From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Dec 17 11:52:24 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:52:24 +1100 Subject: [ASA] ANITA 2015 Workshop + Astroninformatics Summer School In-Reply-To: <3A569EF4-C5D7-47DB-8809-33AB92B4D0F7@sydney.edu.au> References: <201411262147.sAQLlbNJ013438@timhos.physics.usyd.edu.au> <20839_1417845241_sB65s009002749_548299F2.8040701@physics.usyd.edu.au> <3A569EF4-C5D7-47DB-8809-33AB92B4D0F7@sydney.edu.au> Message-ID: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANITA 2015 WORKSHOP AND ASTROINFORMATICS SUMMER SCHOOL 9th-13th February 2015 Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University (ANU) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We invite you to the 9th Workshop of the Australian National Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (ANITA), to be held on the 9th and 10th of February 2015, followed by the Astroinformatics Summer School from the 11th to 13th of February 2015. Both events will be hosted by the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. For details and registration information please go to the workshop website: http://anita.edu.au/workshop2015/ Registration for the Summer School is limited to 55 participants. We will accept registrations until all spaces are filled. There will be a $A120 fee to attend the School, but this will be waived for students at Australian institutes. A limited number of travel grants to assist in the attendance of students will be available. Students can indicate their interest in applying for a grant when registering. Note that the meeting is open to everyone, you do not need to be a member of ANITA or the ASA to attend (though we encourage you to join!), and we especially invite students to attend and contribute talks. Looking forward to seeing you in Canberra! 2015 Organising Committee: Geoff Bicknell, Amanda Karakas, Ivo Seitenzahl, Ashley Ruiter, Aaron Dotter, Remo Collet, Dipanjan Mukherjee, Alexander Heger, Krzysztof Bolejko & Camila Correa ANITA Steering Committee: Cathryn Trott, Darren Croton, Sarah Maddison, Orsola De Marco, Chris Power, Daniel Price, Alexander Heger, Krzysztof Bolejko & Camila Correa ----------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Dec 17 16:12:58 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:12:58 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) Conference - Sydney 25-30 October 2015 Message-ID: ? <> Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) Conference Please mark your calendars for the 25th annual conference on Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (http://www.caastro.org/event/2015-adass ). 25-30 October 2015 Rydges World Square, Sydney, NSW, Australia SUMMARY - A conference for those working in the acquisition, reduction, analysis, and dissemination of astronomical data - WWW site: http://www.caastro.org/event/2015-adass - Early Bird registrations and abstract submissions will open in February 2015. - Email adass2015-loc at caastro.org to ensure you receive further announcements The conference will be held from 25-30 October 2015 at Rydges World Square, Sydney, Australia. The hosts of ADASS XXV will be ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO). This annual conference, held in a different location each year, is a forum for scientists, developers and programmers working in areas related to algorithms, software and systems for the acquisition, reduction, analysis, and dissemination of astronomical data. The ADASS XXV program will include invited talks, contributed papers, display sessions, tutorials, computer demonstrations, and special interest ("Birds of a Feather" or BoF) meetings. The International Virtual Observatory Alliance will follow ADASS from the 30 October -2 November at 44-70 Rosehill Street, Redfern. Thanks, Kate KATE GUNN | Chief Operating Officer CAASTRO | School of Physics | Faculty of Science | ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics Rm 215 Building H90 | 44-70 Rosehill Street, Redfern | NSW |2016| The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 T +61 2 9351 2893 | F +61 2 9351 7726 | M +61 411 466 080 Email kate.gunn at sydney.edu.au W http:// www.caastro.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Dec 17 16:15:46 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:15:46 +1100 Subject: [ASA] OzSKA: radio astronomy in the next decade Message-ID: <79EC33BC-7AE0-4A09-B929-459986CCAA81@sydney.edu.au> OzSKA: radio astronomy in the next decade April 8-10 2015, Hercus Theatre, School of Physics David Caro Building, University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia Registration is now open? Registration for the meeting is free, and includes lunch. Please register for catering purposes. The registration deadline is 18 March 2015. The registration form includes the ability to propose to make a presentation at the workshop. The Square Kilometer Array will herald a new era in radio astronomy, with the construction of the world?s largest radio telescope in Australia and South Africa. The conference will provide an opportunity to explore the new science that will be possible with the increased sensitivity, with a particular emphasis on exploring opportunities for young scientists to become engaged with new projects and ideas. The science themes explored include the formation of the first stars and galaxies, galaxy evolution, cosmic magnetism, the nature of gravity and exploring life beyond the Earth. Other topics will include the impact of enabling technologies, including the processing and management of ?big data?, new signal processing and detector technologies and the role of ?blue sky? science in the education of our wider community. Young researchers are particularly encouraged to attend. SOC: Chris Blake, Robert Braun, Chris Herron, Carole Jackson, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, Phillip Lah, Sarah Pearce, Elaine Sadler, Lister Staveley-Smith, Rachel Webster (Chair) LOC: Rachel Webster, Bart Pindor (Chair), Ben McKinley, Pietro Procopio, Jack Line, Jenny Riding, Kim Dorrell, Kirsty Waring Childcare will be available on request and will be free of charge. You can request childcare when you register. Please contact Kim Dorrell (kdorrell at unimelb.edu.au ) if you have any questions regarding this workshop. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN O?BYRNE Associate Head (Teaching & Learning), School of Physics Associate Dean (Standards), Faculty of Science Secretary, Astronomical Society of Australia Inc. Sydney Institute for Astronomy School of Physics | Faculty of Science THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm 205, Physics Building A28 | alternate: Rm 222, 44-70 Rosehill St Redfern H90 (see map ) 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/people/john.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: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Dec 17 16:17:11 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:17:11 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Perth Simulated Galaxy Clusters Workshop Message-ID: <5E986B7D-7426-4EC2-A1A9-339281A61D5D@sydney.edu.au> Perth Simulated Galaxy Clusters Workshop Workshop Dates: March 23-27 2015 Location: ICRAR/UWA, 7 Fairway, Crawley, WA 6009 ? Registration is now OPEN ? Registration for the meeting is free, supported by the sponsors, and includes lunch each day. Please register for catering purposes. Registration Deadline: 28 February 2015. The registration form includes the ability to propose to make a presentation at the workshop. Galaxy clusters are the most massive virialised structures in the Universe, and they provide a fascinating natural laboratory for testing theories of galaxy evolution. The recent "nIFTy Cosmology: Numerical Simulations for Large Surveys? workshop, held in Madrid between June 30th to 18th July 2014, brought together experts from around the world to carry out cosmological simulations of a single galaxy cluster using a range of state-of-the-art codes ? including GADGET and Arepo ? and to compare the properties of gas and dark matter in the simulated cluster. A wide range of projects drawing on these data were initiated, including: reconstructing the dynamical state and merging history of clusters from present-day observables synthetic observations of galaxy clusters at radio continuum, X-ray wavelengths weighing galaxy clusters via gravitational lensing, galaxy population kinematics, X-rays and joint statistical analyses tidal disruption of galaxies in clusters, the formation of intra-cluster light the outskirts of clusters and the detection of missing baryons The Perth Simulated Galaxy Cluster Comparison workshop (March 23-27 2015) builds on the nIFTy Cosmology workshop. Its goal is to bring together some of the key participants from the Madrid workshop and observational astronomers from around Australia, and to be a workshop in the true sense of the word ? the first day will be set aside for talks (data presentation, project updates and ideas), but the emphasis during the remainder of the week will be to work on projects and write papers. All of the simulation data ? from both hydrodynamical simulations and semi-analytical models ? will be made available as mock observables, and observers, simulators and modellers will be encouraged to work together on joint projects, to put observational data and theoretical/simulation prediction on the same plot. Invited speakers include Sarah Brough, Stuart Muldrew, Matt Owers and Elena Rasia. Getting there The workshop will be held at the UWA node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research. Information on getting to UWA by both car and public transport can be found at: http://www.uwa.edu.au/engage/events/transport . SOC/LOC Weiguang Cui (ICRAR/UWA), Madhura Killedar (LMU/USM), Lyndsay Old (U Nottingham), Chris Power (ICRAR/UWA) For further information about scientific content and accessing simulated datasets, please contact A/Prof. Chris Power E: chris.power at icrar.org T: +61 8 6488 7630 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN O?BYRNE Associate Head (Teaching & Learning), School of Physics Associate Dean (Standards), Faculty of Science Secretary, Astronomical Society of Australia Inc. Sydney Institute for Astronomy School of Physics | Faculty of Science THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm 205, Physics Building A28 | alternate: Rm 222, 44-70 Rosehill St Redfern H90 (see map ) 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/people/john.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: From swyithe at unimelb.edu.au Wed Dec 17 21:07:26 2014 From: swyithe at unimelb.edu.au (Stuart Wyithe) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 10:07:26 +0000 Subject: [ASA] CALL FOR COMMUNITY NOMINATIONS FOR THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR ASTRONOMY Message-ID: The National Committee for Astronomy (NCA) is one of twenty-two National Committees of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS). The NCA exists to foster astronomy in Australia, to liaise with international scientific bodies, and to advise the Council of the Australian Academy of Science on relevant matters. One of its main activities is to oversee the Decadal Plan process for Australian Astronomy. The NCA is made up of eight members appointed by the Executive Committee of the Academy. The current members of the committee are listed at https://www.science.org.au/committee/astronomy There are two vacancies on the NCA from 2015, as Dr Kate Brooks and Prof Elaine Sadler will complete their terms this month. One of these vacancies must be filled by a fellow of the academy. To make the process of selecting a new member as open as possible, the NCA is calling for nominees from the broader astronomy community. Members of the NCA should be respected members of the Australian astronomy community with a broad spread of institutions and specialisations. Since all 6 of the continuing NCA members are male, we are particularly keen to use these new appointments to improve the gender balance of the committee. The National Committee guidelines can be found at https://www.science.org.au/resources/guidelines-national-committees. The guidelines relating to membership can be summarised as follows: * Members should be scientists active in the field * Membership shall be appropriate to 'the best interests of Australian science' * Membership will not usually exceed 8 people * Members will usually be appointed for up to 3 years * Re-appointment for one further year is possible in ?exceptional circumstances' Note that all appointments are made by the AAS Executive Committee on the basis of a nomination forwarded by the Chair of the NCA. Nominations will be reviewed by a panel consisting of the NCA Chair (Stuart Wyithe), the President of the ASA (Andrew Hopkins) and one Fellow of the Academy who is not a continuing NCA member (Elaine Sadler). This review panel (in consultation with the Academy's Secretary for Physical Sciences) will make a recommendation on the vacant position, which will be forwarded to the AAS Executive Committee for approval. Please send your nominations by email to the NCA Chair (Stuart Wyithe swyithe at unimelb.edu.au) before 5pm (AEST) on Friday 30th January 2015. Nominations can be brief (name, institution and a very short outline of expertise are all that's needed, and self-nominations are also acceptable). Best regards, Stuart ==================================== Professor Stuart Wyithe Australian Laureate Fellow Chair, National Committee for Astronomy School of Physics University of Melbourne Vic, Australia 3010 Phone: +61 3 8344 5083 Fax: +61 3 9347 4783 Email: swyithe at unimelb.edu.au www.science.org.au/committee/astronomy ==================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Fri Dec 19 13:15:46 2014 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 13:15:46 +1100 Subject: [ASA] ASA year-end newsletter Message-ID: <54938A52.6060500@aao.gov.au> Dear ASA members, I would like to wish you all the best for the holiday season and the coming year. 2014 has seen a lot of activity within our community, and it is appropriate to reflect on these developments at this point in the year. During 2014 the ASA Council has had rather more evolution in membership than usual. Early in the year we welcomed Michael Brown as a new co-opted Council member with responsibility for Media and Outreach. We were joined later in the year by Ravi Sood as our new Treasurer, and we thank the outgoing Treasurer, Katrina Sealey for her significant contributions to the Society during her 5 years in this role. We were also joined by a new Vice-President, Virginia Kilborn, following Darren Croton's resignation. We thank Darren for his contributions during his time on the Council and as Vice-President, and welcome Virginia in her new role. The PASA Editor-in-Chief role transitioned as well, with Bryan Gaensler leaving for chillier climes, and Daniel Price stepping in to the role. We thank Bryan and welcome Daniel, and comment more on PASA developments below. ASA members continue to achieve at the highest levels, with prestigious recognition including: - Ken Freeman, sharing the 2014 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize - Bill Tango, awarded the 2014 Fizeau Lifetime Achievement Prize by the IAU - Tamara Davis, awarded the 2015 Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science - Naomi McClure Griffiths, awarded the 2015 Pawsey Medal for research in physics This is in addition to the dozens of other National and State-based prizes and accolades that were awarded to our members during 2014. Our calendar was full of exciting events and interesting conferences and workshops: - ASA members coordinated and participated in the ANITA workshop and N-body Summer School, the ASA Women in Astronomy Workshop, the 2nd ASA ECR Mentoring Workshop, plus the ASA Harley Wood Winter School and the ASA Annual Science Meeting. - Despite the numerous Town Hall meetings, a large number of community workshops and conferences featured this year, including "AusGO 2014 Observational Techniques", the "WAVES community workshop", "Powerful AGN and their host galaxies across cosmic time (Southern Cross VII)", the "CASS 2014 Radio Astronomy School", "Exploiting MWA surveys for AGN and extragalactic star formation studies", the "4th Australian Exoplanet Workshop", the "Bolton Symposium", and the "AstroSats 2014 Workshop". All of these were highlighted on the ASA calendar. Don't forget to use this resource to advertise events you are organising: http://asa.astronomy.org.au/calendar.html You can send email to ASAcalendar at physics.usyd.edu.au for inclusion. I would like to highlight the very successful 2014 ASA Annual Scientific Meeting and Harley Wood Winter School hosted by Macquarie University, and thank the organisers for their efforts in making those events a success. The 2015 ASM and HWWS will be coordinated by ICRAR/Curtin University in Perth, and I encourage you all to participate. The society's journal, PASA, has a new Editor-in-Chief, Daniel Price, who takes over from Bryan Gaensler in 2015. Bryan's contributions over the past 6 years include a range of initiatives leading to the journal's substantially increased impact factor, introduction of the Dawes Review, and the transition from CSIRO Publishing to Cambridge University Press. We thank Bryan and the other outgoing Board member, Benedetta Ciardi, for their efforts in continuing to ensure the success of our society's journal, and we welcome two new members to the PASA Editorial Board, Stephen Serjeant and Melanie Johnston-Hollitt. The Women in Astronomy Chapter launched a new awards scheme, the Pleiades Awards, aimed at recognising commitment to advancing women in astronomy. The Awards are both to encourage and to recognise best practice in gender equity activities in our community. The ASA is becoming recognised nationally as a leader in this area, with the Australian Academy of Science now exploring the potential of bringing the UK's Athena Swan scheme to the broader Australian community. Twenty organisations employing ASA members are eligible to apply for the Pleiades Awards, and in the inaugural awards round it was very pleasing to see that more than half of these have been successful, with nine organisations recognised with a Bronze Pleiades Award and two with a Silver Pleiades Award. The full listing is here: http://asawomeninastronomy.org/the-pleiades-awards/current-pleiades-organisations/ I strongly encourage all organisations employing ASA members to apply in future rounds, to obtain, retain, or improve their level of Award, and to implement and improve on existing best practices in supporting gender equity in our community. This year saw extensive activity toward development of the next Astronomy Decadal Plan, for the period 2016-2025. There were numerous Town Hall meetings from February to April. Eleven Working Groups, more than 100 members of our community, compiled and provided extensive input to the Editorial Board for the Decadal Plan. Following presentations and feedback at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the ASA, the Working Group reports were finalised and submitted to the Editorial Board in August. The Editorial Board has prepared a draft Decadal Plan document, which will be circulated to the community for further feedback, and presented and discussed during a series of community presentations in February. Keep an eye out for announcements by Stuart Wyithe, Chair of the Editorial Board, for more details. 2014 was a year of anniversaries, with Siding Spring Observatory turning 50 and the Anglo-Australian Telescope turning 40. These milestones were recognised with a wide variety of events during StarFest in October and in other well-received and attended public activities. There were sad moments as well, with the passing this year of long standing Society members Bob Shobbrook and John Greenhill, both of whom will be remembered fondly by those who knew them. Of course there were many exciting research results, funding outcomes, and other developments during the course of the year, far too many to list in a single email. I would like to add a personal thanks to the Council of the ASA for their support, responsiveness and contributions to the numerous and diverse activities that the ASA has taken carriage of this year. I would like to highlight the Secretaries, Marc and John, in particular, for their unstinting and devoted efforts in ensuring the success of the activities of the Society, and give them my personal thanks for their support. The Australian astronomical community is an incredibly collegial and supportive environment, as well as being a collection of talented and successful individuals. I feel privileged to be a part of such a fantastic community. I encourage everyone to enjoy a restful break, and to come back refreshed and enthusiastic for the exciting activities that are already lining up for 2015! Andrew Hopkins ASA President -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: