From mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au Mon Jul 30 18:06:53 2012 From: mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au (Mita Brierley) Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 18:06:53 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Chinese-Australian Antarctic Workshop Reminder: REGISTRATIONS CLOSE TUESDAY 31st JULY 2012 Message-ID: <000301cd6e2a$47ff06f0$d7fd14d0$@astronomyaustralia.org.au> Workshop Reminder: REGISTRATIONS CLOSE TUESDAY 31st JULY 2012 This is a final reminder for the Wide-field Optical Astronomy from Antarctica: a Chinese-Australian Workshop organised by AAL, CAASTRO and UNSW to define a plan for Australian contribution to science output from the Chinese AST3 project at Dome A, Antarctica. Registrations close at midnight on Tuesday the 31st July 2012, so register now! Wide-field Optical Astronomy from Antarctica: a Chinese-Australian Workshop Monday 13th August 2012, 10am - 5pm SiFA, Redfern, Sydney. (Pre-workshop dinner on Sunday 12th August 2012) http://astronomyaustralia.org.au/AChAntarctica.html In January this year, China installed the first of three 0.5 metre wide-field (1.5x2.9 degree) optical imaging telescopes, AST3-1, at the highest point of the Antarctic plateau, Dome A. Australia is currently involved in Dome A activities through UNSW's PLATO-A, which will be the primary support platform for AST3, and through equipment to characterise the infrared background and cloud cover at Dome A. AAL, UNSW and CAASTRO are holding a 1-day workshop for Australian astronomers to engage with Chinese astronomers involved in the project at Dome A. The objective is to define a plan for Australian contribution to the commencement of significant scientific output from this project. Programme Agenda: Sunday 12th August 2012, 7pm: Pre-workshop dinner at Rubyos, 18-20 King Street Newtown, NSW Monday 13th August 2012, 10am - 5pm: 1. Welcome and Opening. 2. The strategic importance of Dome A astronomy and collaboration between Australia and China. 3. Why Antarctica? 4. Chinese activities at Dome A. 5. Chinese science goals for AST3. 6. Australian science goals using AST3 data. 7. Chinese-Australian collaboration pathways. 8. Future Possibilities at Dome A. 9. Panel Discussion: Towards a Chinese-Australian Antarctic astronomy science plan. 10. Summary and Close Item 6 on this agenda consists of contributions from participants to present potential science projects that could utilise AST3 data. AST3-1 has obtained 3.3 TB of data over 4 months of operations in the first half of 2012 which will be available next year. Details of these images and AST3-1 specifications can be found on the workshop website. Registration Interested participants are asked to register at: http://astronomyaustralia.org.au/AChAntarctica.html Registrations close at midnight on the 31st July 2012. Attendance is free for all participants. Venue The workshop will be hosted by CAASTRO: Upstairs seminar room Sydney Institute for Astronomy 44 Rosehill Street Redfern, Sydney, NSW 2016. Travel Support Limited travel support is available for a small number of PhD students and post-docs within Australia. Please send enquiries to mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au. Organising Committee John Storey (UNSW) - Chair Michael Ireland (Macquarie University) Michael Ashley (UNSW) Kate Gunn (CAASTRO) Lifan Wang (CCAA) Mita Brierley (AAL) - principal committee contact: (mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Mon Jul 30 23:31:20 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 23:31:20 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Call for Proposals for 2.3m telescope time Nov 2012 - Jan 2013 References: <0DB83A31-19B7-4162-B10A-3B7D256BE3C8@mso.anu.edu.au> Message-ID: Dear Observer, The closing date for observing proposals for time on the ANU/RSAA 2.3m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in the quarter NOV 2012 - JAN 2013 is 23:59 August 15, 2012. Instruments available: Nasymth A: WiFeS [see below] Nasymth B: Imager or echelle. WiFeS upgrade: In the current schedule for the WiFeS upgrade work the exact date on which the installation of the new cameras and detectors (red first, then blue) will occur is uncertain, but it is likely to be in the November 2012 - January 2013 quarter. Specifically, WiFeS programs awarded time in this quarter will need to recognise the allocations will be provisional only. Part or all of any allocated time may be subject to withdrawal as installation and commissioning of the new cameras will take priority. In these cases specific backup programs that use the echelle or the imager will be identified. The echelle and the imager will be available for the entire quarter. Observing proposals must be submitted electronically via the RSAA web pages. Full instructions are available at http://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observers/observing-rsaa. You will need the most recent versions of the template and style files which can be obtained from the web pages. *************************** PLEASE NOTE *********************************** (1) WiFeS users are requested to indicate on the proposal form whether they will be present at the telescope or observe remotely. Remote observing is available only to experienced WiFeS observers but can now be carried out from sites other than Mt Stromlo subject to technical feasibility. It is possible that remote observing (from Mt Stromlo only) will also be available in this quarter for the echelle and the Imager, under limited circumstances. If you would like to observe remotely with the echelle or the Imager, assuming it is possible, then please indicate this in your proposal. (2) Proposals for use of the 2.3m will only be considered if the PI is from the ANU or from another institution that contributes financially or has contributed financially and directly to the building and/or operations of the 2.3m telescope and its commissioned instruments. These institutions include those that collaborated on the successful ARC LIEF bid to fund the Blue Arm of the WiFeS spectrograph and the successful ARC LIEF bid for the WiFeS upgrade. All such proposals will be judged on their scientific merit alone. There will be no quotas placed on the amount of time available for qualifying institutions. These policies will remain in place for the present. Currently eligible (non-ANU) institutions are the AAO, UQld, UNSW and USyd as well as Swinburne, Monash and Macquarie. (3) The WiFeS instrument is performing well although there remain issues with the CCD in the red camera. A workaround has been implemented in which in which the frame is readout through one amplifier instead of four. For a full frame (complete spatial and spectral coverage, x2 binning) the readout time is approximately 3 minutes. For half the frame (50% spatial coverage but full spectral coverage) the read out time will be approximately 90sec. Observers will need to take this extra overhead into account. PIs of successful proposals will be notified if there is any change in the status of the red camera CCD. The Blue camera is working normally. The upgrade work will replace both detectors with new E2V 4k x 4k CCDs. (4) Limited first night support at the telescope is now provided to new observers. Nevertheless new observers are strongly encouraged to be present at the telescope at least one night before their observing run to familiarise themselves with the telescope and instrument operating systems. The latest information on using the telescope and its instruments can be found at http://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observers/obsering-rsaa. (5) Proposers are reminded to limit their scientific case to TWO pages, including figures and references. *************************************************************************** If you have technical problems in using the web-based submission process, please email tacinfo at mso.anu.edu.au. Gary Da Costa Chair, RSAA TAC --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Gary Da Costa Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, ANU Mt Stromlo Observatory via Cotter Rd, Weston Creek, ACT 2611, Australia Phone: +61 2 6125 8913 Fax: +61 2 6125 8913 E-mail: gdc at mso.anu.edu.au ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From ahopkins at aao.gov.au Wed Aug 1 11:15:51 2012 From: ahopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2012 11:15:51 +1000 Subject: [ASA] AAO Student Fellowships Message-ID: <50188347.3070801@aao.gov.au> AAO Student Fellowship Program ------------------------------ The Australian Astronomical Observatory provides opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research projects. Students will spend 10-12 weeks in the period Dec 2012 - Feb 2013 working at the Australian Astronomical Observatory in Sydney on research projects under the supervision of AAO staff astronomers and engineers. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a field trip to visit the telescopes at Siding Spring Observatory. Please encourage your undergraduate students to apply. The deadline for applications is: *** 31 August 2012 *** Details are available here: http://www.aao.gov.au/students/aaosf.html The stipend is A$686 per week. How to Apply Applications are required to be sent by e-mail. Please send your application as a single Word or PDF document attachment to the AAO Student Fellowship Coordinator, A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins (ahopkins at aao.gov.au). The application should include the following: - Full name and contact address (it is essential to include an e-mail address). - Full details of university studies, including a transcript of academic record (if your university supplies only hardcopy transcripts, please scan it and send us the JPEG or PDF file). - Names and e-mail addresses of TWO academic referees who have been asked to e-mail letters to A.Prof. Hopkins by the application deadline, outlining the applicant's suitability for this scholarship program. The AAO does not chase up late referees, and missing references can hinder your chances of selection. - A one page statement giving the applicant's reasons for applying and their interests in Astronomy/Astrophysics/Instrumentation. If you have prior research experience, computing skills, or other skills associated with astronomy or research, please emphasise these. - A short resume (2-3 pages) is optional, but often helpful, to provide as well. Please contact Andrew Hopkins with any queries about the program or the application process. Andrew Hopkins -- A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins, Head of AAT Science Australian Astronomical Observatory P.O. Box 296, Epping NSW 1710, Australia ph: +61 2 9372 4849 fax: +61 2 9372 4880 From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Thu Aug 2 08:39:30 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2012 08:39:30 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Geek the Vote! Take the pledge today #geekthevote In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The following is a campaign by Science & Technology Australia, of which the ASA is a member. The date 17 September is the date of Science meets Parliament, which several ASA members attend every year (usually by invitation - see http://asa.astronomy.org.au/smp.html) John My pledge: I will help get the Geek Manifesto on every federal politician?s desk by 17 September We want to send 226 copies of the Geek Manifesto to Federal Parliament ? that?s one copy for every politician in the House. But time is running out ? will you pledge to buy one copy before 17 September when 200 scientists go to Canberra to deliver them during Science meets Parliament? Deadline to pledge: 17 September 2012 Cost per copy: $35 (incl GST) Science & Technology Australia (and many of our friends in the science sector) were reading ?The Geek Manifesto? and think it is time every MP reads it too. Why? Because even though politicians aren?t obliged to make every decision according to the available scientific evidence and nothing else, they definitely should make sure they take scientific advice on issues when it is relevant ?and let?s be honest there are few public policy issues where it?s not. Click on www.sta.org.au now to take the pledge and ask your friends to do the same. Twitter: @scienceAU #geekthevote Facebook: Science and Technology Australia ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN O?BYRNE Associate Head (Teaching & Learning) Chair, School Teaching & Learning Committee Secretary, Astronomical Society of Australia Inc. Sydney Institute for Astronomy School of Physics | Faculty of Science THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm 222, 44-70 Rosehill St Redfern H90 (see map) | (alternate: Rm 568, Physics Annexe A29) Postal address: School of Physics | The University of Sydney | NSW | Australia | 2006 T +61 2 9351 3184 | F +61 2 9351 7726 E john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au | W http://sydney.edu.au/science/physics/~obyrne CRICOS 00026A This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please delete it and any attachments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This email uses 100% recycled words and ideas. 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