From Simon.Johnston at atnf.csiro.au Mon Jul 29 10:45:32 2013 From: Simon.Johnston at atnf.csiro.au (Simon Johnston) Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 10:45:32 +1000 (EST) Subject: [ASA] ATCA 25th Symposium Message-ID: Hi John, Would appreciate it if you could send this reminder around. Thanks, Simon This is a reminder that the closing date for registration for the Science Symposium for the Australia Telescope Compact Array's 25th Birthday is this week, 1 August. If you have not yet done so and want to attend the meeting, please register now. There are still talk slots available at this point but we'd like to finalise the programme early next week. Please also encourage your students to attend. The official birthday celebrations take place on September 2nd on the ATCA site with the Symposium running from Sept 3-5 in Narrabri. All symposium attendees are invited to attend the September 2nd celebrations -- numbers need to be finalised soon, so registration is essential. The web page for the event is at: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/conferences/ATCA25th/index.html Cheers, Simon Johnston SOC Chair. From aatac at aao.gov.au Tue Jul 30 14:05:59 2013 From: aatac at aao.gov.au (AAT Technical Secretary) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 14:05:59 +1000 Subject: [ASA] AAT Proposal Call (Semester 2014A): deadline 5PM, 16 September 2013 Message-ID: <51F73BA7.9080904@aao.gov.au> Call for AAT proposals in Semester 2014A The proposal deadline for AAT time in Semester 14A (1 February 2014 to 31 July 2014) is: **Monday, 16 September 2013, at 17:00** (AEST, i.e. UTC + 10 hrs) Proposals can be submitted from the 1st of September 2013 using the AAT online proposal form, and are welcome from astronomers worldwide. General information on applying for AAT time can be found at: http://www.aao.gov.au/astro/apply/ATAC_AAT.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- Important notes for 14A applicants: * Following a successful call for Large Program proposals in Semester 13B, a significant fraction of AAT dark time has already been allocated: in A semesters through 2016A, and in B semesters through 2017B. Details of ongoing Large and Long Term programs can be found at http://www.aao.gov.au/astro/apply/longterm.php. Combined with the usual other obligations on AAT time (ie, service observing, engineering time, time-swap nights, etc), there is a reduced amount of time available for the community. AAO particularly encourages the community to submit AAT proposals suitable for grey and bright time. The number of nights expected to be available for 2014A are 12 dark, 31 grey and 48 bright. This is the current best estimate; however, the actual numbers may change before the observing schedule is finalised. * Large Programs: The AAO is inviting proposals for Large Observing Programs (those requiring 50 nights or more, possibly over several semesters) to begin in Semester 13B. Please contact the ATAC Secretary, Helen Woods (hmw - at - aao.gov.au), well in advance of submitting this kind of proposal. Details are available at http://www.aao.gov.au/AAO/astro/Large_Programs_RfP_14A.pdf. * HERMES availability in semester 14A: AAO expects to carry out commissioning on the HERMES spectrograph during semester 13B, and it is available in "shared-risk" mode for normal program proposals in semester 14A. Questions about expected instrument performance should be directed to the HERMES Project Scientist, Gayandhi de Silva (gdesilva - at - aao.gov.au). * Instrument upgrades in semester 14A: AAO is planning to upgrade the CCDs in AAOmega and to replace the SPIRAL IFU feed for AAOmega with the new KOALA IFU feed. More details can be found at http://www.aao.gov.au/astro/apply/inst-status.html * Remote observing: From Semester 13A the AAO has been encouraging remote observing from AAO headquarters as an option for all AAT instruments. Remote observing from the AAO's North Ryde headquarters has been successfully demonstrated for UCLES, IRIS2 and 2dF+AAOmega. We are developing a framework for offsite remote observing at a later stage, in order to allow astronomers across Australia to observe from their home institutions. Until that system is ready, 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. Observers who wish to carry out their observations from the AAT should contact the AAT Head of Science, Andrew Hopkins, at ahopkins - at - aao.gov.au. * CTIO/DECam time-swap arrangement: The AAO and NOAO/CTIO have initiated a time-swap arrangement, to allow our respective communities to maximise the scientific facilities and opportunities to which we have access. The DECam imager on the 4m Blanco telescope is available, having completed commissioning and Science Verification. CTIO are installing and verifying the repaired f/8 secondary mirror, meaning that f/8 instruments (the ISPI IR imager and the Hydra multi-object optical spectrograph) are also available in semester 14A. All scheduled observations in 14A will be carried out in classical mode with observers required to travel to the telescope. In Semester 14A there will be 15 nights available to the Australian community to apply for CTIO time. Those who wish to apply for this time should do so using the regular AAT