From louise at mso.anu.edu.au Mon Oct 29 11:49:58 2012 From: louise at mso.anu.edu.au (Louise Howes) Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:49:58 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Reminder: Stromlo Student Christmas Seminars Message-ID: <27203_1351471805_q9T0o0Oe009893_DBD3DADD-8BB8-44C4-B652-33624BF82350@mso.anu.edu.au> Dear ASA members, The annual Stromlo Student Christmas Seminars are drawing near, and the deadline for registration is this Friday, November 2nd. We would like to encourage all students (PhD, Honours and Masters) to attend, and encourage anyone who knows of undergraduates considering a PhD in astronomy to forward this invitation to them also. The Seminars this year will be a great opportunity to meet with other students, hear from experienced astronomers, and practise your public speaking skills. Registration is free, as is the food, and we also have funding for reimbursement of some travel and accommodation costs. Both Matthew Colless (director of the AAO) and Dan Bayliss (HAT-South collaboration) have so far agreed to talk to us on their work and life in collaborative astronomy, and more names will be added to this list. See below for more details. Thanks Louise Howes and the Organising Committee www.mso.anu.edu.au/xmas12 The 10th Annual Stromlo Student Christmas Seminars! Dear Students of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Do you work in Megaparsecs? Have you taken measurements in nanometers? We would like to invite you the the 10th Stromlo Student Seminars, this year celebrating our momentous birthday with the theme: "What's an order of magnitude between friends?" We astronomers love working 'to the nearest order of magnitude', and so with that in mind, we invite you all to came and talk of big numbers, or little numbers, to students from around Australia. Whether you work on the large scale structure of the Universe, or the cross-sections of nuclear reactions in the Sun, the Stromlo Student Christmas Seminars are for you! ************************************************************************** WHAT? A two day workshop of talks by renowned astronomers and students WHO? Any astronomy or related physics graduate student in Australia - Honours, Masters, and PhD level WHERE? Mt. Stromlo Observatory, ANU, Canberra WHEN? 22nd & 23rd November 2012 ************************************************************************** Day 1: To celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first Christmas seminars, we have invited experts from various institutes to come and talk about their areas of research. From the very large, cosmological concerns, to the nuclear science underpinning much of our work, this day of talks will encourage and inform us all in the broader aspects of astronomy and astrophysics. Day 2: Then it's your turn - this annual day of student talks gives you a 15 minute opportunity to talk to a group of your peers on whatever topic you like. This year we have bigger prizes than ever before to give away - those talks voted as the best science content, best use of the theme, and best overall will all be awarded generous cash prizes! ************************************************************************** Registration is free, and food will be provided throughout the two days. Some travel and accommodation support will also be available; contact the committee if you would like details on financial support. To register, visit our website at www.mso.anu.edu.au/xmas12. The deadline for registration is the 2nd November. If you would like a talk on day 2, you can indicate so when you register, or email us separately. The deadline for this is the 9th November. ************************************************************************** The seminars are designed for all astronomy and astrophysics graduate students, whether you have anything to talk about or just come to watch and listen, the invitation is open to you. Undergraduate students might want to take the opportunity to come and find out what being a grad student is really like! So please, come along to this year's Stromlo Student Christmas Seminars - catch up with students from other institutes, broaden your astronomical horizons and practise your public speaking skills. Please direct any questions to the organising committee at the email address xmas12 at mso.anu.edu.au. We would like to thank the team at GMT and the ANU Student Extra-Curriculur Enrichment Fund for their kind sponsorship. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Kate.Brooks at csiro.au Thu Nov 1 12:32:55 2012 From: Kate.Brooks at csiro.au (Kate.Brooks at csiro.au) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2012 12:32:55 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Congratulations to Ken Freeman, winner of the 2012 Prime Minister's Prize for Science Message-ID: <1DA92516-214F-4FAF-B705-B762912D0DAF@csiro.au> Dear colleagues, Please join me in congratulating Prof. Ken Freeman from Australia National University, winner of the 2012 Prime Minister's Prize for Science. The Prime Minister's Prizes for science are Australia's pre-eminent annual awards for excellence in science and science teaching. The major award, the Prime Minister's Prize for Science, recognises outstanding achievements by Australians in science and technology that promotes human welfare. Ken received his award from the Prime Minister yesterday evening at an awards ceremony held in the Great Hall at Parliament House. The prize comprises a solid gold medallion and a cash prize of $300,000. Ken has been shaping and changing our view of the Universe over the past 50 years. He is famous for his incredible contribution to our understanding of Galaxies and dark matter and his impressive publication record. Throughout his career Ken has been committed to training the next generation of astronomers and supporting the Australian astronomy community. Ken has served on many national astronomy committees and was the Secretary for the Astronomical Society of Australia between 1971-1972. In 2001, Ken was awarded the Society's Robert Ellery Lectureship in recognition of his outstanding contributions in astronomy. Ken has supervised more than 50 astronomy students and continues to be a mentor, inspiration and friend to us all. The 2012 prize winners are - Prime Minister?s Prize for Science - Ken Freeman - Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year ? Eric May - The Science Minister?s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year ? Mark Shackleton - The Prime Minister?s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools - Michael van der Ploeg - Prime Minister?s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools - Anita Trenwith More information about the 2012 winners, including a great video starring Ken, is available at: http://www.scienceinpublic.com.au/prime-ministers-prize/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pMnbWSp7Sw4 Congratulations Ken for this well-deserved accolade. Kate Brooks, President, Astronomical Society of Australia From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Thu Nov 1 16:47:28 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2012 16:47:28 +1100 Subject: [ASA] ASA Factsheet - Solar Eclipse 14 November Message-ID: A reminder that an ASA Factsheet is available, describing the upcoming Solar Eclipse early on the morning of Wednesday 14 November (less than 2 weeks away). The path of totality eclipse will begin at sunrise in the north of Australia in Arnhem Land and cross Cape York to near Cairns before moving out into the Pacific. For the rest of Australia outside the path of totality the eclipse will be seen as a partial eclipse of the Sun in the early morning or at sunrise. The sheet has been posted on the ASA's Australian Astronomy web site (http://www.astronomy.org.au). The specific link is: http://www.astronomy.org.au/ngn/engine.php?SID=1000011&AID=100324 ASA Factsheets are intended to help you in answering any requests for information that you might receive. They may be freely copied for wide distribution provided the Australian Astronomy and ASA logos are retained. John ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN O?BYRNE Associate Head (Teaching & Learning) Chair, School Teaching & Learning Committee Secretary, Astronomical Society of Australia Inc. Sydney Institute for Astronomy School of Physics | Faculty of Science THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm 222, 44-70 Rosehill St Redfern H90 (see map) | (alternate: Rm 205, Physics Building A28) 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/physics/~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 Sun Nov 4 22:17:18 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 22:17:18 +1100 Subject: [ASA] ATNF/AAO Bolton Symposium 2012 (4-6 December) In-Reply-To: References: <2810_1350842119_q9LHtFBM014187_CAGHVMxKDBT-==zSWFE7TR4ahtCmVpProUHjYpAazpK_L92S7GA@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <9A50DA8C-05F2-4CEA-BBA6-98550111BE62@sydney.edu.au> Dear ASA members, This is a friendly reminder that the registration for the ATNF/AAO Bolton Symposium 2012 will be closing this coming Monday, 5th November. We strongly encourage everyone to register for the ATNF/AAO Bolton Symposium 2012. The Bolton Symposium provides an excellent opportunity for: i) postdocs from around Australia to showcase the great science that they have done in 2012; ii) improving collaborations between institutions; iii) interacting socially in both formal and informal settings iv) senior astronomers to see all the new work that is being done The year's program will feature Fred Watson speaking on "Great Collaborations in Astronomy" as well as Roger Davies' interactive "Being an astronomer" career session. We will also host a fun event (Pizza in the Park) where science discussions and collaborations can be fostered in a more casual setting. Best of all, this Symposium is *free* for all postdocs ! This event will be held at the ATNF Lecture Theatre in Marsfield, NSW, from 4-6 December 2012. Although the primary purpose of the Bolton Symposium is for postdocs, we encourage more senior astronomers to attend as well as students to see all the great science that is being done by astronomy postdocs across Australia. More details about this event can be found at this website: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/conferences/2012/boltonsymp/ If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us. Best regards, Keith Bannister, Iraklis Konstantopoulos & Ivy Wong ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr O. Ivy Wong Super Science Fellow @ CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science Cnr Vimiera & Pembroke Roads, Marsfield, NSW 2122, Australia Phone: +61-2-9372-4148 Email: ivy.wong at csiro.au ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Sun Nov 4 22:24:30 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 22:24:30 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Call for Proposals for 2.3m telescope time Feb-Apr 2013 Message-ID: Dear Observer, The closing date for observing proposals for time on the ANU/RSAA 2.3m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in the quarter FEB 1 - APR 30 2013 is 23:59 November 15, 2012. Instruments available: Nasymth A: WiFeS [see below] Nasymth B: Imager or echelle. WiFeS upgrade: In the current schedule for the WiFeS upgrade work we expect that the new red detector (an EEV 4k x 4k device) in a new dewar will be installed and tested on WiFeS by the beginning of the quarter. However, the replacement of the current blue detector, also with a 4k x 4k EEV device in an upgraded dewar, may not have been completed by the beginning of the quarter. Consequently, WiFeS programs awarded time in this quarter will need to recognise the allocations will be provisional only. Part or all of any allocated time may be subject to withdrawal as installation and commissioning of the new detectors will take priority. In these cases specific backup programs that use the echelle or the imager will be identified. The echelle and the imager will be available for the entire quarter. Observing proposals must be submitted electronically via the RSAA web pages. Full instructions are available at http://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observers/observing-rsaa. You will need the most recent versions of the template and style files which can be obtained from the web pages. *************************** PLEASE NOTE *********************************** (1) WiFeS users are requested to indicate on the proposal form whether they will be present at the telescope or observe remotely. Remote observing is available only to experienced WiFeS observers but can now be carried out from sites other than Mt Stromlo subject to technical feasibility. It is possible that remote observing (from Mt Stromlo only) will also be available in this quarter for the echelle and the Imager, under limited circumstances. If you would like to observe remotely with the echelle or the Imager, assuming it is possible, then please indicate this in your proposal. (2) Proposals for use of the 2.3m will only be considered if the PI is from the ANU or from another institution that contributes financially or has contributed financially and directly to the building and/or operations of the 2.3m telescope and its commissioned instruments. These institutions include those that collaborated on the successful ARC LIEF bid to fund the Blue Arm of the WiFeS spectrograph and the successful ARC LIEF bid for the WiFeS upgrade. All such proposals will be judged on their scientific merit alone. There will be no quotas placed on the amount of time available for qualifying institutions. These policies will remain in place for the present. Currently eligible (non-ANU) institutions are the AAO, UQld, UNSW and USyd as well as Swinburne, Monash and Macquarie. (3) It is expected that the new E2V 4k x 4k CCDs will have been installed in at least the red camera of WiFeS before the start of this semester. If for any reason this does not take place on schedule, you may need to use the existing red CCDs, which are read out using only one amplifier. For a full frame (complete spatial and spectral coverage, x2 binning) the readout time is approximately 3 minutes. For half the frame (50% spatial coverage but full spectral coverage) the read out time will be approximately 90sec. Observers will need to take this extra overhead into account. PIs of successful proposals will be notified if they will have to use the old CCDs. (4) Limited first night support at the telescope is now provided to new observers. Nevertheless new observers are strongly encouraged to be present at the telescope at least one night before their observing run to familiarise themselves with the telescope and instrument operating systems. The latest information on using the telescope and its instruments can be found athttp://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observers/obsering-rsaa. (5) Proposers are reminded to limit their scientific case to TWO pages, including figures and references. *************************************************************************** If you have technical problems in using the web-based submission process, please email tacinfo at mso.anu.edu.au. Paul Francis Chair, RSAA TAC ============================== A/Prof. Paul Francis Astrophysicist and University Education Scholar Mt Stromlo Observatory, and the Physics Education Centre College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Building 38a, Tel 02 6125 2824 or 8031 The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 Australia paul.francis at mso.anu.edu.au http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~pfrancis/ CRICOS Provider #00120C From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Sun Nov 4 22:53:08 2012 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 22:53:08 +1100 Subject: [ASA] TSE education conference Message-ID: Dear ASA member and Students, A Total Eclipse of the Sun will occur on the November 14th over Northern Queensland. A group of astronomy educators, school teachers, and a large number of school students, will be watching the event from a private site on the Mulligan Highway, north of Atherton. This is potentially a better site to Cairns/Port Douglas which are on the coast and traditional cloudy (being part of the rainforest). Members of the ASA are welcome to help with the education programs and school students are welcome to participate in the fun and educational activities. For further information, please contact: Mr David Platz (ASA Assoc Member) Astronomy Education Program Manager & Head of Senior Schooling Atherton State High School Mob 0427 445 296 Email dplat4 at eq.edu.au or astro at athertonshs@eq.edu.au Kind regards, David Platz Head of Senior Schooling ? Student Services QSA School Moderator Atherton State High School Maunds Road P.O. Box 574 Atherton QLD 4883 Ph: (07) 4030 5256 or +61 7 40305256 Mob: 0427 445 296 or +61 427 445 296 Fax: (07) 4091 3847 or +61 7 4091 3847 This message (including attachments) is intended for the addressee named above. It may also be confidential, privileged and/or subject to copyright. If you wish to forward this message to others, you must first obtain the permission of the author. If you are not the addressee named above, you must not disseminate, copy, communicate or otherwise use or take any action in reliance on this message. You understand that any privilege or confidentiality attached to this message is not waived, lost or destroyed because you have received this message in error. If you have received this message in error please notify the sender and delete from any computer. Unless explicitly attributed, the opinions expressed in this message do not necessarily represent the official position or opinions of the State of Queensland or the Department of Education and the Arts. Whilst all care has been taken, the Department of Education and the Arts disclaims all liability for loss or damage to person or property arising from this message being infected by computer virus or other contamination. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 9555 bytes Desc: not available URL: