From swyithe at unimelb.edu.au Mon Jan 19 12:55:23 2015 From: swyithe at unimelb.edu.au (Stuart Wyithe) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 01:55:23 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Decadal Plan draft and roadshow Message-ID: <81FC4E1A-6A78-48EA-87D8-FCE03AB0486A@unimelb.edu.au> Dear colleagues, The National Committee for Astronomy is pleased to present an exposure draft of the Decadal Plan for Australian Astronomy 2016-2025. This exposure draft represents a synthesis of recommendations from eleven working groups across areas of astronomical science, facilities and instrumentation, education, and industry engagement. The Decadal Plan provides a vision for the future of Australian astronomy, and sets priorities and strategies for how that vision will be implemented. The NCA would like to acknowledge the hard work of all members of the working groups and their Chairs, and of the Editorial Board in producing this draft. The exposure draft of the Decadal Plan for Australian Astronomy 2016-2025 can be downloaded from AustralianAstronomyDecadalPlan.org/decadal-plan-exposure-draft/ To publicise the Decadal Plan as widely as possible and to seek feedback and community endorsement for its recommendations, a series of community meetings will be held during February. These meetings will include an overview of the Decadal Plan presented by the NCA chair Stuart Wyithe and community discussion. Details of the dates and times for these meetings are listed below. The series of Decadal Plan meetings also provide an opportunity for broad community discussion of future Australian astronomy governance. As communicated by Brian Boyle in November, the Department of Industry established a working group to examine and provide advice on the future governance arrangements for Australia?s facility-class astronomy infrastructure. This working group plans to release a draft paper prior to the Decadal Plan meetings. In anticipation of this, discussions of future astronomy infrastructure governance arrangements have been scheduled to follow each discussion of the Decadal Plan. Decadal Plan presentations and discussions: Sydney: 11:00am - 12.30pm, Monday February 16, University of Sydney (location TBA) To be followed by a discussion of Astronomy Infrastructure Governance 1:30pm-2:30pm Canberra: 11:00am - 12.30pm, Tuesday February 17, Australian National University, Duffield Theater Mt Stromlo To be followed by a discussion of Astronomy Infrastructure Governance 1:30pm-2:30pm Lunch will be provided for those attending the meeting Perth: 11:00am - 12.30pm, Wednesday February 18, Curtin University, Curtin Institute for Radio Astronomy Seminar room To be followed by a discussion of Astronomy Infrastructure Governance 1:30pm-2:30pm For catering purposes please RSVP to Angela.Dunleavy at curtin.edu.au Melbourne: 11:30am - 1.00pm, Thursday February 19, Swinburne University, (location TBA) To be followed by a discussion of Astronomy Infrastructure Governance 2:00pm-3:00pm Please register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/157J9JAHce-M0SAtoP7fq-_Yt-_CO4tTz9dwVkhyat1U/viewform Hobart: 11:00am - 12.30pm, Monday February 23, University of Tasmania School of Physics To be followed by a discussion of Astronomy Infrastructure Governance 1:30pm-2:30pm Adelaide: 11:00am - 12.30pm, Wednesday February 25, University of Adelaide School of Physics To be followed by a discussion of Astronomy Infrastructure Governance 1:30pm-2:30pm Best regards, Stuart (on behalf of the NCA) ==================================== 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 https://www.science.org.au/committee/astronomy ==================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Mon Jan 19 18:38:30 2015 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:38:30 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Vale Jim Caswell Message-ID: <54BCB476.8020408@aao.gov.au> Dear ASA members, Many members will already have heard that Jim Caswell passed away last week. Simon Johnston and Jessica Chapman have kindly provided the message below, for the benefit of the Society. It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Dr James (Jim) Leslie Caswell on 14 January 2015 in Sydney. Jim was born in England in 1940 and after completing high school in Thornbury went to St John's College, Cambridge where he obtained his undergraduate degree in 1962. He subsequently joined the radiophysics group of Prof Sir Martin Ryle at the Cavendish Lab in Cambridge where he was awarded his PhD in 1967 for "Astronomy studies using a large-aperture synthesis radio telescope operating at 178 MHz". He was awarded a Canadian Research Council fellowship and took up at postdoc at the DRAO in Penticton, Canada from 1967 to 1969. He subsequently moved to Sydney and started at the (then) CSIRO Division of Radiophysics (now CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science) on 6 January 1970. Jim has remained at the CSIRO since then, apart from a sabbatical back in Cambridge, UK in 1976 and a 2 year sabbatical at the DRAO, Penticton in 1983/84. Although Jim retired several years ago he continued his highly productive research career at CASS right up to his admission in hospital shortly before he died. Jim has more than 200 papers in the refereed literature dating back to his first paper (published in Nature!) in 1965. His two most highly cited papers are well known to all Galactic astronomers. Clark & Caswell (1976) used Molonglo and Parkes observations to map and study the properties of southern Supernova Remnants, including a derivation of their distances and Caswell & Haynes (1987) lists properties of over 300 Galactic HII regions and is a handbook for anyone interested in Galactic structure. Jim made significant contributions to the Australia Telescope National Facility including during the construction of the Compact Array (ATCA) and recently as Project Scientist for the CABB upgrade on the ATCA. Jim's scientific passion was masers and Galactic structure and indeed some 90 of his papers have "maser" in the title. Most recently, he was a leader of the Parkes Methanol Multibeam (MMB) survey and subsequent follow up with ATCA, which discovered hundreds of methanol masers associated with high-mass star forming regions. The sequence of papers arising from the MMB are typical of Jim's output defined by scientific excellence, integrity, attention to detail and not a comma out of place or dangling participle to be seen! Jim was, at his core, a research scientist whose passion was solving problems and understanding the Universe. He was always a loyal and kind-hearted colleague, encouraging to others and a patient teacher and mentor. Away from his science, Jim was a long time member of ATNF's social tennis and ping-pong groups. Jim has been a member of the ASA since 1976 and was a member of the ASA Council between 1980 and 1982. Jim is survived by his wife Sheena and three children. Jim will be sorely missed by his colleagues and friends. Simon Johnston and Jessica Chapman, CASS. -- 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 Marc.Duldig at utas.edu.au Tue Jan 20 12:00:02 2015 From: Marc.Duldig at utas.edu.au (Marcus Duldig) Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 01:00:02 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Astronomy Governance [SEC=UNOFFICIAL] In-Reply-To: <82423F004EEAEF49A384DDA5555F375D4DB3BFB2@PPAC3PEX02.PROD.PROTECTED.IND> References: <82423F004EEAEF49A384DDA5555F375D4DB3BFB2@PPAC3PEX02.PROD.PROTECTED.IND> Message-ID: <1e8252c2e185476589ddb9f1778fd5b7@MBX4.utas.ad.internal> Astronomy Infrastructure Working Group Discussion Paper: Request for Input In October 2014, the Department of Industry invited key office holders in the Australian astronomy sector to participate in a Working Group that would provide advice on the governance of Australia's astronomy infrastructure. The Working Group has now produced a Discussion Paper (see attached) and is seeking input from the astronomy community and institutional stakeholders on the analysis and options presented in this paper. Input can be provided in a written response to astronomygovernance at industry.gov.au by 6 March 2015 and/or at planned town hall meetings in association with the Decadal Plan discussed hosted by the NCA (see Prof Wyithe's earlier message). Further details on the consultation/feedback process may be found in the Discussion paper. The input will be used to develop the Working Group's advice to the Department of Industry, due at the end of March 2015. Brian Boyle PSM FAA SKA Director Australian Square Kilometre Array Office __________________________________________ Department of Industry and Science 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. ************************************************************************* University of Tasmania Electronic Communications Policy (December, 2014). This email is confidential, and is for the intended recipient only. Access, disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance on any of it by anyone outside the intended recipient organisation is prohibited and may be a criminal offence. Please delete if obtained in error and email confirmation to the sender. The views expressed in this email are not necessarily the views of the University of Tasmania, unless clearly intended otherwise. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 4283 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Astronomy Infrastructure Governance - Working Group Discussion paper.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 198728 bytes Desc: Astronomy Infrastructure Governance - Working Group Discussion paper.pdf URL: From andrew.green at aao.gov.au Wed Jan 21 13:58:22 2015 From: andrew.green at aao.gov.au (Andy Green) Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 13:58:22 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Rolling Applications for AAT Service Programs Message-ID: <589642F9-EAA7-4665-A0FE-DD7255705732@aao.gov.au> Dear Astronomers, The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) operates a service observing program at the 4-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) for proposals requiring less than 6 hours of observing time. The application process for AAT Service Time is changing. Starting from 1st February, 2015, applications will be accepted on a continuous basis. Proposals will be reviewed and graded as they are received. Review could take up to four weeks, after which the primary investigator will be notified of their grade. Successful proposals will be added to the service queue at that time. Proposals will remain active until observed, or until 18 months has passed since they were first added to the queue. Applications will be accepted through the AAO's Proposal Management System, AAO Lens. Other aspects of the service program will remain the same. The program is described in detail on our website: http://www.aao.gov.au/science/observing/apply/service The following instruments are available for service observations: 2dF+AAOmega, IRIS2, UCLES, KOALA+AAOmega, 2dF+HERMES. Regards, Andy Green Outgoing AAT Service Coordinator Chris Lidman Incoming AAT Service Coordinator -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Jan 21 14:26:55 2015 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 14:26:55 +1100 Subject: [ASA] SKA Dish Consortium Lead Message-ID: <9A7EC371-2D6E-4080-BF40-3845667C19F6@sydney.edu.au> Leader, SKA Dish Consortium - JRID50388 Submitted by sarahepearce on Thu, 2014-12-18 15:25 Submission Dates Post Date: January 1, 2015 Archive Date: January 31, 2015 Deadline to Apply for Job: February 1, 2015 Job Details Job Category: Science Management Institution/Company Name: CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science Institution Classification/Type: Government Agency Submission Address for Resumes/CVs Attention To: Dr Sarah Pearce Title: Deputy Director Organization: CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science Street Address Line 1: Corner of Vimiera and Pembroke Roads Street Address Line 2: Marsfield City: Sydney State/Province: NSW Zip/Postal Code: 2122 Country: Australia Telephone: +61467719212 Email: sarah.pearce at csiro.au Contact Information For Inquiries About Job Email Address for Inquiries: sarah.pearce at csiro.au Related URLs Related URLs: Job advert CSIRO careers Announcement Job Announcement Text: Australia is founding its future on science and innovation. Its national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is a powerhouse of ideas, technologies and skills for building prosperity, growth, health and sustainability. It serves governments, industries, business and communities. ? Be part of a leading internationally recognised team ? Lead the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Dish Consortium ? Contribute to building the world?s largest radio observatory The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the world?s most advanced radio observatory, with telescopes to be deployed in Western Australia and the Karoo (South Africa). The SKA project is currently in its pre-construction phase, in which international consortia are producing the detailed design and prototypes for the telescopes. In this role, you will lead the international Dish Consortium, which is designing antennas and receivers for two of the SKA telescopes: SKA1-Mid in South Africa, and SKA1-Survey in Australia. The Dish Consortium is one of the largest of the SKA design consortia and consists of a mix of industry, universities and research organisations, led by CSIRO. Key deliverables for the consortium include the design and verification of the dish structure, optics, feed suites and receivers for the two telescopes, culminating in a successful Critical Design Review at the end of 2016. Location: Marsfield, Sydney, NSW Salary: AU $152K to AU $191K p.a. plus up to 15.4% superannuation Tenure: 2 year term, with the possibility of extension Ref No: NSW14/04202 To be successful in this role, you will have substantial experience in leading large, complex projects in the radio astronomy area, or similar. You will be comfortable working in an international consortium, and in balancing the priorities and needs of a range of partners and stakeholders. Your experience will also include working closely with industry partners on the delivery of large R&D projects. Find out more or apply: www.csiro.au/careers . Click on the words Positions Vacant and enter the reference number. Applications close 1st February 2015 (11:30pm AEDT). Included Benefits: We welcome applicants interested in taking up this role through a secondment, and are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. Online versions of this advertisement at the CSIRO website: http://csiro.nga.net.au/cp/index.cfm?event=jobs.jati&returnToEvent=jobs.home&jobID=756e466d-2c31-ab2d-5c7d-80702010b6b9&audienceTypeCode=EXT&UseAudienceTypeLanguage=1 or the AAS register: https://jobregister.aas.org/job_view?JobID=50388 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: