From Paul.Francis at anu.edu.au Tue Oct 29 16:43:32 2013 From: Paul.Francis at anu.edu.au (Paul Francis) Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 05:43:32 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Call for 2.3m proposals Message-ID: <34687C38-D1EA-4844-AA52-07EAD7BD61D1@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 February 2014 - 30th APRIL 2014 is 23:59 December 15, 2013. 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 Paul.Francis at anu.edu.au Thu Oct 31 13:47:13 2013 From: Paul.Francis at anu.edu.au (Paul Francis) Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 02:47:13 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Call for 2.3m proposals deadline Message-ID: <1C5711D5-243D-49C3-8A64-2E94DDD77BFD@anu.edu.au> There was a typo in the recent call for proposals for 2.3m time - the deadline should be 15th NOVEMBER. Sorry, Paul Francis ============================= 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 cherief at mso.anu.edu.au Thu Oct 31 16:46:36 2013 From: cherief at mso.anu.edu.au (Cherie Fishlock) Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 16:46:36 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Mt Stromlo Student Xmas Seminars - 2nd annoucement Message-ID: <9497FB8F-E11A-4CE4-A0B4-D39D425095DD@mso.anu.edu.au> Hi all, This is a reminder that registration closes in 1 week on Friday, 8th of November. The Mt Stromlo Student Xmas Seminars is a fantastic opportunity for students to meet other astronomy students from around Australia and share their research (or any other interest they may want to talk about!). If you know of any students (undergrad, Honours, Masters, PhD) who may be interested, please pass this email on! Live long and prosper! Cherie Fishlock (on behalf of the Organising Committee) Space? the final frontier. Dear Students of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Do you question the unknown? Do you prefer logic and reason over chaos? We would like to invite you the the 11th Stromlo Student Seminars, with this year's theme being inspired by the adventures of Star Trek: To boldy discover what no one has researched before. Curiosity compels us to search out what hasn't been discovered before. A passion for research in astronomy and astrophysics drives us to explore the unknown, whether in our Galaxy or beyond! If you are interested in presenting your research log to fellow students please read ahead! The 11th Annual Mt Stromlo Student Christmas Seminars! ************************************************************************** WHAT? A two day workshop to strengthen skills important for your research degree WHO? Any astronomy or related physics student in Australia - Undergrad, Honours, Masters, and PhD level WHERE? Mt. Stromlo Observatory, ANU, Canberra WHEN? 21st & 22nd November 2013 ************************************************************************** Day 1: We have organised for the Academic Skills and Learning Centre at ANU to run a session on developing research skills essential for completing a research degree, either Honours, Masters or PhD. These skills include critical reading, journal writing as well as how to write a literature review. We will also take a tour of the Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre at Mt Stromlo Observatory where ANU is helping to build the next large telescope, the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile, as part of an international collaboration. ANU is constructing one of the first instruments to be used with the telescope as well as developing adaptive optics which are critical to success of the telescope. 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, related to the theme or not. Prizes will be given for those talks voted as the best science content, best use of the theme, and best overall talk. ************************************************************************** Registration is free, and food will be provided throughout the two days. Dinner on Thursday night will also be provided. Please indicate when you are registering if you'd like to attend the dinner. 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/xmas13. The deadline for registration is the 8th of November. If you would like a talk on day 2, you can indicate so when you register, or email us separately. The seminars are designed for all astronomy and astrophysics undergrad/graduate students, whether you have anything to talk about or just come to watch and listen, the invitation is open to you. Honours and Masters students might want to take the opportunity to come and find out what being a PhD student is really like! So please, come along to this year's Mt Stromlo Student Christmas Seminars - catch up with students from other institutes, improve your research skills and practise your public speaking skills. Please direct any questions to the organising committee at the email address xmas13 at mso.anu.edu.au. For travel and accommodation information please visit our website. Keep checking our website for up-to-date information. We hope to see you all in November! Live long and prosper! Cherie Fishlock (on behalf of the Organising Committee) 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 thill at museum.vic.gov.au Thu Oct 31 23:39:37 2013 From: thill at museum.vic.gov.au (Hill, Tanya) Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 23:39:37 +1100 Subject: [ASA] 2014 Berenice and Arthur Page Medal - Nominations Open Message-ID: <7A64CF74085EDA4E93CEF1089F043E4517F4191F0E@RAKALI.mv.vic.gov.au> Nominations are now open for the 2014 Berenice and Arthur Page Medal awarded for excellence in amateur astronomy. The prize is awarded every two years by the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) for scientific contributions by an amateur astronomer that have served to advance astronomy. The winner of the Medal is announced during the National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers (NACAA), which will be held in Melbourne from 18 to 21 April 2014. The winner will be presented with the Medal along with one year's free membership to the ASA. **** The closing date for nominations is 5 December 2013. **** Nominations are strongly encouraged, including self-nominations. However, please be aware that the award is specifically for scientific contributions that have served to advance astronomy. While it is appreciated that the amateur astronomical community benefits greatly from members' organisational services, their popularisation of astronomy, and their proficiency in established astronomical techniques, these qualities are not applicable to the award's criteria. Nominations must include: * a detailed description of the candidate's achievements, outlining as succinctly as possible the scientific results that the candidate has produced and the impact this has had on astronomy. * a covering letter giving the candidate's full name, address and a brief summary of their association with astronomy and particular research interests. * supporting material such as copies of papers, articles or books written by the candidate that substantiate their nomination. Nominations should be sent to Dr Tanya Hill, ASA Prizes and Awards Coordinator. Email nominations are preferable and should be sent to thill at museum.vic.gov.au. Nominations can also be submitted via: Dr Tanya Hill ASA Prizes and Awards Coordinator Museum Victoria GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 This information, the Conditions and Guidelines for the award, and a list of past winners is available on the ASA website at http://asa.astronomy.org.au/page.html. Details regarding the NACAA can be found at: http://www.nacaa.org.au/2014/about regards, Tanya Dr Tanya Hill ASA Prizes and Awards Coordinator Planetarium Manager | Senior Curator, Astronomy Melbourne Planetarium, Scienceworks MUSEUM VICTORIA | GPO Box 666, Melbourne 3001 t: 03 9392 4503 (Wed, Thurs and Fridays) | e: thill at museum.vic.gov.au | w: museumvictoria.com.au/planetarium Museums Board of Victoria ABN 63 640 679 155 is endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient. All gifts of $2 or more are tax deductible. [http://museumvictoria.com.au/images/email-fp2.jpg] Melbourne Museum, winner of the Victorian Tourism Awards for Best Major Tourist Attraction in 2010,2011,2012 and Australian winner in 2011. museumvictoria.com.au This e-mail is solely for the named addressee and may be confidential. You should only read, disclose, transmit, copy, distribute, act in reliance on or commercialise the contents if you are authorised to do so. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please notify postmaster at museum.vic.gov.au by email immediately, or notify the sender and then destroy any copy of this message. Views expressed in this email are those of the individual sender, except where specifically stated to be those of an officer of Museum Victoria. Museum Victoria does not represent, warrant or guarantee that the integrity of this communication has been maintained nor that it is free from errors, virus or interference. Please consider the environment before printing this email. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au Fri Nov 1 11:57:38 2013 From: mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au (Mita Brierley) Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2013 11:57:38 +1100 Subject: [ASA] Astronomy Supercomputer Time Allocation Committee: Call for Proposals for Q1-Q2 2014 Message-ID: <001401ced69d$5c2b1560$14814020$@astronomyaustralia.org.au> Astronomy Supercomputer Time Allocation Committee: Call for Proposals - NCI peak facility and Green II (gSTAR/swinSTAR) ** Call closes at 9am (AEDT) Monday 2nd December, 2013 ** Attached is a call for proposals for time on two Australian Supercomputer Facilities for Q1-Q2 in 2014. 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 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. 3. The deadline for this current round of proposals is 9am (AEDT), Monday 2nd December, 2013 so that there is adequate time to prepare a good proposal. 4. 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. 5. For this call, ASTAC is allowing applications to be led (Lead Chief Investigator) by PhD students, with their thesis supervisor as a Chief Investigator. PhD students who would like to lead their application please contact Mita Brierley (mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au) by Monday 25th November, 2013. ASTAC would like to highlight the benefits of showing leadership on successful time allocation applications to a student's CV. 6. 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. If you would like to directly receive ASTAC news and announcements, you can sign up to our mailing list at: http://www.astronomyaustralia.org.au/commitees/astac 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 Announcement Q1-Q2 2014.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 141711 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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