Michael C. B. Ashley is an Australian astronomer and professor in the school of physics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), in Sydney.

[1] He is most famous for his work in Antarctica, with the study of the seeing capability at Dome C. Ashley graduated in 1981 as BSc from Australian National University, in 1983 as MSc in astrophysics from Caltech, and in 1989 as PhD in astronomy.

[2][better source needed] After graduating in 1989, Ashley joined the faculty of the School of Physics, UNSW.

Ashley has led teams to Antarctica on four separate trips, in 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2004 to conduct experiments and take measurements of the near-infrared quality and brightness of the sky.

[3][4] In September 2004, Nature published a report written by Jon Lawrence, Michael Ashley, Andrei Tokovinin, and Tony Travouillon on the seeing abilities of astronomical telescopes in Antarctica.