24, July 2022: https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/24859.html
• A. Ritter, A., Q.A. Parker,  F. Lykou, A.A. Zijlstra,  M.A.Guerrero & P. Le Du. The Remnant and Origin of the Historical Supernova 1181 AD. ApJ, 918, 33, September 2021: https://www.hku.hk/press/news_detail_23256.html
• I.S. Bojičic, M.D. Filipovič, D. Urosevic, Q.A. Parker & T.J. Galvin. Determination of Planetary Nebulae angular diameters from radio continuum spectral energy distribution modeling. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 503, 2887, May 2021: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/503/2/2887/6166761
• S. SeyedAbdolreza & Q.A. Parker. It Remains a Cage: Ionization Tolerance of C60 Fullerene in Planetary Nebulae. Fullerenes Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures, 29:8, 620-625, February 2021, DOI: 10.1080/1536383X.2021.1876677
• V. Fragkou, Q.A. Parker, A.A. Zijlstra, L. Crause & H. Barker. A high-mass planetary nebula in a Galactic open cluster. Nature Astronomy, 3, 851-857, June 2019: https://www.hku.hk/press/news_detail_19632.html
• V. Fragkou, Q.A. Parker,  A. Zijlstra, R.F. Shaw & F. Lykou. The central star of planetary nebula PHR 1315 - 6555 and its host Galactic open cluster AL 1.  Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 484, 3078-3092, April 2019, DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stz108
• S. SeyedAbdolreza & Q.A.Parker. The Astrochemistry Implications of Quantum Chemical Normal Modes Vibrational Analysis. Galaxies, 6, 123-129, November 2018, DOI: 10.3390/galaxies6040123
• Q.A. Parker, I. Bojcic & D.J. Frew. HASH: The Hong Kong/AAO/Strasbourg H-alpha planetary nebula database, 11th Pacific Rim Conference held in Hong-Kong in Dec 2015. JPhCS, Conference Series 728, no.3, 2016, DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/728/3/032008
• D. J. Frew, Q. A. Parker & I. S. Bojicic. The Hα surface brightness- radius relation: a robust statistical distance indicator for planetary nebulae. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 455:1459–1488, January 2016, DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stv1516

Fellowships & Other Asteem Factors

• Member of the Chinese Society of Astronautics (2025 - 2028)

• Vice Chairman (external) of the Orion Astropreneur Space Academy (2022 - )

• Consultant CPPCC Hangzhou-Hong-Kong Friendship Association (2018 - )

• Member of the Oriental Ceramics Society of Hong Kong (2015 - )

• Member of the International Astronomical Union (1995 - )

• Fellow of the Astronomical Society of Australia (1994 - )

• Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (1988 - )

Professional Prizes and Awards for Research, Teaching and Leadership ($4.65M HKD)

Professional Grants

Ten-year major grant External and Internal awards  track record: $HK105.8million in instrumentation, astrophysics research, science education and capacity building