From c.tinney at unsw.edu.au Mon Apr 29 09:23:32 2013 From: c.tinney at unsw.edu.au (Chris Tinney) Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:23:32 +0000 Subject: [ASA] URGENT: OTAC URGETLY seeks community feedback by April 30!!! Message-ID: <09BAA12C24AA8E4291B89974D4014A3947DBD074@INFPWXM007.ad.unsw.edu.au> This is a resend of an email distributed to ASA members 10 days ago ... to date only two members have responded. Feedback (even if the form is just "this look like a good idea" or "I don't like this idea") should be sent to both Chris Tinney (OTAC Chair c.tinney at unsw.edu.au) *and* Yeshe Fenner (AAL Executive Officer yeshe.fenner at astronomyaustralia.org.au) to arrive before before Tuesday April 30, 2013. ====================================================== Dear colleagues, Gemini Observatory has been working on developing a model for the implementation of "Large and Long Programmes" across the Gemini Partnership. The Optical Telescopes Advisory Committee has seen and commented on early drafts of the description of how this scheme would work, and now seeks community input on the current form of the proposal (which is attached). OTAC is broadly supportive of the current model, and seeks feedback that can inform Australia's position at the upcoming Gemini Board meeting in May. Feedback (even if the form is just "this look like a good idea" or "I don't like this idea" should be sent to both Chris Tinney (OTAC Chair c.tinney at unsw.edu.au) *and* Yeshe Fenner (AAL Executive Officer yeshe.fenner at astronomyaustralia.org.au) to arrive before before Tuesday April 30, 2013. Regards Chris Tinney ___________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Chris Tinney | Discovery Outstanding Researcher, School of Physics, UNSW Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Science | Co-Director, Australian Centre for Astrobiology c.tinney at unsw.edu.au, +61 2 93855168, http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~cgt -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: largelongprograms.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 72945 bytes Desc: largelongprograms.pdf URL: From pfrancis at mso.anu.edu.au Mon Apr 29 10:20:33 2013 From: pfrancis at mso.anu.edu.au (Paul Francis) Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:20:33 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Call for proposals for 2.3m telescope time Aug-Oct 2013 Message-ID: <22072_1367194835_r3T0KY7W026340_A636D4C6-CB80-4564-8EF2-E94F89C69E67@mso.anu.edu.au> 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 August 1 - October 31 2013 is 23:59 May 15, 2012. Instruments available: Nasymth A: WiFeS [see below] Nasymth B: Imager or echelle. WiFeS upgrade: we expect that both the red and blue arms of WiFeS will have been upgraded to the new CCDs before the start of this quarter. 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) 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 at http://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observers/obsering-rsaa. (4) Proposers are reminded to limit their scientific case to TWO pages, including figures and references. (5) Siding Spring Observatory is back in operation after the bushfires. At the time of writing accommodation on Siding Spring will be at a motel nearby, but on-mountain accommodation may well be available before the first of August. Contact us for details. *************************************************************************** If you have technical problems in using the web-based submission process, please email tacinfo at mso.anu.edu.au. Paul Francis Chair, ANU TAC ============================== A/Prof. Paul Francis Astrophysicist 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 pfrancis at mso.anu.edu.au http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~pfrancis/ CRICOS Provider #00120C From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Mon Apr 29 22:46:10 2013 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:46:10 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Mopra Central Molecular Zone Project: 7mm band data cubes now available Message-ID: <9008311B-52B6-4D2C-AED9-C05BBB1D9D78@sydney.edu.au> Mopra Central Molecular Zone Project: 7mm band data cubes now available Data cubes for the latest portion for the Central Molecular Zone spectral mapping survey project are now available from the CSIRO-ATNF online archive (the ATOA). The survey was conducted with the Mopra telescope and covers a 2.5?x0.5? region around the Galactic centre. The data cubes have ~4 km/s spectral and ~1 arcminute and spatial resolution. The frequency range is 42-50 GHz, and includes 24 spectral lines (21 molecular, 3 atomic). The principal lines of interest are likely to be the SiO and CS J=1-0 lines, and several transitions of HNCO, HC3N and CH3OH. The data cubes can be obtained via the Mopra CMZ website (http:www.phys.unsw.edu.au/mopracmz) or directly from the ATNF archive (http://atoa.atnf.csiro.au/). Note that you will need to register for an OPAL account if you do not already have one. The survey data is described further in Jones, P et al (2013), available from the above website. Michael Burton Mopra CMZ Project Scientist 29/04/13 From mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au Wed May 1 11:31:00 2013 From: mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au (Mita Brierley) Date: Wed, 1 May 2013 11:31:00 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Astronomy Supercomputer Time Allocation Committee: Call for Proposals - NCI, Green II. Message-ID: <006e01ce460b$893e9e50$9bbbdaf0$@astronomyaustralia.org.au> Astronomy Supercomputer Time Allocation Committee (ASTAC): Call for Proposals - NCI, Green II. ** Call closes at 9am (AEST) Monday 3rd June, 2013 ** Attached is a call for proposals for time on two Australian Supercomputer Facilities for Q3-Q4 in 2013. The same information is available on the Astronomy Australia Limited website at http://www.astronomyaustralia.org.au/commitees/astac We would like to draw your attention to the following key points: 1. ASTAC encourages potential applicants to contact us should you require any technical or scientific advice. 