[ASA] Workshop Announcement: Wide-field Optical Astronomy from Antarctica: a Chinese-Australian Workshop

[Mita Brierley]

Workshop Announcement:

Wide-field Optical Astronomy from Antarctica: a Chinese-Australian Workshop

13th August 2012, 10am - 5pm
SiFA, Redfern, Sydney.

http://astronomyaustralia.org.au/AChAntarctica.html

In January this year, China installed the first of three 0.5 metre
wide-field (1.5x2.9 degree) optical imaging telescopes, AST3-1, at the
highest point of the Antarctic plateau, Dome A.

Australia is currently involved in Dome A activities through UNSW's PLATO-A,
which will be the primary support platform for AST3, and through equipment
to characterise the infrared background and cloud cover at Dome A.

AAL, UNSW and CAASTRO are holding a 1-day workshop for Australian
astronomers to engage with Chinese astronomers involved in the project at
Dome A. The objective is to define a plan for Australian contribution to the
commencement of significant scientific output from this project.

Programme and Call for Contribution

Agenda:

Sunday 12th August 2012: Pre-workshop Dinner

Monday 13th August 2012, 10am - 5pm:
1. Introduction: Advantages of Antarctica for optical surveys2. Summary of
facilities at Dome A3. Current AST3 data examples4. Summary of main Chinese
science programs using AST35. Timetable of retrieval of data from Dome A6.
Australian facilities and capabilities (eg. AAT, ASKAP)7. Australian
participant contribution - potential science opportunities in Antarctica8.
Chinese-Australian collaboration pathways9. Future Chinese Plans for Dome A
Item 7 on this agenda calls for contributions from participants to present
potential science projects that could utilise AST3 data. AST3-1 has obtained
3.3 TB of data over 4 months of operations in the first half of 2012 which
will be available next year. Details of these images and AST3-1
specifications and can be found on the workshop website. If you would like
to make a 10-min contribution, please indicate a title on registration.
Abstracts are due on the 31st of July.

Registration

Interested participants are asked to register at:
http://astronomyaustralia.org.au/AChAntarctica.html
Registrations close on the 31st July 2012. Attendance is free for all
participants.

Venue
The workshop will be hosted by CAASTRO:

Upstairs seminar room
Sydney Institute for Astronomy
44 Rosehill Street
Redfern, Sydney, NSW 2016.

Travel Support

Limited travel support is available for a small number of PhD students and
post-docs within Australia. Please send enquiries to
mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au. 

Organising Committee

John Storey (UNSW) - Chair
Michael Ireland (Macquarie University)
Michael Ashley (UNSW)
Kate Gunn (CAASTRO)
Lifan Wang (CCAA)
Mita Brierley (AAL) - principal committee contact:
(mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au)


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