[ASA] Call for registration: The 2014 AusGO/AAO Observational Techniques Workshop

[John O'Byrne]

Apologies to those who receive this more than once.

The Australian Gemini Office in conjunction with the Australian Astronomical Observatory will hold the 2014 AusGO/AAO Observational Techniques Workshop from midday on Tuesday April 1 to midday on Friday April 4, 2014 at the AAO Headquarters in North Ryde, Sydney.

The workshop is designed to be an introduction to the optical and infrared facilities available to the Australian astronomical community, and will include tutorials and demonstrations where you can get your hands on real data and learn how to reduce it.

A preliminary program for the workshop is available at http://www.aao.gov.au/conferences/OTW2014/OTW_ScheduleDraft_v1.2.pdf. Topics to be covered in the workshop include:

* Overview of data acquisition, telescopes and calibrations
* Imaging and spectroscopy data reduction
* Hands-on tutorials and reduction demos

The workshop will be open to all but places are limited, so preference will be given to students and early-career researchers. Thanks to generous sponsorship from AAL and the Australian government's Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme, there will be no registration fee.

Workshop Website

The workshop now has a website, which can be found here: http://www.aao.gov.au/conferences/OTW2014/. The page will carry the current draft program and links to software used during the workshop. Please check this site regularly for updates!

Software

There will be tutorial and demonstration sessions covering various software packages during the workshop. The primary tutorial reduction will be done using Gemini IRAF. We recommend that you install the Ureka software collection (http://ssb.stsci.edu/ureka/) on your laptop prior to the workshop. Sample data will be provided.

Dining

Lunch (Wednesday and Thursday), morning and afternoon teas will be provided to all registrants. In lieu of a workshop dinner, an evening at the Sydney Observatory featuring stargazing, 3D shows, pizza, wine and beer for a modest cost is planned for the Wednesday evening.

Registration

Registration is now open and it's free! To register your attendance, please fill out the on-line registration form (http://www.aao.gov.au/conferences/OTW2014/registration.php) before 26 March 2014. There will also be a limited amount of travel funding available to students. Please refer to the workshop website and/or email Caroline Foster (cfoster at aao.gov.au) for more details.

Getting to the AAO

Since August 2012 the AAO headquarters are now located at 105 Delhi Rd in North Ryde. It is most easily accessible by train (700m from North Ryde station) or bus (Route 545 between Chatswood and Parramatta).

Note that due to security requirements, anyone not registered for the workshop will not be admitted to the workshop venue.

Accommodation

Suggestions for accommodation near the AAO and further afield are available at http://www.aao.gov.au/admin/travel-sydaccom.html.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me (Caroline Foster, cfoster at aao.gov.au).

Caroline Foster
on behalf of the Organising Committee

-- 
Dr. Caroline Foster
AusGO Research Fellow - AAO
Email: cfoster at aao.gov.au
Homepage: www.carofoster.com
Telephone: +61 (02) 9372 4894