2. The time available for computational astrophysics on internationally competitive facilities has increased markedly over the last year. This is a good time to be working in this area. 3. The GPU facility gSTAR, part of the Swinburne University of Technology Green II machine, offers users an opportunity for very high performance computational power for appropriately written code. 4. The deadline for this current round of proposals is 9am (AEST), Monday 3rd June, 2013 so that there is adequate time to prepare a good proposal. 5. ASTAC is particularly keen to encourage graduate students and early career researchers to become involved in this rapidly developing field, which offers the capacity to perform simulations of numerous astrophysical situations at high resolution and in three dimensions. Advisers are available to assist people in getting started in this area. 6. For this call, ASTAC is allowing applications to be led by PhD students, with their thesis supervisor as a PI. However, please note that Chief Investigator details on the online submission form must still be completed with the details of the supervisor, as this information is still needed to assess the application. PhD students who would like to lead their application, please contact Mita Brierley (mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au) by Wednesday 29th May, 2013. ASTAC would like to highlight the benefits of showing leadership on successful time allocation applications to a student's CV. 7. Along with this call for proposals, ASTAC is circulating a Supercomputer Resource document to outline and clarify for users the high-performance computing facilities and access avenues available to Australian astronomers. ASTAC Mark George Beckett (iVEC representative; ex-officio), Geoff Bicknell (Australian National University), Ben Evans (NCI representative; ex-officio), Luke Hodkinson (Swinburne supercomputer user consultant), Jarrod Hurley (Swinburne Supercomputer Manager; ex-officio), John Lattanzio (Monash University), Geraint Lewis (Chair, University of Sydney), Katherine Mack (University of Melbourne), Steve Ord (Curtin University), Jon Smillie (NCI user consultant). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ASTAC Call for Proposals Q3-Q4 2013.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 454714 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Supercomputer Resources.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 239045 bytes Desc: not available URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed May 1 14:56:15 2013 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 1 May 2013 14:56:15 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Annular/Partial Solar Eclipse 10 May 2013 Message-ID: As you may be aware, there is an upcoming *partial* Solar Eclipse early on the morning of Friday 10 May (just over a week away). The eclipse will be annular along a path across northern Australia, but partial for everyone else. In Sydney for example, the eclipse begins at 7.50 am and ends at 10.14 am. Mid-eclipse is at 8.57 am when 39% of the Sun's diameter will be covered. At that time the Sun will be 24 degrees above the eastern horizon. Many other parts of Australia will see a similar amount or even more of the disk covered. The eclipse can be safely viewed using a telescope equipped with a specialised solar filter or simply projecting the image through a small telescope. Cardboard framed 'eclipse glasses' meeting international standards are also safe to use if their instructions are followed. Suitable 'eclipse glasses' are available locally from reputable astronomy shops, public Observatories and Planetaria. More information about the eclipse and safe ways to view it can be found in a Factsheet produced by the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA). The sheet has been posted on the ASA's Australian Astronomy web site (http://www.astronomy.org.au). The Factsheet link is: http://astronomy.org.au/education/factsheets/. You may wish to use this sheet to inform friends, students or the public about this event. The sheet 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 Timothy.Shimwell at csiro.au Fri May 3 16:05:29 2013 From: Timothy.Shimwell at csiro.au (Timothy.Shimwell at csiro.au) Date: Fri, 3 May 2013 06:05:29 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Radio frequency interference workshop (17th-18th June 2013) Message-ID: <0C1108C1CC21B049963731E4B9CC32CB0214D1@ExMBX01-CDC.nexus.csiro.au> Dear all, On June 17th and 18th, CSIRO will be hosting an international workshop on the mitigation of radio frequency interference for SKA pathfinders at Marsfield in Sydney (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/conferences/2013/rfi2013/index.html). The primary focus of the meeting will be the impact of RFI on spectral line science. Talks will cover spectrum allocation, RFI monitoring, active mitigation and removal of RFI in software. Confirmed invited speakers include Brian Jeffs (BYU), Tom Oosterloo (ASTRON), Andre Offringra (ANU), Ron Ekers (CSIRO), Oleg Smirnov (SKA SA), Mike Kesteven (CSIRO) and many more. Registration is now open, so please register and submit and abstract if you would like to contribute a talk. Thanks, Tim Shimwell (on behalf of the organising committees) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: