From Ray.Norris at csiro.au Mon Apr 7 12:39:01 2014 From: Ray.Norris at csiro.au (Ray.Norris at csiro.au) Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2014 02:39:01 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Australian SKA Science community Message-ID: <39A8ABEC-8323-4154-9BA4-A33A74D114FA@csiro.au> Dear colleague I am putting together a group of Australian scientists who are, or who would like to be, involved in SKA. The straw-man goals of this group are: * To build a community of scientists who are knowledgeable about SKA and who will be ready to make full use of it when it is constructed * To facilitate Australian science involvement in SKA * To facilitate collaboration between Australian SKA scientists and our colleagues in South Africa and other SKA member countries * To maximise the science from SKA * To provide advice to Australian SKA work package consortium members as required (e.g. flexibility to adapt to evolving science case) These goals, and the steps to achieve them, will be discussed once we have the group established. If you would like to be part of this community, please could you either click "request access" on http://ozska.pbworks.com/ or else email kate.chow at csiro.au Many thanks Ray Norris Ray.Norris at csiro.au CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia Tel: +61 417 288 307 http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Apr 9 12:11:23 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2014 12:11:23 +1000 Subject: [ASA] EPOC Steering Committee Election Message-ID: <031660A3-E03C-48A2-AE2D-602A6C197CDD@sydney.edu.au> Dear ASA Members, This is a friendly final reminder that: 1. The election period for the Chair and three 2-year positions on the EPOC Steering Committee closes TODAY, Wed 9 April, at 5pm AEST. Please note that only full members of the ASA are entitled to vote for the position of Chair and the 2-year Ordinary Members of the Steering Committee. To cast your vote please navigate your browser to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X57CF9H Information on the candidates can be found at: http://asaepoc.wordpress.com/election/ 2. The nomination period for the position of student representative on the EPOC Steering Committee also closes at 5pm today, Wed 9 April. Four students have already nominated themselves for this position: Aina Musaeva, Donna Burton, Tui Britton and Michael Cowley. Details on the election process for the student representative will be announced early next week. Thanks Chris Fluke -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Thu Apr 10 12:33:25 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 12:33:25 +1000 Subject: [ASA] ATUC Meeting 2-3 June 2014 Message-ID: Dear Users of the Australia Telescope National Facility, The Australia Telescope Users Committee (ATUC) meet regularly to discuss issues that affect users of the ATNF. The next ATUC meeting is to be held at the ATNF headquarters in Marsfield on the 2nd and 3rd June 2014. Exact meeting times will be posted on the ATUC webpages a week or two before the meeting. On the morning of the 2nd, an Open Session will be held that consists of reports and updates on the various aspects of ATNF operations. All users are welcome to attend the Open Session which usually goes to mid afternoon. An agenda for the Open Session will be made available on the ATUC web page. In the afternoon and on the 6th, ATUC hold a Closed Session, during which a report to the ATNF Director is drafted. If you, as a user (or potential user) of the ATNF, are aware of any issues that need to be raised at the next ATUC meeting, would like to present a short topic for discussion, or would like to offer praise for the many ATNF achievements, please contact any member of ATUC over the next few weeks. Information on ATUC and how to contact its members can be found at: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/management/atuc (ATUC reports, responses, online feedback form) Regular ATUC summaries are in the ATNF newsletter http://www.atnf.csiro.au/news/newsletter Regards, Nick Seymour (for) John Dickey ATUC Chair ###################################################################### ARC Future Fellow CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science Tel: +61 293 724 284 http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/Nick.Seymour ###################################################################### -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From asheinis at aao.gov.au Fri Apr 11 11:16:35 2014 From: asheinis at aao.gov.au (Andrew Sheinis) Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 11:16:35 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Gemini High Resolution Spectrograph has begun References: <2B55F12D-6DE1-4E9F-BEF6-CBB11F374AE5@aao.gov.au> Message-ID: <50DE806A-E05B-4DCD-A2AA-159AB9D6CDB2@aao.gov.au> Hi All, The AAO is extremely pleased to announce that it will build the Gemini High Resolution SpecTrograph (GHOST) in partnership with subcontractors, ANU and NRC-Herzberg (Canada). The GHOST instrument's post-conceptual-design contract has now been signed and work has begun on the Preliminary Design Phase. As posted on the Gemini website and social media: "A key milestone for the Gemini High-resolution Optical Spectrograph (GHOS) is now complete with final approval of the post-conceptual-design contracts by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Gemini Board, and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The instrument, which will provide Gemini users with the power of high-resolution optical spectroscopy, will now proceed with a team kick-off meeting comprised of representatives from Gemini, the Australian Astronomical Observatory, National Research Council of Canada-Herzberg, and Australian National University. The project should take about four years to complete." The GHOST will be a facility-class spectrograph providing resolutions of 50,000 and 75,000 over the 363 nm to 1000 nm wavelength range. It will incorporate the ability to observe up to 2 objects simultaneously. Furthermore, with an onboard Thorium-Argon wavelength reference fiber and a built-in atmospheric dispersion compensator it will provide extremely stable spectra for a wide variety of science programs. AAO looks forward to being on sky with this new instrument in the next 4 years. cheers -Andy Sheinis ************************************************* Assoc. Prof. Andrew Sheinis, Head of Instrumentation, Australian Astronomical Observatory PO Box 915 North Ryde NSW 1670 ph: +61 2 9372 4821 fax: +61 2 9372 4880 ************************************************* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: