From Robert.Hollow at csiro.au Wed Feb 15 07:42:43 2017 From: Robert.Hollow at csiro.au (Robert.Hollow at csiro.au) Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 20:42:43 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Call for Expressions of Interest to Host and Organise the 2017 EPOC Workshop Message-ID: <6A6AEB67-9FF8-466D-917D-6C8A504438B1@csiro.au> Call for Expressions of Interest to Host and Organise the 2017 EPOC Workshop Dear Colleagues The Steering Committee of the Education and Public Outreach Chapter (EPOC) of the Astronomical Society of Australia invites interested institutions and organisations to submit an expression of interest to host and organise the 2017 EPOC Workshop. This workshop would build on the success of the inaugural EPOC workshop held in February 2016 at the University of Melbourne (https://asaepoc.wordpress.com/2016-epoc-workshop/). It would target members of EPOC, the wider professional astronomy community and interested participants from other areas including science communication, education and industry. For the 2017 workshop we invited interested parties to submit the following: 1. Date and location for the event. A date in December is preferred as this allows time for planning and avoids any University teaching terms. 2. The name and contact details for the Point of Contact who would, if their bid is accepted, would become Chair of the Organising Committee. 3. Possible themes or focus for the workshop relating to the EPOC interest in education, public outreach and science communication. Ideas for specific sessions or mini-workshops are welcome. 4. An indication of the level of support available from the hosting organisation and institution, both financial and in-kind plus names of possible LOC members. 5. Possible associated events and venues for relevant excursions or social events. The 2016 workshop included an evening reception and planetarium viewing at Melbourne Planetarium and an optional visit to the Victorian Space Science Education Centre following the workshop. 6. All ASA meetings must adhere to the ASA Code of Conduct http://asa.astronomy.org.au/code_of_conduct.php. Bids must address how they will address equity, diversity and access for participants. The workshop is envisaged as a two-day event but could run to three days if the program warrants it. Submissions must be sent to asaepoc at gmail.com by 13 March 2017. The EPOC Steering Committee will review the expressions of interest and notify applicants in April. The successful bid will form a committee that will include LOC members and representatives from the EPOC Steering Committee. Enquiries should be addressed to the Chair of the EPOC Steering Committee, Robert Hollow, email robert.hollow at csiro.au, telephone 02 9372 4247. https://asaepoc.wordpress.com/ Robert Hollow Chair, EPOC Steering Committee robert.hollow at csiro.au ph: 02 9372 4247 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From k.williams at sydney.edu.au Wed Feb 15 11:27:28 2017 From: k.williams at sydney.edu.au (Kylie Williams) Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:27:28 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Workshop Announcement: OzSKA 3 Workshop, 8-9 May 2017, Holme Building, University of Sydney, Sydney Message-ID: OzSKA 3 Workshop, 8-9 May 2017, Holme Building, University of Sydney, Sydney Following the success of the previous OzSKA meetings we are pleased to announce a 3rd meeting, OzSKA 3 Workshop, from 8-9 May 2017 at the University of Sydney. Registrations and abstract submissions are now open. The aim of continuing these meeting is to provide updated information to the Australian astronomical community about recent progress within the SKA project including: the development of key science and working group activities, progress towards the realisation of scientific operations on SKA1, and the SKA in the context of multi-wavelength astronomy. The programme will include a number of invited talks, but a significant portion of the program will be devoted to contributed talks and discussion. Workshop Details: Dates: 8-9 May 2017 9:00am to 5:00pm daily Location: Sutherland Room, Holme Building, University of Sydney, Sydney Website: http://www.caastro.org/event/2017-ozska3 Registration Fee: $50 to assist in covering the cost of catering Abstract submission closing date: Scientific Organising Committee * Phil Edwards * George Heald * Andrew Hopkins * Tara Murphy * Cath Trott Travel and Accommodation Participants will arrange their own travel and accommodation. A list of some relatively convenient accommodations options in the general vicinity of the workshop venue are located on our website: http://www.caastro.org/event/2017-ozska3 Childcare Childcare will be available for infants and children under 5. Please indicate in your registration if you require childcare or contact Kylie Williams (k.williams at sydney.edu.au) if you have any questions. Visa Information All travellers other than Australian and New Zealand citizens need a valid visa or authority to enter Australia (including electronic visas). For some nationalities, processing and issuance of visas can take several weeks/months, so apply well before your planned travel. Please contact Kylie Williams if you need a letter of invitation for your visa application. Please do not hesitate to contact Phil Edwards or Kylie Williams if you have any questions. We look forward to welcoming you to the workshop. KYLIE WILLIAMS | Events and Communications CAASTRO | School of Physics | Faculty of Science | ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics Rm 352 Building A28 | School of Physics The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 T +61 2 9114 2183 | F +61 2 9114 2195| M +61 478 404 619 Email k.williams at sydney.edu.au W http:// www.caastro.org Please note: I am in the office Monday, Tuesday and Thursday (9:00am - 5:30pm) and Wednesday (9:00am - 2:00pm) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aatts at aao.gov.au Wed Feb 15 12:42:10 2017 From: aatts at aao.gov.au (AAT Tech Secretary) Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2017 12:42:10 +1100 Subject: [ASA] AAT Call for Proposals - Semester 2017B - deadline 5PM, 15 March 2017 Message-ID: <6E8125AB-CC42-42F6-AA4E-4198D5052976@aao.gov.au> 2017B Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) Call for Proposals The main proposal deadline for AAT in Semester 2017B (August 2017 - January 2018) is: 15 March 2017, at 17:00 Australian Eastern Daylight Time, i.e. UTC + 11 hrs Proposals to Australian Time Allocation Committee (ATAC) can be submitted until the deadline using the new Lens proposal form and are welcomed from all astronomers worldwide. Applying for AAT Telescope Time through ATAC Important information for applicants Time available for new proposals: because of existing Large Programs and other obligations, there are roughly 99 nights available for new proposals in Semester 17B (18 dark, 32 grey, 49 bright). The Large AAT Programs, the SAMI and OzDES Surveys, have been allocated 32 dark nights at certain RAs. New programs with targets outside of these RAs are more likely to be scheduled. The RA information for Large AAT Programs is available at this link . A separate call for Large AAT Programs has been made for programs starting in 2017B. More information is available at this link . Proposals for Long Term AAT Programs are welcome in 2017B. A new Target of Opportunity mode is now available with instruments using the 2dF positioner (AAOmega, HERMES) and KOALA. IRIS2 is still available in this mode. The Target of Opportunity policy will change starting 2017B and is available at this link . To help address issues associated with unconscious bias (e.g. see study at this link ) the format of the proposals have been changed: (1) PI information will not be provided to ATAC, (2) investigator information will be provided at the end of the proposal and (3) investigator list will be sorted alphabetically. Feedback on these changes are welcome and should be sent to AAT Technical Secretary [node:field-staff-functions:1:field-support] (aatts at aao.gov.au) . For semester 2018A, the AAO is planning an intervention on the 2dF fibre cable and on HERMES. Both the 2dF-fed AAOmega and HERMES will be unavailable from February to May 2018. Other instruments that use AAOmega but not the 2dF fibre feed (e.g. SAMI, KOALA) will still be available during this period. More details will be provided in the next call for proposals. The UCLES spectrograph will be available for use in 2017B, but is currently planned for decommissioning in 2018A just prior to the installation of the VELOCE spectrograph. Based upon historical weather trends, about 33% of time is lost to bad weather. From 2016B proposers are therefore required to multiply their request by a factor of 1.5, to allow for time lost to weather. New proposal submission system The AAO has moved to a proposal submission system, known as Lens . This system is a user account based system, which will allow for improved security and better tracking of past and current proposals. There is an FAQ available for Lens, available via the FAQ tab in Lens itself, or via the direct link http://www.aao.gov.au/lens/faq . Users who have applied for time as PI in the previous semesters (i.e. starting from 2013A to 2014B) have had accounts pre-configured and will have received an email with their login details. Users that applied for time from 2015A will also have a Lens account. All other users are encouraged to register with the system at https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/register Note that users cannot be added to proposals if they are not registered in Lens. Please make sure that all investigators on a proposal have registered well before the deadline! For any queries or comments, please email lens at aao.gov.au . Historical oversubscription rates The figure below shows the historical oversubscription rates at the AAT. Large program allocations are excluded from these calculations and error bars are from Poisson statistics. The fluctuations are largely dominated by whether Large programs were already scheduled when the call for proposals was made. Instrument status The MITLL camera, a red-sensitive deep depletion detector, has been decommissioned and is no longer available for use on the UCLES spectrograph. IRIS2 Multi-Object Spectroscopic (MOS) mode has been decommissioned. SAMI status SAMI is now a general-user instrument. SAMI is the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field unit that feeds the AAOmega spectrograph. SAMI provides 13 fibre-based IFUs called 'hexabundles', each with a field of view of 15 arcseconds and are deployed by plug plate anywhere within a 1-degree field of view using the AAT's Prime Focus top end. For further information about observing with SAMI, see this website , or contact the SAMI instrument scientist [node:field-instrument-scientist:4:field-support] ([node:field-instrument-scientist:4:field-email]). Note, the 2dFDR data reduction pipeline has been tested using the AAOmega gratings that are used for the SAMI survey (580V and 1000R), but has not been tested with other AAOmega gratings. HERMES status HERMES is now a general-user instrument. HERMES is a four-channel, bench-mounted high-resolution spectrograph for use with the 2dF top end. The wavelength ranges of the four channels are fixed at 4715-4900 ?, 5649-5873 ?, 6478-6737 ? and 7585-7887 ?. The spectral resolution is nominally R~28,000, which can be raised to R~45,000. Questions about expected instrument performance should be directed to the HERMES instrument scientist, [node:field-instrument-scientist:1:field-support] ([node:field-instrument-scientist:1:field-email]). UCLES UCLES is a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph located at the coude focus offering high resolution and good wavelength coverage. UCLES can receive light from the telescope via a 5 mirror coude train or via CYCLOPS, a 16-fibre single-target Integral Field Unit. CYCLOPS reformats an approximately 3 arcsec diameter aperture on the sky into an 16 x 0.6 arcsec pseudo-slit at the entrance of the UCLES spectrograph. A typical 1" slit will achieve R~50,000 whereas the CYCLOPS 0.6" hexagonal fibres achieve R~70,000. UCLES has a 31.6 lines/mm echelle grating, and a 79 lines/mm echelle grating. For questions regarding UCLES or the CYCLOPS IFU please contact the Instrument Scientist, [node:field-instrument-scientist:5:field-support] ([node:field-instrument-scientist:5:field-email]). KOALA status KOALA (Kilo-fibre Optical AAT Lenslet Array) has replaced SPIRAL as the integral-field capability to AAOmega. KOALA has a selectable spatial resolution of 0.7"or 1.25", an increase in throughput at all wavelengths, particularly at the extreme blue, and simplified field rotation. Information on KOALA can be found in the instrumentation page and a new exposure time calculator is available. Questions about expected performance should be directed to the KOALA instrument scientist, [node:field-instrument-scientist:3:field-support] ([node:field-instrument-scientist:3:field-email]). Remote observing Since Semester 13A, remote observing from the AAO's North Ryde headquarters has been available as an option for all AAT facility instruments. Observers who wish to travel to Sydney to carry out remote observations can continue to access the existing Travel and Accommodation support offered to AAT observers. From semester 16B, it will be possible to observe remotely from the remote observing facilities at the ANU and ICRAR. Use of these facilities will be restricted to experienced observers who have used the AAT in the past two years. Observers wishing to use these facilities will not be eligible for travel support from the AAO. Service time If projects require fewer than 6 hours of observing time, they can be performed in service time. Applications for service time are made electronically direct to the AAO and are now accepted year-round. See the AAT Service Observing page for more details. Acknowledgements The AAO requests all publications based upon data allocated through the AAO include the following acknowledgement: Based [in part] on data acquired through the Australian Astronomical Observatory, [via program XXX]. How to Apply for AAT Time - the Basic Steps Instrument status and policies All ATAC applicants should check the latest Instrument Availability and recent Policy Announcements . If you require further clarification on any issue, then please contact the AAT Technical Secretary [node:field-staff-functions:1:field-support] (aatts at aao.gov.au). See Special Override Rules for proposals seeking time as an override on another program's time and the Long Term Program page for those seeking long term status. Proposals requiring at most 6 hours of observing time should be submitted to the AAO's Service Observing program. If the PI, and at least half the observing team are from European countries, they may apply for AAT time through the OPTICON program . Proposal content Full Technical Details, outlining how you derived your time estimates, observing constraints, and any special requests should be included in the scientific case (preferably under a separate section heading). Proposals should be written such that the content and significance is understandable by a wide range of astronomers. If your proposal seeks time on two instruments, outline carefully the relative requirements of the different instrument set-ups, including the split in observing time between the instruments. If the observations are essential to the completion of a student's PhD thesis, then a full explanation must be given in the science case. No special consideration is given to proposals involving PhD students, except when attempting to schedule proposals near the cut-off, when some priority may be given. After accounting for overheads (detector readout, calibrations and telescope slewing), observers are required to factor in an additional 50% to account for bad weather. All applicants should be aware that it is the policy of the AAO that any backup project must use the same instrument as the main project. A list of the principal targets (field centres for AAOmega+2dF programs) should be prepared as a separate PDF document. The target list should contain target name, RA (h m s), Dec (d m s), target brightness, and priority. There is a 2-page limit for this target list PDF file. Other document formats will not be accepted. Proposal submission details Prepare your main proposal offline, including an abstract, target list, science case, and technical justification. The science case and technical justification together should be, in PDF format, no more than three pages total, with two pages for the science case and one page for technical justification. Those three pages should include all references and figures, use 11pt font (or larger), and have at least 10mm margins. Colour figures are accepted. Other document formats will not be accepted. Applicants seeking Long Term status may be allowed to submit up to five pages, provided prior permission is obtained well in advance from the ATAC Secretary, Helen Woods (helen.woods at aao.gov.au). Submitting your proposal When your proposal details are ready, submit your application to ATAC through Lens, the AAT's new proposal system. As noted above, this is a user-account-based system and all investigators on a proposal must be registered. Contacting the ATAC Secretariat The Secretary, ATAC Australian Astronomical Observatory PO Box 915 North Ryde NSW 1670 Australia Phone: +61 (0)2 9372 4800 Fax: +61 (0)2 9372 4880 Email enquiries: Helen Woods (helen.woods at aao.gov.au) --- Lee Spitler AAT Technical Secretary Senior Lecturer Australian Astronomical Observatory & Macquarie University Sydney, Australia P: +61 (2) 9372 4895 (AAO) P: +61 (2) 9850 4161 (Macquarie) www.physics.mq.edu.au www.aao.gov.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yeshefenner at swin.edu.au Wed Feb 15 13:12:37 2017 From: yeshefenner at swin.edu.au (Yeshe Fenner) Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2017 02:12:37 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Education & public outreach and postdoctoral opportunities with OzGrav Centre of Excellence Message-ID: Dear ASA members, The ARC Center of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) is currently advertising several professional and research positions. OzGrav is a new seven-year initiative that was awarded $31.3 million by the Australian Government to use the first detections of gravitational waves to understand the physics of black holes and warped space time, and to inspire and educate the public and students about science. The following opportunities with OzGrav are currently open: 1. Education and Public Outreach Coordinator based at Swinburne University The OzGrav Education and Public Outreach Coordinator will play an important role in the Centre by developing, implementing and coordinating the education and public outreach activities of the Centre across all its locations. This is a key position within OzGrav that will involve close engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders, including researchers, the general public, the media, and schools, teachers and students at primary through to tertiary level. Applications close 5pm AEDT Friday 31 March 2017 Full position description and instructions for applying are available here. 2. Senior Research Associate/Research Associate at the University of Adelaide node and at the aLIGO sites in USA. This position will focus initially on the continued development and commissioning of aLIGO and the development of adaptive wavefront control techniques for these detectors. The successful candidate will be expected to spend extended periods of time at the LIGO observatories (LHO and/or LLO as required), participating in detector commissioning and operation a Postdoctoral Fellow position (Academic Level A/B) on instrumentation for gravitational wave detection. Applications close 9am Monday, 6 March 2017 ACDT See here for the full advertisement on the UAdel website. 3. Research Associate at the University of Adelaide This position will undertake research into the development of high-power continuous-wave lasers with wavelengths of ca. 2 micron for next-generation gravitational wave detectors. Initial research will focus on fiber-based master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) systems and the development of diagnostics for high-precision characterization of their noise and stability. Applications close 9am Monday, 6 March 2017 ACDT See here for the full advertisement on the UAdel website. 4. Postdoctoral position at the University of Western Australia The UWA node of OzGrav is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow position (Academic Level A/B) on instrumentation for gravitational wave detection. The work will involve working closely with PhD students and technicians on experiments with high power suspended optical cavities. See here for more details and contact david.blair at uwa.edu.au, chunnong.zhao at uwa.edu.au or li.ju at uwa.edu.au with enquiries about the UWA job. Information about job opportunities and working with OzGrav can be found here. Feel free to forward this on to people or networks that may be interested. Kind regards, Yeshe Dr Yeshe Fenner, PhD Chief Operating Officer ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC Ph: (03) 9214 8302 M: 0430 708 995 www.ozgrav.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vkilborn at swin.edu.au Thu Feb 16 11:18:15 2017 From: vkilborn at swin.edu.au (Virginia Kilborn) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:18:15 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Notice to ASA members regarding travel to the US Message-ID: Dear ASA members: The Astronomical Society of Australia vigorously objects to the US travel ban that was recently imposed by the Trump Administration. Even though major parts of the travel ban are currently blocked there is a high level of uncertainty for many traveling to the US. Along with other scientific organisations including Science and Technology Australia and the International Astronomical Union, we believe the far-reaching ban, and the uncertainty that has ensured since with ongoing legal action, is harmful to our colleagues, to the scientific community as a whole, and to scientific progress. The ASA strives to be a supportive and inclusive organisation, which does not discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnicity, age, political views or religion. We are still assessing the impact of the ban on our community and how best to support ASA members. This being the case, ASA members who have been impacted by the ban are invited to contact the ASA president (vkilborn at swin.edu.au) so we can evaluate the extent of any effects on members and provide help where we can. We urge members to keep an eye on any current travel restrictions through their home institutes and travel agents, as circumstances may change at short notice. Virginia Kilborn, on behalf of the ASA council. Prof. Virginia Kilborn Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology Swinburne University of Technology Ph (w) +61 (0)3 9214 4380 WWW: http://bit.ly/24vsqSR -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Thu Feb 16 17:03:49 2017 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2017 17:03:49 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Reminder: Call for EoIs: Taipan ancillary science Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, The Taipan Galaxy Survey (http://www.taipan-survey.org) team is inviting expressions of interest for Priority or Ancillary Science. The full background and context, including the details of the Taipan system, are available here: http://taipan-survey.org/content/ancillary-science If you are interested in this opportunity, please carefully review the information, and instructions for applications, at the link above, and send an expression of interest, limited to 1 page, to Andrew Hopkins (ahopkins at aao.gov.au) by *31 March 2017*. We expect Taipan survey observations to begin in mid-2017. Approved Priority Science fields can start being observed immediately, but most approved Ancillary Science observations will begin in 2018. The Taipan Executive will review EoIs during April 2017, contacting proposers with requests for more detail as needed. The Taipan Executive expects to inform proposers of outcomes by June 2017. Andrew Hopkins, for the Taipan Executive. -- 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From joanne.dawson at mq.edu.au Fri Feb 17 11:41:00 2017 From: joanne.dawson at mq.edu.au (Joanne Dawson) Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2017 00:41:00 +0000 Subject: [ASA] PhD scholarship opportunity at Macquarie University Message-ID: <3C329093-98AE-468D-859E-A8C596C6A348@mq.edu.au> Dear ASA members, I would be grateful if you could pass the following information on to any interested students. The Macquarie University Research Centre in Astronomy, Astrophysics & Astrophotonics is seeking a PhD student to work with Dr Joanne Dawson on a project to map the structure and environment of the gaseous Milky Way using 18 cm OH data from the Parkes telescope. This project will come with a full stipend for tuition and living expenses, subject to the student fulfilling University admissions requirements (http://www.mq.edu.au/research/phd-and-research-degrees/explore-research-degrees/doctor-of-philosophy) and demonstrating a high level of achievement in their previous masters degree. Interested students should contact Jo directly at joanne.dawson at mq.edu.au, attaching a CV and academic transcripts. Please note that this opportunity is available to Australian domestic students with a research masters degree or equivalent. However, international students and those with honours degrees are warmly invited to apply for any of our astronomy graduate projects via our usual admissions process. An entry pathway via the 2nd year of a Macquarie Masters of Research degree is available to those with honours-level qualifications from other institutes. Please see here for a list of Astronomy research projects on offer: http://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/secure-planet/centres/centre-for-astronomy,-astrophysics-and-astrophotonics-mqaaastro/phd-projects Interested students should contact their proposed supervisor directly. (Staff list here: http://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/secure-planet/centres/centre-for-astronomy,-astrophysics-and-astrophotonics-mqaaastro/staff) For more general information on studying astronomy at Macquarie see here: http://www.mq.edu.au/about/about-the-university/faculties-and-departments/faculty-of-science-and-engineering/departments-and-centres/department-of-physics-and-astronomy/research/higher-degree-research/astronomy-and-astrophysics Regards, Jo Dawson. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Joanne Dawson Lecturer in Astronomy & Astrophysics Macquarie University / CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science Dept of Physics & Astronomy, Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Phone: +61 2 9850 8901 (MQ) / +61 2 9372 4441 (CASS) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------