From aatts at aao.gov.au Mon Oct 13 07:07:22 2014 From: aatts at aao.gov.au (AAT Technical Secretary) Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:07:22 +1100 Subject: [ASA] REMINDER: Special call for CTIO (DECam, COSMOS, ISPI) proposals Message-ID: <543ADF7A.4040409@aao.gov.au> The AAO is calling for supplementary proposals to use DECam, the COSMOS spectrograph and/or the ISPI IR imager on the NOAO/CTIO Blanco 4m telescope in semester 2015A. Information about the available instruments can be found at http://www.aao.gov.au/science/observing/apply-for-observing-time Proposals should follow the standard guidelines for content and formatting as outlined in the web link above, and must be submitted through the new AAO proposal system, Lens: https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/ There is a minimum time request of 1 night, but no maximum. Observations will be carried out in visitor mode. Applications requiring bright or grey time are encouraged. Observers who applied for NOAO exchange time at the recent AAO call for proposals may apply for more time. The deadline is 5:00pmAEDT Wednesday 15 October. -- Lee Spitler AAT Technical Secretary Lecturer Australian Astronomical Observatory & Macquarie University Sydney, Australia P: +61 (2) 9850 4161 www.physics.mq.edu.au www.aao.gov.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Tue Oct 14 11:15:45 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:15:45 +1100 Subject: [ASA] REMINDER: Bolton Symposium registration deadline 27th October Message-ID: Dear Colleague, A reminder that abstract and registration submission for the 2014 Bolton Symposium will close on the 27th October. The meeting, jointly hosted by CASS and the AAO, will be held on the 27th & 28th November 2014. This symposium is intended for post-doctoral astronomers to showcase the excellent science that is being done with the breadth of facilities available with the Australia Telescope National Facility and Australian Astronomical Observatory. The symposium will be held at the CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science ATNF headquarters in Marsfield, Sydney (see the website linked below for details). Talk slots will fill up fast and we encourage post-doctoral researchers using these facilities to submit abstracts, and for all astronomers to attend the meeting. The website can be found at: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/conferences/2014/boltonsymp/index.html Kind regards, James Allison (CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science) Andy Green (Australian Astronomical Observatory) ------------------------------------------------------ Dr James Allison Bolton Fellow CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science, P.O. Box 76, Epping NSW 1710, Australia Rm: 201 Tel: +61(0)293724206 Email: jallison.astro at gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Tue Oct 14 11:40:33 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:40:33 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Meeting in Sydney August 2015: Save-The-Date Announcement In-Reply-To: References: <543C5BD9.1060908@Physics.usyd.edu.au> <543C5C28.6060908@Physics.usyd.edu.au> Message-ID: Dear ASA This is a preliminary announcement to let the community know that we are organizing a meeting in Sydney spanning the 17th - 19th of August 2015 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of science observations with the Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer. This instrument was arguably the most important physics/astronomy experiment conducted in Australia. There will likely be several talks reflecting on this history, although most of the meeting will be forward-looking. The dates are immediately after the 2015 IAU General Assembly (In Honolulu 3-14 August). The Title & abstract are below, and we are in process of finalizing other organizational details (more announcements to follow). Please circulate to colleagues or professional networks you think will find this of interest. Prof. Peter Tuthill Quantum Astronomy and Stellar Imaging: Celebrating the 50th birthday of the Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer The profound impact of the Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer is very much alive today: it is regarded as the foundational experiment from which the field of Quantum Optics germinated, while its legacy pervades all coherent-light astronomy. This meeting will look to the future and ask the question, what are the breakthroughs in optical physics which will empower tomorrow's visionary astronomical instruments? We have barely begun to explore the myriad possibilities enabled by a sophisticated approach to coherence in optical astronomy. Areas of opportunity include the full exploitation of photonic technologies, emergent themes within Quantum Astronomy and the coming generation of ELTs and optical long-baseline interferometers. This meeting will have a particular emphasis on coherent-light astronomy and high angular resolution imaging, with the aim to crystallize community ideas around next generation devices such as the Planet Formation Imager, a bold new initiative intended to reveal the cradles of birth for exoplanets. Dates: 17-19 August 2015 Where: Sydney, Australia Chair: Peter Tuthill SOC: Julia Bryant, Michael Ireland; Pierre Kern; Sylvestre Lacour, John Monnier; Anna Moore -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Tue Oct 14 15:35:08 2014 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:35:08 +1100 Subject: [ASA] AAO Research Fellow position Message-ID: <543CA7FC.6060305@aao.gov.au> Dear ASA members, The deadline for applications to this 3 year Research Fellowship position at the AAO has been extended to 1 Nov. 2014. I strongly encourage you to circulate to potential candidates and appropriate mailing lists. http://industryjobs.nga.net.au/cp/index.cfm?event=jobs.listJobs&jobListid=a8854bd1-f882-70f4-a958-5bf9f4f6022c&CurATC=DIISR&CurBID=62afb35d-9273-4a11-8dcc-9db401354197 The AAO seeks to appoint a 3 year Research Fellow. The successful candidate will carry out their own high profile and self directed astrophysical research program, as well as research in collaboration with other AAO research staff. The AAO Research Fellow will be supported by the AAO in developing their research programs, with 50% of their time available for research. They will be expected to assist in the operations of the Observatory for the remaining 50% of their time, taking on responsibility for one or more of the various support activities provided by the AAO. These include AAT Scheduler, Technical Secretary to the Australian Time Assignment Committee, coordinator of AAT Remote Observing Operations. The Fellow will be expected to provide observing support for visiting astronomers using the AAT. Candidates must have a PhD in astronomy, astrophysics or a related branch of experimental physics, and must have expertise in one of the following areas of observational interest at the AAO: optical spectroscopy, including the SAMI multiobject integral field spectrograph, the AAOmega multi-object fibre system, the HERMES high-resolution multi-object spectrograph, high-dispersion spectroscopy at the Coude focus, near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy, and future instrumentation for the AAT, Gemini, GMT, and other telescopes. Experience in high-resolution optical spectroscopy is desirable. The deadline for applications is 1 November 2014. Please feel free to circulate to anyone you think may be interested, and to contact me directly with any questions. Best regards, Andrew Hopkins -- A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins, Head of Research and Outreach Australian Astronomical Observatory P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia ph: +61 2 9372 4849 fax: +61 2 9372 4880 From Brian.Boyle at industry.gov.au Thu Oct 16 16:21:32 2014 From: Brian.Boyle at industry.gov.au (Boyle, Brian) Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 05:21:32 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Australian SKA Director's periodic update [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] Message-ID: Dear ASA members Australian SKA Director's Update October 2014 It was a pleasure to attend the 2014 SKA Engineering Conference at Fremantle from 29 Sept - 2 Oct. A great deal of progress has been made on the SKA design since last year's meeting in Manchester. The challenge remaining for the SKA Organisation will be to ensure the collected material is sufficiently complete and comprehensive (particularly at the interfaces between work packages) to deliver a robust re-baselined design over the coming 5-6 months. The science prioritisation has yielded an exciting set of science priorities. I strongly support the breadth of the priorities as appropriate for a facility of this scale servicing a global community; balancing risk versus return as we embark on the first stage of the SKA. Another highlight of the SKA Engineering Conference was the opening of the Shared Sky exhibition featuring art from the indigenous peoples of both the Mid West of WA and the Karoo region of South Africa. It will be on display at the John Curtin Gallery in Curtin University until 2 November and I would encourage everyone to visit if they get an opportunity. After that, it heads off on its world-wide tour. First stop, South Africa. Out at Australia's SKA site, ASKAP commissioning continues and a new image covering 50 square degrees of the sky has been produced with the first six ASKAP dishes, demonstrating the telescope's rapid survey capability. MWA continues to reach milestones with the MWA Commissioning Survey, a catalogue of more than 14,000 radio sources over 6,100 square degrees of sky, being accepted for publishing. Environmental surveys of Australia's site have been completed, giving us a more comprehensive understanding of the flora and fauna communities present and helping us protect the site's environmental values. Preliminary findings suggest SKA infrastructure will have minimal impact on these communities. This week I am attending the SKA Board meeting in China where, in addition to the science and engineering developments, the Board will also discuss progress on the Observatory Agreement (Treaty) and other policy matters. Good progress is being made on the Treaty documentation and I believe the Organisation can look forward to engaging fully with governments in 2015 as elements of the policy, design and operational plan come together. Best regards Brian Prof Brian J Boyle PSM FAA SKA Project Director Australian Square Kilometre Array Office __________________________________________ Department of Industry Level 9, 10 Binara Street, Canberra City ACT 2601 GPO Box 9839, Canberra ACT 2601 Ph: +61-2-6102 8943 Mob: +61 499 848 844 Email: brian.boyle at industry.gov.au Internet: www.ska.gov.au [http://www.ska.gov.au/sitecollectionimages/logo-auska.gif] ************************************************************************* The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments to it, is intended for the use of the addressee and is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, read, forward, copy or retain any of the information. If you received this e-mail in error, please delete it and notify the sender by return e-mail or telephone. The Commonwealth does not warrant that any attachments are free from viruses or any other defects. You assume all liability for any loss, damage or other consequences which may arise from opening or using the attachments. The security of emails transmitted in an unencrypted environment cannot be guaranteed. By forwarding or replying to this email, you acknowledge and accept these risks. ************************************************************************* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 5292 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: From matthew.colless at anu.edu.au Sat Oct 18 07:45:26 2014 From: matthew.colless at anu.edu.au (Matthew Colless) Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 20:45:26 +0000 Subject: [ASA] ANU Postgraduate Student Scholarships at the Space Environment Research Centre Message-ID: <3C93478A-9600-400C-A710-13A6FF081D04@anu.edu.au> ANU Postgraduate Student Scholarships at the Space Environment Research Centre The new Space Environment Research Centre (SERC) has a strong focus on education and training. It offers scholarships for postgraduate students to work within a global centre of excellence and collaborate with the leading international companies and space agencies. SERC education and training programs offer students an attractive combination of university and industry based postgraduate research on a variety of projects. SERC is currently offering the following research projects at the Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre of the ANU?s Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics: 1. Adaptive Optics Demonstrator for Space Environment Management more ? 2. Optically-Pumped Solid-State Laser for Sodium Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics more ? 3. Adaptive Optics Astrometry for Precision Orbit Determination at GEO more ? For further information regarding these research projects see the SERC website or contact Ms C?line d?Orgeville. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: