From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Aug 29 08:22:10 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 08:22:10 +1000 Subject: [ASA] [Reminder] Swinburne half-day workshop on nearby spheroidal galaxies - 3rd October 2012 Message-ID: <8D08D385-5F36-4973-8448-209A96EF3E51@sydney.edu.au> ****************************** Dear all, We would just like to remind you that the registration deadline for our upcoming workshop on nearby spheroidal galaxies (original announcement below) is the 3rd September and anyone who would like to attend should register before this deadline. Regards, Nic Scott and Duncan Forbes ************* On Wednesday 3rd October the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing (CAS) will host a half-day workshop on nearby spheroidal (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies to coincide with the visit of Prof. Rodger Davies from Oxford. Prof. Davies is a leader in the SAURON and ATLAS3D surveys of nearby early-type galaxies and will give a keynote talk at the workshop. He will also give a CAS seminar on Thursday 4th October at 11:30am. The main purpose of this workshop is to highlight current research on nearby spheroidal galaxies and promote informal discussion. We hope to include a range of topics, eg the properties (sizes, kinematics, stellar populations, gas content etc.) of nearby elliptical and lenticular galaxies (including BCGs and dwarfs), mass and luminosity-based scaling relations of spheroidal systems, the growth of spheroid components in nearby galaxies (by secular evolution and/or merging), and the influence of environment on spheroidal systems. The workshop will take place from 2-5:00pm on Wednesday 3rd October at the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing. Participants are encouraged to gather at Haddons (ground floor of the Centre) for an informal lunch at 1pm. The workshop will consist of a series of 15 min contributed talks on the above topics (with an extra 5 min allocated for questions/discussion). There will be no registration fee. Tea and coffee will be provided during the afternoon. While principally targeted at researchers in Victoria, visitors and out-of-state researchers are most welcome to attend. If you wish to attend the workshop please email BOTH Nic Scott (nscott at astro.swin.edu.au) AND Duncan Forbes (dforbes at astro.swin.edu.au) by the 3rd Sept. 2012. If you wish to contribute a talk to the workshop please mention this in your registration email and include a title and brief 3-5 line abstract for your proposed contribution. We look forward to welcoming you to Swinburne, ******************************************* -- Dr. Nicholas Scott Postdoctoral Research Associate Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing Swinburne University of Technology Melbourne, Australia Email: nscott at astro.swin.edu.au Phone: +61 (0)3 92145165 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Aug 29 08:22:50 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 08:22:50 +1000 Subject: [ASA] 2012 Bolton Symposium Announcement Message-ID: Announcement subject: ATNF/AAO Bolton Symposium 2012 (4-6 December) Announcement text: Dear ASA members (especially the postdocs), I am writing to announce that the registration for the ATNF/AAO Bolton Symposium 2012 will open shortly. The Bolton Symposium provides an excellent opportunity for: i) postdocs from around Australia to showcase the great science that they have done in 2012; ii) improving collaborations between institutions; iii) interacting socially in both formal and informal settings The year's program will feature invited talks by Fred Watson ("Great Collaborations in Astronomy") and Darren Croton ("How to give a good talk?"). We will also host two fun events (Pizza in the Park & a Harbour Cruise conference dinner) where science discussions and collaborations can be fostered in a more casual setting. Best of all, this Symposium is *free* for all postdocs ! This event will be held at the ATNF Lecture Theatre in Marsfield, NSW, from 4-6 December 2012. Although the primary purpose of the Bolton Symposium is for postdocs, we encourage more senior astronomers to attend as well as students to see all the great science that is being done by astronomy postdocs across Australia. More details about this event can be found at this website: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/conferences/2012/boltonsymp/ If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us. Best regards, Keith Bannister, Iraklis Konstantopoulos & Ivy Wong ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr O. Ivy Wong Super Science Fellow @ CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science Cnr Vimiera & Pembroke Roads, Marsfield, NSW 2122, Australia Phone: +61-2-9372-4148 Email: ivy.wong at csiro.au Web: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/Ivy.Wong ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From ausgo at aao.gov.au Wed Aug 29 10:56:16 2012 From: ausgo at aao.gov.au (Australian Gemini Office) Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 10:56:16 +1000 Subject: [ASA] GeMS/GSAOI call for SV proposals Message-ID: <503D68B0.1000104@aao.gov.au> Gemini is pleased to announce the call for System Verification proposals for the Gemini Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics System with the RSAA-built Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GeMS/GSAOI). The proposal deadline is *Friday, September 14, 2012*. System Verification provides an end-to-end test of a new instrument or capability, from the proposal process to the delivery of the data, in advance of offering the new capability to the community for general use. Therefore, it is a "shared risk" observing mode, and incurs responsibility on the proposers to provide feedback to the observatory in a timely fashion. The proprietary period for SV data is two months. Approximately 60 hours of SV time is available in the 2012B semester. We expect to observe SV programs between December 1, 2012 and January 31, 2013. Note that GeMS/GSAOI will also be offered to the community for early science in the Feb-Apr 2013 period as part of the regular 2013A Call for Proposals to be issued shortly. For more information about SV, please see: http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/gsaoi/system-verification The complete call for proposals is available at: http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/gsaoi/system-verification?q=node/11872 Also, engineering data from prior commissioning of GeMS/GSAOI are available at http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/gsaoi/data-format-and-reduction?q=/node/11873 The observations were designed to assess and optimize GeMS performance, although they may have some scientific utility or help potential users understand the characteristics of GeMS/GSAOI data. Please see the linked web page for more details. Stuart Ryder Australian Gemini Office ausgo at aao.gov.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Thu Aug 30 23:37:57 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 23:37:57 +1000 Subject: [ASA] AAO Director's position Message-ID: <7A10C0CE-3681-40E0-95A2-D1A4D2E4B33B@sydney.edu.au> Most ASA members will know that the Matthew Colless is leaving the position of AAO Director. Attached is a brief description of the position which is open for applications until 23 September. If you are interested in this position contact: Matthew Colless +61-2-9372-4812 colless at aao.gov.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Do you really need to print it? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: DirectorAAO.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 174712 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Sat Sep 1 18:21:02 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 18:21:02 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Curtin University recruiting 50 new continuing academics Message-ID: <2B188408-2A4F-41C5-AC21-8D6B46624920@sydney.edu.au> Curtin University has just launched a campaign to recruit 50 new continuing academics in high priority research areas, including astrophysics. The positions will be over a range of academic levels, from Lecturer to Professor. We encourage applicants in all areas of astrophysics and radio astronomy engineering aligned with the activities of Curtin's astronomy research group, the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (CIRA): observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, instrumentation and software development, and engineering. As a cross-disciplinary institute (science/engineering) focused on developments associated with the SKA Precursors (particularly the MWA) and the SKA itself (in particular the low frequency SKA), we are particularly interested in individuals spanning astrophysics and engineering. Information on the first stage of this recruitment process (including the registration of expressions of interest) can be found at: http://www.curtin.edu.au/academic50 Interested individuals can also directly contact the CIRA co-Directors, Prof. Steven Tingay (s.tingay at curtin.edu.au) and Prof. Peter Hall (p.hall at curtin.edu.au). -- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Professor Steven Tingay Premier's Fellow Deputy Director ICRAR Deputy Director Western Australian Radio Astronomy Centre of Excellence Director, Science and Operations Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy Department of Imaging and Applied Physics Curtin University of Technology Bentley, Western Australia Australia Street address: Brodie Hall building 1 Turner Ave Technology Park Bentley 6102 Western Australia Email: s.tingay at ivec.org OR s.tingay at curtin.edu.au WWW: http://astronomy.curtin.edu.au Phone: +61 (0)8 9266 3516 Mobile: +61 (0)425 771 856