From ahopkins at aao.gov.au Mon Mar 4 20:35:19 2013 From: ahopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:35:19 +1100 Subject: [ASA] AAO PhD scholarships Message-ID: <51346AD7.5000007@aao.gov.au> The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) is pleased to be able to offer PhD Scholarships in 2013. Full details are available here: http://www.aao.gov.au/students/AAOscholarship.html The deadline for PhD scholarship applications is: ************* 15 March 2013 ************* In 2013, the AAO is offering up to two AAO PhD Scholarships, and up to two Trevor Burgess PhD Scholarships, to students at Australian universities. All scholarships are for a period of 3 years, with a possible extension for a further 6 months. The value of the scholarships will be $5000 per annum. Annual renewal is conditional upon satisfactory performance by the student. The scholarships are open to any student accepted for a PhD programme at any Australian university who are substantially co-supervised by an AAO staff member. The Trevor Burgess PhD Scholarships are only open to Australian Citizens. The scholarships can support students with backgrounds in astronomy, physics, engineering or mathematics with thesis research programs in astronomy or astronomical instrumentation (and related fields). For further details, including the application forms and procedure, please see the website: http://www.aao.gov.au/students/AAOscholarship.html Please consider whether your incoming students this year, and their planned projects, would benefit from an association with the AAO, and discuss the possibility of co-supervision with an AAO staff member. The research interests of AAO staff and some potential projects that could be discussed are also available on the web at: http://www.aao.gov.au/AAO/students/studentsgrad.html Any questions about the AAO PhD Scholarship Scheme can be addressed to the Head of AAT Science, Andrew Hopkins, atahopkins at aao.gov.au. Andrew Hopkins -- A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins, Head of AAT Science Australian Astronomical Observatory P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia ph: +61 2 9372 4849 fax: +61 2 9372 4880 From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Tue Mar 5 10:56:20 2013 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2013 10:56:20 +1100 Subject: [ASA] First MWA Call for Proposals Message-ID: <84FDEE5C-DFC7-4279-8FA5-20C9F85AE39D@sydney.edu.au> Dear Colleagues, The first MWA Call for Proposals is now open, from March 1 to May 1, 2013. The proposal template is available from http://mwatelescope.org and should be read in conjunction with the MWA Announcement of Opportunity (AO), available from the same URL. This first Call covers the observing period designated 2013-B (July - December 2013). A total of 600 hours of observing time is available during this period, as detailed in the AO documentation (in the Guaranteed Time and Director's Discretionary Time categories - note that no Open Access allocation is available in 2013-B) As outlined in the AO, the final pre-operations briefing for potential users was held on February 25/26, following the close of the Expression of Interest stage (January/February 2013). Notes from the pre-operations meeting, plus MWA Management Team presentations made during that meeting, are available at http://mwatelescope.org/meetings/eoi-perth-2013/ At this stage, the timeline to the commencement of MWA operations is as follows: May 1, 2013: proposals due with MWA Director; Mid May, 2013: MWA Time Allocation Committee (TAC) meets to assess and rank proposals, with recommendation to MWA Director; Early June, 2013: proposal teams notified of TAC outcomes; Mid June, 2013: proposals are scheduled for observation during 2013-B; July, 2013: observations for 2013-B commence. Regards, Steven -- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Professor Steven Tingay Premier's Fellow Director, MWA Director, Science and Operations Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy Deputy Director, ICRAR 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 From agreen at aao.gov.au Wed Mar 6 00:24:20 2013 From: agreen at aao.gov.au (Andy Green) Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2013 00:24:20 +1100 Subject: [ASA] AAO Observer February 2013 Message-ID: <6DEE3E65-8F39-4504-8D75-508C5CA51758@aao.gov.au> In this Issue KOALA &emdash; A new Integral Field Spectroscopic facility for the AAT The Global Jet Watch observatories DECam is an infrared camera too On the 3D Structure of the Mass, Metallicity, and SFR Space for SF Galaxies AAT follow-up of the Supernova Survey Fields of the Dark Energy Survey Galactic Archaeological Surveys: Past, Present and Future Observatory news Sparking Interest in Science Perspectives from the AAO Planning Day CYCLOPS2 & CURE Commissioned Chasing Shadows AusGO Corner February 2013, Edition #123 In this edition, we have exciting new science, instrument and observatory news as well as all our usual features like the Director's Message, AusGO corner, North Ryde News and a Letter from Coona. All available as a PDF file at AAO Observer #123 . You're receiving this newsletter because you're on the ASA mailing list. Having trouble reading this? View it in your browser. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ausgo at aao.gov.au Wed Mar 6 16:21:13 2013 From: ausgo at aao.gov.au (Australian Gemini Office) Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:21:13 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Call for Gemini, Subaru, and Magellan Proposals in Semester 2013B Message-ID: <5136D249.3070902@aao.gov.au> Proposals for Australian access to the Gemini and Subaru telescopes for Semester 2013B (1 Aug 2013 - 31 Jan 2014) are due by *5:00pm AEST, Thursday 28 March 2013*. (This deadline is earlier than usual to avoid problems arising over the Easter holiday period.) * *Australian proposals for Magellan time in Semester 2013B (mid-Jul 2013 - mid-Jan 2014) are due by*5:00pm AEST, Monday 8th April 2013*. What's new for Semester 2013B? ------------------------------ /Gemini/ * Two new visitor instruments are being offered to the community on Gemini North in 2013B. Please see the instrument web pages for more information on their capabilities and availability: o the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI ), a dual-channel visual-wavelength camera giving simultaneous diffraction-limited images in two filters over a 2.8-5.6 arcsecond field of view. o the Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph (TEXES ), a high resolution (R~4,000 - 100,000) mid-infrared (5-25 micron) spectrometer. * The FLAMINGOS-2 near-infrared imager and spectrograph is being offered on a shared-risk basis in imaging and long-slit modes only. MOS mode is not offered at this time. *Targets with RA 23h to 6h are particularly encouraged to cover a period when GMOS South may not be available.* The current delivered image quality with FLAMINGOS-2 in the lab is equivalent to IQ85 conditions, but further improvement is expected before the instrument returns to the telescope for re-commissioning in April 2013. Please check the FLAMINGOS-2 Status and Availability page for the latest information. * The RSAA-built Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI ) on the Gemini Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS ) is being offered for up to 150 hrs (twice as much time as in 2013A) from September 2013 onwards, limiting RAs to 19h - 11h and declination to -75 to +15 degrees. *Observations in IQ85 are possible and are encouraged for semester 2013B*, for programs that can use delivered images with full-width half-maximum ~0.2 arcseconds instead of the <= 0.1 arcseconds delivered in IQ70 or IQ20 conditions. * During 2013B, Gemini Director's Discretionary Time will be allocated to use GSAOI to obtain non-proprietary data on two galaxy clusters that are part of the Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields program. Investigators who require deeper or different observations of these fields are welcome to submit such proposals. * GMOS-South will likely not be available between October and November 2013, for an upgrade to the CCDs and other maintenance work. *The amount of time at RA 23h to 6h will therefore be limited*, and investigators should state in the technical case of their proposal if alternate targets are available. Investigators should assume the performance of the current EEV detectors for planning purposes. * Following successful trials last semester, Gemini has begun offering PIs of queue programs the opportunity to participate via remote eavesdropping as their programs are being executed. PIs will be invited by the Gemini queue observer to connect via Skype and assist with complex acquisitions, monitor the quality of the incoming data, etc. and gain a better understanding of the Gemini observing process. Note that an observing night at Gemini South corresponds quite closely with working hours in Australia, and at Gemini North the night is generally over by 2am in the eastern states, so eavesdropping is relatively convenient for Australian users. PIs interested in taking advantage of remote eavesdropping should indicate this in their Technical Case. * There will be a guaranteed minimum of 5 nights on the Subaru telescope available to the Gemini community, following aluminising at the start of the semester. /Magellan/ * So as not to inadvertently preclude high-impact science that can be done in a short time, *the previous two-night minimum length on time requests has been reduced to half a night*. Scheduling proposals for a non-integer number of nights will still be subject to the Magellan Scheduler being able to identify programs from across the Magellan partnership that can make use of the remainder of the night(s). Applicants seeking less than 2 nights are encouraged to seek out and nominate other proposals (possibly with another Magellan partner) to share the observing time with. * A new CCD camera for LDSS3 on Magellan with much-improved red sensitivity is due to be commissioned in April 2013, and become the default detector for LDSS3 in 2013B, although programs focusing on bluer wavelengths will have the option to use the original CCD in certain blocks. * At this time we do not anticipate either of the two f/5 instruments (Megacam or MMIRS ) will be scheduled in Semester 2013B. How to apply ------------ Gemini applications must be submitted using the 2013B release of the Phase I Tool (PIT) software. Subaru applications are also submitted using the PIT. For full details on instrument availability and application procedures, please see: http://ausgo.aao.gov.au/cfp.html as well as the official Gemini Observatory Call for Proposals: http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/observing-gemini/2013b-call-proposals Further information about Magellan instrumentation, travel funding, and the application procedure is described at: http://ausgo.aao.gov.au/magellan.html Need help? ---------- For general enquiries about Australian usage of Gemini, Magellan, or Subaru, please contact the Australian Gemini Office (ausgo at aao.gov.au). For technical queries about a Gemini Phase I proposal, please use the Gemini Helpdesk: http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/helpdesk/ Stuart Ryder Australian Gemini Scientist ausgo at aao.gov.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From thill at museum.vic.gov.au Wed Mar 6 18:03:34 2013 From: thill at museum.vic.gov.au (Hill, Tanya) Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2013 18:03:34 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Louise Webster Prize - closes 8th March Message-ID: <7A64CF74085EDA4E93CEF1089F043E4517B279135F@RAKALI.mv.vic.gov.au> Reminder: Louise Webster Prize - Closing Date: Friday 8th March For outstanding research by a scientist early in their post-doctoral career. The prize is awarded on the basis of the scientific impact of a single research paper (within astronomy or a closely related field), which has the applicant as first author. There are a number of eligibility requirements including that the applicant's PhD must have been conferred and the research paper must have been published within the last five years (or part-time equivalent). The applicant is also required to have been an ASA member for the last 2 years. Eligibility requirements and nomination guidelines: http://asa.astronomy.org.au/lwp.html Dr Tanya Hill Planetarium Manager | Senior Curator, Astronomy Melbourne Planetarium, Scienceworks MUSEUM VICTORIA | GPO Box 666, Melbourne 3001 t: 03 9392 4503 (Wed, Thurs and Fridays) | e: thill at museum.vic.gov.au | w: museumvictoria.com.au/planetarium Museums Board of Victoria ABN 63 640 679 155 is endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient. All gifts of $2 or more are tax deductible. [cid:imagea38f89.jpg at 7a2f4d41.98b74466] Melbourne Museum Major Tourist Attraction museumvictoria.com.au This e-mail is solely for the named addressee and may be confidential. You should only read, disclose, transmit, copy, distribute, act in reliance on or commercialise the contents if you are authorised to do so. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please notify postmaster at museum.vic.gov.au by email immediately, or notify the sender and then destroy any copy of this message. Views expressed in this email are those of the individual sender, except where specifically stated to be those of an officer of Museum Victoria. Museum Victoria does not represent, warrant or guarantee that the integrity of this communication has been maintained nor that it is free from errors, virus or interference. Please consider the environment before printing this email. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: imagea38f89.jpg at 7a2f4d41.98b74466 Type: image/jpeg Size: 2845 bytes Desc: imagea38f89.jpg at 7a2f4d41.98b74466 URL: