From rebecca.lange at icrar.org  Mon Mar 30 12:00:37 2015
From: rebecca.lange at icrar.org (Rebecca Lange)
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2015 09:00:37 +0800
Subject: [ASA] Harley Wood School for Astronomy
Message-ID: <C98902F2-DFB2-43DF-8947-56934A480116@icrar.org>

Dear ASA members,

I'd like to bring your attention to this year's Harley Wood School for Astronomy (HWSA).
This year's winter school is themed "Exploring Global Frontiers in Astronomy" and our aim is to provide students with a good overview of the topics the Australian astronomy community has laid out in the Decadal Plan. This school is a great opportunity for everyone to meet their interstate peers and to interact and talk to the invited speakers in the more relaxed environment at the HWSA.

I would also like to remind you all that due to the accommodation booking process the deadline for the HWSA registration is the 1st of April, this coming Wednesday. Incidentally, abstract submission for the ASM closes on the same day!
The registration includes most meals, the return ferry transfer to Rottnest Island and accommodation. 
If you want to register after the 1st of April please email me (rebecca.lange at icrar.org) first to check if we have any spare accommodation.

Please check out our webpage for more information: http://hws2015.asnevents.com.au/
Our program is now also available online: http://hws2015.asnevents.com.au/program/

All the best,
Rebecca 

___________________________________
Rebecca Lange
Ph.D. student
The University of Western Australia 
M468 
35 Stirling Highway 
Crawley 
WA 6009 
AUSTRALIA

Phone: 	+61 8 6488 7756
Email: 	rebecca.lange at icrar.org
Web:	https://icrar.academia.edu/RebeccaLange

ICRAR: Discovering the hidden Universe through radio astronomy

www.icrar.org | Subscribe to ICRAR's eNewsletter | ICRAR on Twitter | ICRAR on Facebook 

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From Warrick.Couch at aao.gov.au  Mon Mar 30 16:17:34 2015
From: Warrick.Couch at aao.gov.au (Warrick Couch)
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:17:34 +1100
Subject: [ASA] resumption of AAT observing
References: <690E9810-1D9C-4046-9F51-BB78106E4BD4@aao.gov.au>
Message-ID: <BF3835AE-3D4F-4DE3-9A9E-0767A9501746@aao.gov.au>

Dear colleagues:

On the 17 March, I sent out the message below informing you of the
suspension of observing on the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT)
due to a major failure with its dome shutter.

I am pleased to advise that the dome shutter has now been repaired, and
normal observing resumed again last Friday night, 27 March. 

The only outstanding work remaining to be done on the dome shutter is to
replace its rollers, which are rather worn. This will be done sometime in
the next month by our AAO staff, and will not involve any disruption to
observing.

For those of you interested, pictures of the recent repair work done on the
AAT dome and its shutter can be seen at:

https://www.aao.gov.au/public/images/dome-shutter-repairs-photos

Warrick Couch
(AAO Director)



Begin forwarded message:

> From: Warrick Couch <Warrick.Couch at aao.gov.au>
> Subject: [ASA] temporary suspension of AAT observing
> Date: 17 March 2015 4:59:42 PM AEDT
> To: "asa at physics.usyd.edu.au" <asa at physics.usyd.edu.au>
> 
> Dear colleagues:
> 
> This is to inform you that observing on the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT)
> has had to be suspended, due to a major failure with the AAT dome shutter. 
> 
> Towards the end of last year, it was discovered that a section of one of the
> arch girders that support the dome and which the shutter runs along, was
> damaged. The most conspicuous evidence of this was a delamination of
> the girder, causing metallic flakes (some quite large) to rain down on the
> telescope and dome floor beneath. It is almost certain that this can be
> attributed to the stiffness of the new dome shutter brake system installed
> in 2012, which has put additional stresses on the arch girder as the shutter
> moves over it, causing it to deform and the metal to fatigue. As such, an 
> engineering company had been contracted to rectify this problem and repair 
> the damaged section of the arch girder, with the work scheduled for late April, 
> during which observing on the AAT would be suspended for 7-10 days.
> 
> However, over this last weekend, the arch girder developed a major crack
> in the area where it is damaged, rendering the dome shutter inoperable. 
> We have therefore had to suspend observing immediately, and organise
> for the aforementioned engineering work to be done as a matter of urgency.
> Fortunately the company contracted to do the work can commence this
> Thursday (19 March), and are prepared to work extended hours and
> through the weekend in order to get the job done as soon as possible.
> It is hoped that the job will be completed by next Wednesday (25 March), 
> with the AAT operating again very soon thereafter. 
> 
> Unfortunately a minimum of 12 nights of observing time on the AAT will
> be lost. Steps will be taken to ensure that the scientific programs  
> affected will be appropriately compensated for this loss of time. 
> 
> I will follow this message up with a second announcement to notify
> the community when the problem has been fixed and normal AAT
> operations/observing have resumed.
> 
> Warrick Couch
> (AAO Director)
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Professor Warrick Couch FAA                                Phone: +61 2 9372 4811
> Director, Australian Astronomical Observatory   Fax: +61 2 9372 4880
> P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1760  Email: warrick.couch at aao.gov.au
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> ASA mailing list
> ASA at physics.usyd.edu.au
> Change membership status or contact information via ASA's Edit Membership page
> http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~asamail/asa_membership/asa_members_user_edit.php

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor Warrick Couch                                    Phone: +61 2 9372 4811
Director, Australian Astronomical Observatory   Fax: +61 2 9372 4880
P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1760  Email: warrick.couch at aao.gov.au
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   

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From rebecca.lange at icrar.org  Tue Mar 31 13:41:48 2015
From: rebecca.lange at icrar.org (Rebecca Lange)
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2015 10:41:48 +0800
Subject: [ASA] HWSA webpage update
References: <C98902F2-DFB2-43DF-8947-56934A480116@icrar.org>
Message-ID: <75F201D1-F7D6-44E8-A267-7DDA4A20DDA1@icrar.org>

Dear ASA members,

It has been brought to my attention that the link for the Harley Wood School for Astronomy I sent out yesterday has stopped working.
This is due to a domain name change which has taken place over night.
You can find the HWSA webpage at :  http://www.hwsa2015.org/
Or alternatively by clicking on the Harley Wood School tab on the ASA ASM webpage: http://www.asa2015.org/

Additionally, it has been reported that there was a problem during the registration process with the school dinner add-on costing $100. This is most definitely not the case!
The dinner should be a $20 add-on. If you have experienced this issues during registration please check the registration page again, the problem was fixed yesterday afternoon.

All the best,
Rebecca

_____________________________________
Rebecca Lange
Ph.D. student
The University of Western Australia 
M468 
35 Stirling Highway 
Crawley 
WA 6009 
AUSTRALIA

Phone:	+61 8 6488 7756
Email:	rebecca.lange at icrar.org
Web:		https://icrar.academia.edu/RebeccaLange



Begin forwarded message:

> From: Rebecca Lange <rebecca.lange at icrar.org>
> Date: March 30, 2015 9:00:37 AM GMT+08:00
> To: asa at physics.usyd.edu.au
> Subject: Harley Wood School for Astronomy
> 
> Dear ASA members,
> 
> I'd like to bring your attention to this year's Harley Wood School for Astronomy (HWSA).
> This year's winter school is themed "Exploring Global Frontiers in Astronomy" and our aim is to provide students with a good overview of the topics the Australian astronomy community has laid out in the Decadal Plan. This school is a great opportunity for everyone to meet their interstate peers and to interact and talk to the invited speakers in the more relaxed environment at the HWSA.
> 
> I would also like to remind you all that due to the accommodation booking process the deadline for the HWSA registration is the 1st of April, this coming Wednesday. Incidentally, abstract submission for the ASM closes on the same day!
> The registration includes most meals, the return ferry transfer to Rottnest Island and accommodation. 
> If you want to register after the 1st of April please email me (rebecca.lange at icrar.org) first to check if we have any spare accommodation.
> 
> Please check out our webpage for more information:   http://www.hwsa2015.org/
> Our program is now also available online: http://www.hwsa2015.org/program/
> 
> All the best,
> Rebecca 

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From Simon.Ellingsen at utas.edu.au  Wed Apr  1 18:32:28 2015
From: Simon.Ellingsen at utas.edu.au (Simon Ellingsen)
Date: Wed, 01 Apr 2015 18:32:28 +1100
Subject: [ASA] Second announcement of Summer Schoool: New Era of the Cosmic
 Distance Scale
Message-ID: <F7867D5B-744C-4E82-8913-FD58AA402438@utas.edu.au>

Dear colleagues

This is the second announcement concerning the Summer School
on the Cosmic Distance Scale which will be held in
the University of Tokyo, Japan, from Mon 29 June to Fri 3 July 2015.
The registration is now open on our web site.
This school will cover a wide range of distance measurement techniques
from trigonometric parallaxes to cosmological distance measurements
and related scientific topics. Distinguished lecturers in various fields
will give dedicated lectures on the basics and cutting edge of the field
of distance measurement as well as on expected future developments.

<Web site>
   http://stella.astron.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/CDSchool/

<School Period>
   June 29--July 3, 2015

<Venue>
   Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo
   http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/documents/accessmap_E.pdf

<Language>
   English

<Invited Lecturers>
   Nabila    Aghanim     - Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
   Giuseppe  Bono        - Theoretical breakthroughs for radial variables
   Richard   de Grijs    - Introduction/Summary and outlook to the future
   Gerard    Gilmore     - Gaia: applications to the distance scale
   Shrinivas Kulkarni    - Supernovae
   Barry     Madore      - Population II distance indicators
   Francois  Mignard     - Gaia: principles and techniques
   Takeo     Minezaki    - Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs)
   Grzegorz  Pietrzynski - Eclipsing binaries
   Mark      Reid        - VLBI parallaxes
   Sherry    Suyu        - Gravitational lensing
   Masahiro  Takada      - Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs)
   Patricia  Whitelock   - Asymptotic Giant Branch variables
   Daisuke   Yonetoku    - Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs)

<Participants>
   We will mainly consider PhD course and master course students
   as well as early-career postdocs.
   The expected number of the participants is 80 including
   both international (~40) and domestic (~40) attendees.
   We will likely receive registration requests from senior researchers,
   but will give priority to younger participants in our selection.

<Participant presentations>
   We call for both oral and poster presentations by participants.
   There will be slots for a limited number of oral/poster
   presentations by participants, but selection will be made based on
   the abstracts and other information provided at registration.

<Registration>
   Please make the registration on our web site.
   Applications for participant presentations and travel supports
   can be also submitted.
   If you are a student, please provide the information on your supervisor
   or a person who could serve as a reference whom we may contact
   before your participation is approved.
   If you are a postdoc, please provide the information on
   your PhD degree in the registration.

<Registration Fee>
   For early registrations (by 30 Apr) : 22,000 JPY
   For regular registrations (by 31 May) : 28,000 JPY
   The registration fee includes all course material, refreshments during
   coffee breaks, a banquet dinner, and a half-day excursion trip.
   We will start receiving the payment of the registration fee on 12 May
   and all the participants should complete the payment by 31 May.
   Details for the payment will be announced later to those who registered.

<Social Events>
   We will organise a banquet dinner and a half-day excursion trip
   around Tokyo city.

<Important Dates>
   27 Mar 2015--2nd announcement
   27 Mar 2015--Registration opens.
   30 Apr 2015--Application deadline for presentation abstracts,
                travel supports and early registration
   12 May 2015--Selection of presentations and travel supports will be notified.
   12 May 2015--Payment of the registration fee will open.
   31 May 2015--Deadline for regular registration
   31 May 2015--Deadline for payment of the registration fee
   early June 2015--3rd announcement
   29 June 2015--School starts.

<Scientific Rationale>
   The Cosmic Distance Scale plays a fundamental role in a broad range of
   topics in astronomy. This is because it is not easy to know distances
   to astronomical objects and yet the distances are important to study
   many characteristics of the objects, such as their luminosities and
   masses, sizes and ages. An accurate distance scale is also required to
   reconstruct the structure and evolution of the Universe itself.
   Continuing efforts have been made to develop the Cosmic Distance Scale
   ever since very early pioneering works such as the first measurements
   of trigonometric parallaxes in the 19th Century and the discovery of
   the period-luminosity relation of Cepheids around a hundred years ago.
   There have been great advances in the recent decades; for example,
   supernova distance measurments enabled us to discover the accelerating
   expansion of the Universe. On the other hand, accurate measurements of
   the cosmic background radiation made it possible to study the
   structure and evolution of the Universe, which is one of the main
   goals to establish the Cosmic Distance Scale.

   An important aspect in measuring astronomical distances is that no
   single method can be used for the entire range from the proximity
   within the solar system to the distant Universe. Therefore, it is
   important to keep the methods well-calibrated step-by-step from the
   starting point based on trigonometric parallax. In this context, this
   is a very exciting time because the Gaia will provide unprecedented
   measurements of parallaxes in the very near future, which will have a
   large impact on the entire range of the Cosmic Distance Scale. There
   are also high-impact projects ongoing and planned, which will deliver
   new insights into the structure of the Universe including several
   projects led by Japan such as JASMINE, VERA, and, SuMIRe. While recent
   developements of observational facilities and techniques have made it
   feasible to measure distances to objects across the entire range of
   the Universe, recent achievements have demonstrated that it is
   important to make the distance indicators both precise and robust.
   Such recent developements require us to understand the accuracy, range
   of application, and limits to each method and how it is related to
   other methods.

   In this school, distinguished experts in various fields will give
   lectures on the basic principles of the methods to the expected
   progress in the near future. It will be a good opportunity to share a
   broad perspective on the Cosmic Distance Scale among young astronomers
   who will play an active role in a wide range of astronomy. The Cosmic
   Distance Scale indeed covers various fields of astronomy which are
   related to one another, and this school will also offer a chance to
   spend time with international young astronomers working in different
   subfields.

<School Evaluation>
   We will conduct a process evaluation of the summer school in
   collaboration with and endorsed by the International Astronomical
   Union's Office of Astronomy for Development through East Asian
   Regional Office of Astronomy for Development (EA-ROAD).
   The evaluation process will consist of asking prospective participants
   to answer a set of questions to gauge their level of understanding
   prior to the school, followed by a similar exercise towards the end of
   the school. This evaluation will offer us an opportunity to measure
   changes in participants' knowledge and understanding.
   This collaboration with the EA-ROAD will be useful in developing
   a framework to assess the efficacy of future summer schools
   supported by the International Astronomical Union.

<Committees>
SOC:
Giuseppe Bono       (University of Rome Tor Vergata)
Richard  de Grijs   (Kavli Institute, Peking University)
Mamoru   Doi        (Co-chair; Institute of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)
Naoteru  Gouda      (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)
Mareki   Honma      (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)
Noriyuki Matsunaga  (Co-chair; Department of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)
Takeo    Minezaki   (Institute of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)
Ken'ichi Nomoto     (Kavli IPMU, the University of Tokyo)
Hiromoto Shibahashi (Department of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)
Naotaka  Suzuki     (Kavli IPMU, the University of Tokyo)
Tomonori Totani     (Department of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)
Yuzuru   Yoshii     (Institute of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)

LOC:
Laura    Inno       (University of Rome Tor Vergata)
Noriyuki Matsunaga  (Chair; Department of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)
Takeo    Minezaki   (Institute of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)
Tomoki   Morokuma   (Institute of Astronomy, the University of Tokyo)
Nobuyuki Sakai      (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)
Takuji   Tsujimoto  (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)

<Sponsors>
This summer school has received funding from
the following programmes (more information such
as grant numbers are available in our web site).
 - Ito International Research Center Symposium
 - The University of Tokyo, School of Science, RESCEU
 - National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
 - Foundation for Promotion of Astronomy
 - European Union's Seventh Framework Programme
 - Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the JSPS
 - Others to be confirmed.

<Contact>
LOC - cdschool_loc (at) astron.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp



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From duncan.galloway at monash.edu  Thu Apr  2 10:12:38 2015
From: duncan.galloway at monash.edu (Duncan K Galloway)
Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2015 10:12:38 +1100
Subject: [ASA] Second announcement: Optical transients workshop,
	Monash University, 15th April 2015
References: <597D05B1-A4D9-4869-A92B-AFC6C83A73C9@monash.edu>
Message-ID: <FEF2ED39-03FC-4439-9EAB-B764460092DA@monash.edu>

This is the second (and final) announcement for a 1-day workshop entitled,

The needle in the haystack: Optical transient searches in the aLIGO era
10am-5pm, Wednesday, 15th April, 2015
Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne

The program is filling up rapidly, and there is already a number of exciting presentations on a wide variety of transients, including supernovae, gravitational-wave sources, fast radio bursts, and ultrafast optical transients.

Please note the imminent registration and abstract submission deadline of 

** Friday April 3rd **

Registration is free, and lunch will be provided. If you would like to attend or present a talk, please email duncan.galloway at monash.edu, with the title of your presentation and a brief abstract. 

The meeting will finish with a dinner at a restaurant close to campus, from 7:30pm; please also indicate if you wish to attend the dinner

More details can be found at the workshop website:

http://goto-observatory.org/wiki/index.php?n=Public.2015Workshop

Workshop rationale:

The capability of world-wide optical transient search programs is growing thanks to increasing levels of automation. At the same time, the development of interferometric gravitational-wave detectors such as LIGO and Virgo promises to provide triggers for followup within the next few years. The likely imminent detection of gravitational waves provides additional motivation to identify optical counterparts in very large sky regions, and several projects are focussing on this opportunity.

One such project is the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Explorer (GOTO), led by Warwick and Monash universities via the Monash-Warwick Alliance. A prototype instrument will be assembled and deployed this year, and a full-scale instrument is planned for observations from 2016.

This workshop will introduce the GOTO project, and we invite other researchers with an interest in gravitational wave sources and their electromagnetic counterparts, or optical transient searches in general, to attend and also present talks on their own research.

Duncan Galloway, on behalf of the GOTO collaboration

-- 
Duncan Galloway, Senior Lecturer
Monash Centre for Astrophysics (MoCA),
  School of Physics & School of Mathematical Sciences
tel. +61 (0)3 99054422 | +61 (0)414 139763
http://users.monash.edu.au/~dgallow
duncan.galloway at monash.edu