proposal form, selecting CTIO/DECam, CTIO/ISPI or CTIO/Hydra in the "instrument" section. Links to the CTIO webpages for further information about the telescope and instrument capabilities are given below, and will also be available from the proposal form: http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/dark-energy-camera-decam http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/ispi http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/hydra The standard proposal page limits and recommendations regarding technical justifications should be followed. The proposals will be assessed by ATAC, and graded proposals provided to CTIO for scheduling. * Proposal page limits: ATAC reminds the community that page limits and formatting requirements for AAT proposals are strictly enforced. The main science case of your proposal should be no more than three pages long, and this semester ATAC is requesting a maximum of two pages for the Science Case and a maximum of one page for Technical Justification. All figures and references must also fit within those three pages. Excessively long or dense proposals will be rejected without review. Please see the section "How to Apply for AAT Time" online for further guidance on the form and content of AAT proposals. -- Sarah Martell AAT Technical Secretary aatts - at - aao.gov.au From ahopkins at aao.gov.au Tue Jul 30 21:03:16 2013 From: ahopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 21:03:16 +1000 Subject: [ASA] AAO Student Fellowships Message-ID: <51F79D74.3090400@aao.gov.au> AAO Student Fellowship Program ------------------------------ The Australian Astronomical Observatory provides opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research projects. Students will spend 10-12 weeks in the period Dec 2013 - Feb 2014 working at the Australian Astronomical Observatory in Sydney on research projects under the supervision of AAO staff astronomers and engineers. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a field trip to visit the telescopes at Siding Spring Observatory. Please encourage your undergraduate students to apply. The deadline for applications is: *** 31 August 2013 *** Details are available here: http://www.aao.gov.au/students/aaosf.html The stipend is A$700 per week. How to Apply Applications are required to be sent by e-mail. Please send your application as a single Word or PDF document attachment to the AAO Student Fellowship Coordinator, A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins (ahopkins at aao.gov.au). The application should include the following: - Full name and contact address (it is essential to include an e-mail address). - Full details of university studies, including a transcript of academic record (if your university supplies only hardcopy transcripts, please scan it and send us the JPEG or PDF file). - Names and e-mail addresses of TWO academic referees who have been asked to e-mail letters to A.Prof. Hopkins by the application deadline, outlining the applicant's suitability for this scholarship program. The AAO does not chase up late referees, and missing references can hinder your chances of selection. - A one page statement giving the applicant's reasons for applying and their interests in Astronomy/Astrophysics/Instrumentation. If you have prior research experience, computing skills, or other skills associated with astronomy or research, please emphasise these. - A short resume (2-3 pages) is optional, but often helpful, to provide as well. Please contact Andrew Hopkins with any queries about the program or the application process. Andrew Hopkins -- A.Prof. Andrew Hopkins, Head of AAT Science Australian Astronomical Observatory P.O. Box 915, North Ryde NSW 1670, Australia ph: +61 2 9372 4849 fax: +61 2 9372 4880 From pfrancis at mso.anu.edu.au Wed Jul 31 10:33:50 2013 From: pfrancis at mso.anu.edu.au (Paul Francis) Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 10:33:50 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Call for proposal to use the Siding SPring 2.3m Telescope, Nov-Jan Message-ID: <4245_1375230838_r6V0Xrrq021107_05E84037-71BE-4AC5-94BA-3C961C7DBDC2@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 1st NOVEMBER 2013 - 31st JANUARY 2014 is 23:59 AUgust 15, 2012. Instruments available: Nasymth A: WiFeS Nasymth B: Imager or echelle. 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) Macquarie, Swinburne and Monash proposals have a certain amount of guaranteed time. All proposals wishing to claim this should state explicitly in the abstract how much of this time they wish to claim. (4) Limited first night support at the telescope is 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. (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 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 bryan.gaensler at sydney.edu.au Wed Jul 31 21:14:01 2013 From: bryan.gaensler at sydney.edu.au (Bryan Gaensler) Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 21:14:01 +1000 Subject: [ASA] First Announcement: Supernovae in the Local Universe, Coffs Harbour, 11-15 Aug 2014 Message-ID: <362FBE4A-7F03-4A10-94F3-1F6CF4898B02@sydney.edu.au> FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT: 2014 CAASTRO ANNUAL SCIENCE CONFERENCE SUPERNOVAE IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE: CELEBRATING 10,000 DAYS OF SUPERNOVA 1987A 11th-15th August 2014 Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia SUMMARY: - A conference on the physics of nearby supernovae - WWW site: http://caastro.org/event/2014-supernova - Registration opens 1 Dec 2013 - Email supernova at caastro.org to ensure you receive further announcements (Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this announcement. Please circulate to interested colleagues.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RATIONALE: Supernovae are a core element of modern astrophysics, providing fundamental insights into stellar evolution, the interstellar medium, astroparticle physics, nucleosynthesis and cosmology. While astronomers now routinely detect enormous numbers of supernovae every year at increasingly large distances, wide-field surveys and all-sky monitoring are now providing an important new element to such studies: there are a growing number of new supernovae being discovered very close to home. Our modern understanding of supernovae in the local Universe began with Supernova 1987A, for which mid-2014 marks 10,000 days since its discovery. Since that singular event, many other supernovae have been found within tens of megaparsecs of Earth. These events have allowed detailed studies of individual sources and their environments, providing new physical insight on progenitor stars, explosion mechanisms and their aftermath. At this conference we will explore all the rich information that nearby supernovae now provide, and will discuss ways in which the new generation of wide-field surveys can further add to this harvest. Topics to be discussed will include: * Observations and modelling of individual nearby supernovae * Observations and constraints on supernova progenitors * Progenitor mass loss, pre-supernova activity and supernova "imposters" * Theories of core collapse, thermonuclear supernovae and explosion mechanisms * Supernova 1987A at 10,000 days * Historical supernovae, young supernova remnants and light echoes * Wide-field surveys, automated classification and new types of transients * Future instruments: SKA, LSST, eROSITA INITIAL LIST OF INVITED SPEAKERS (all confirmed) Thierry Foglizzo France Haley Gomez UK Mansi Kasliwal USA Dick McCray USA Raffaella Margutti USA Tara Murphy Australia Peter Nugent USA Armin Rest USA Fritz R?pke Germany Stephen Smartt UK Nathan Smith USA Sung-Chul Yoon Korea This meeting is the second in the annual series of CAASTRO conferences in wide-field astronomy, and will be held in Coffs Harbour, 500 km north of Sydeny on the east coast of Australia. Coffs Harbour is a beautiful coastal town of 25,000 people, surrounded by national parks and unspoilt beaches. Coffs Harbour airport (CFS) is serviced by all major Australian airlines, with multiple direct flights per day from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. KEY DATES Registration/abstracts open : 1 Dec 2013 Abstract Deadline : 15 May 2014 Early Registration Deadline : 15 May 2014 Final Program : 15 Jun 2014 SCIENTIFIC ORGANISING COMMITTEE St?phane Blondin France Roger Chevalier USA Claes Fransson Sweden Bryan Gaensler Australia, chair Avishay Gal-Yam Israel Norbert Langer Germany Kate Maguire UK Maryam Modjaz USA Ken'ichi Nomoto Japan Alicia Soderberg USA Brian Schmidt Australia Stuart Sim UK LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE Michael Childress ANU / CAASTRO Bryan Gaensler U. Sydney / CAASTRO Kate Gunn U. Sydney / CAASTRO Brad Tucker ANU Kylie Williams U. Sydney / CAASTRO Fang Yuan ANU / CAASTRO WWW site: http://caastro.org/event/2014-supernova For information on the conference, please email supernova at caastro.org. From lister.staveley-smith at uwa.edu.au Thu Aug 1 09:28:33 2013 From: lister.staveley-smith at uwa.edu.au (Lister Staveley-Smith) Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2013 07:28:33 +0800 Subject: [ASA] ICRAR/iVEC Summer Studentship applications now open References: <060156E8-9D8A-4669-9629-90D04A7B54A3@uwa.edu.au> Message-ID: Hi Everyone, The ICRAR/iVEC Summer Studentships are now taking applications. Studentships start on December 2nd and go for 10 weeks through to February 2014. Australian and New Zealand tertiary students are welcome to apply. Please bring this opportunity to the attention of your students. Each studentship is for up to $6,000, $500 paid as a weekly stipend and a $1,000 payment on submission of final report. Students from outside WA also receive one return airfare and an accommodation subsidy while in Perth. Attached is a poster with more details. Application form and project descriptions are available at www.icrar.org/studentships All the best, Kirsten -- Kirsten Gottschalk Acting Outreach and Education Manager Ph: +61 8 6488 7771 Mobile: +61 438 361 876 ICRAR: Discovering the hidden Universe through radio astronomy [http://www.icrar.org/__data/assets/image/0003/791346/image001.png] www.icrar.org | Subscribe to ICRAR's eNewsletter | ICRAR on Twitter | ICRAR on Facebook -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Final studentships poster 2013 (web).pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 655329 bytes Desc: Final studentships poster 2013 (web).pdf URL: