From m.ashley at unsw.edu.au Tue Apr 22 14:33:51 2014 From: m.ashley at unsw.edu.au (Michael Ashley) Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 14:33:51 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Funding available for travel to AST3/KDUST collaboration meeting, Nanjing June 5-8; also, AST3 data is available Message-ID: <20140422043350.GL32212@mcba.phys.unsw.edu.au> ASA exploder message from Michael Ashley Dear colleagues, If you are interesting in optical/IR astronomy from Antarctica, you might consider attending the AST3/KDUST collaboration meeting in Nanjing, China, from June 5-8. I have some funding from the Department of Industry to provide airfares and accommodation. If you would like to make use of this funding, please let me know ASAP, preferably by return email. The AST3 collaboration meeting follows on from a similar meeting in November last year in Nanjing, and the earlier AAL meeting at Swinburne: http://www.astronomyaustralia.org.au/ast3-science-planning-workshop-feb-13 The meeting will cover the following topics: 1) AST3 (two 0.5m optical telescopes with 5k x 10k CCDs, one is at Dome A now, the other will be sent down at the end of this year). 2) Results from testing the 2nd AST3 telescope at Mohe, China. 3) The 2014/2015 Antarctic traverse plan. 4) The proposed near-infrared AST3 (0.5m aperture, 2k x 2k H2RG array from Teledyne, 2.36 micron filter). An ARC LIEF application for the camera was submitted two weeks ago by Jeremy Mould, with partners from Swinburne, Macquarie, ANU, UNSW, Sydney, Purple Mountain Observatory, Texas A&M, and Caltech. The telescope is already funded. 5) AST3 and ASKAP surveys of transients. 6) KDUST (a proposed 2.5m optical/IR telescope, very close to being funded), engineering, science, international collaborations. 7) Future opportunities: a) EU 2020 vision, b) z Equals 20 from Antarctica (zETA) (KDUST leading to a 4m telescope to detect objects at z=20). If you wish to give a talk, please send me a short abstract. Meanwhile, AST3-1 data from 2012 is available to Australian astronomers. If you are interested, please contact the leader of the relevant science panel: SNe and gamma ray bursts: Fang Yuan Synoptic universe (transients at radio wavelengths): Paul Hancock Exoplanets: Chris Tinney Variable stars: Charles Kuehn There is about 1.7TB of data available. Please note that it is mostly of engineering quality. Regards, Michael Ashley -- Professor Michael Ashley Department of Astrophysics University of New South Wales http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mcba From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Tue Apr 22 17:12:47 2014 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 17:12:47 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Science and Technology Australia's April Newsletter Message-ID: The latest Newsletter from Science & Technology Australia. Several ASA members went to the annual Science meets Parliament and further opportunities should occur in future. You might also like to note the Keep it Clever and Respect Research campaigns described under 'Other Items of Interest'. John Presidents, please forward this to your members. Not displaying correctly? View the web version CONNECT: MEMBER PROFILE Name and title: Dr Enzo Porrello, Research Fellow and Group Leader, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland Discipline: Cardiac Regeneration What lured you to science and/or technology in the first place? I have always had a fascination with the human body and medicine. When I was growing up, I thought that I would become a medical doctor. At some point, I realised that my insatiable thirst for knowledge and love of problem solving were probably better suited to a scientific career than a medical one. What keeps you there? Nothing beats the thrill of discovery and the excitement that comes from pushing back the frontiers of human knowledge. What makes science different to other careers? A scientific career affords you a degree of freedom that most others do not. I can't think of any other career where you have almost complete freedom to work on whatever interests you. What would you tell a 10-year-old about a career in science and technology? Scientific careers are both challenging and extremely rewarding. If you are curious, enjoy problem solving, want to interact with some of the brightest minds and want to be part of something that can make a difference to the world, then you should consider a scientific career. Have you a favourite career moment? We were recently involved in a documentary series on our work for the BBC and I got to meet Dr Roberta Bondar, a neurologist and Canada's first female astronaut. Dr Bondar shared her own personal photos of Earth from space with us, which was a truly spectacular experience. Dear STA friend/member, Greetings to all in the lead up to what looks like a challenging time for science, technology and research, as we approach both the release of the National Commission of Audit and the Federal Budget. As usual STA will be in the Federal Budget lock up and will bring you the details in a special edition newsletter on the night. We will also continue to voice your concerns in the lead up to and in the wake of these events. Catriona Jackson Chief Executive Officer SmP 2014 wash up A month has now passed since SmP 2014, and formal and informal feedback from delegates, parliamentarians and policy makers declared SmP 2014 an overwhelming success. The 14th SmP attracted 200 scientists from across the nation, and more than half the Federal Parliament, with 130 Federal Parliamentarians taking meetings and attending events. For the first time all the sessions from day one are available on STA?s YouTube channel, to enjoy again, or to send to friends and colleagues. Check them out here HERE. View the SmP 2014 photo albums here: day one at the National Gallery of Australia, the gala dinner, day two at Parliament House and the National Press Club lunch. Thanks to all who supplied feedback, it is being collated and analysed, and will be used to inform the planning of SmP 2015, which will coincide with STA?s 30th anniversary! Parliamentary Friends of Science The cross-party Federal ?friendship group? was re-established at SmP, with a record number of members at 90 and counting, drawn from all sides of politics. STA will work closely with them as the year progresses, and take the best of Australian science into their workplace, Parliament House, keeping it high on the political and policy agenda. The first STA event for the Friends will take place in June, and will focus on one of the most exciting science and technology projects of this century, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope, with help from Nobel Laureate Professor Brian Schmidt, Professor Brian Boyle and Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths. Topical science forums In 2014 STA will take the nation?s best scientists into the community to tackle the big issues. 10 Topical Science Forums will take place across Australia, on topics ranging from waning immunisation rates to the future of the Great Barrier Reef to the health impacts of climate change. Most will be public events, with panels of experts from academia, industry and the community, and plenty of time for audience questions and debate. Keep your eye on STA?s website and Twitter and Facebook feeds for dates and topics as they are confirmed. We look forward to seeing you there. For those who can?t make it to the events, they will all be filmed and presented on the STA YouTube channel. Looking back to the Big Bang ? the SKA telescope?s unlimited potential is online HERE. Other items of interest Support the Keep it Clever campaign from Universities Australia READ MORE Science prizes and awards: applications closing April/May 2014 READ MORE Do you know about the Greens Respect Research initiative? READ MORE You have received this email from Science & Technology Australia. ? 2014 - Science and Technology Australia -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au Tue Apr 22 21:59:00 2014 From: andrew.hopkins at aao.gov.au (Andrew Hopkins) Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 21:59:00 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Fwd: [APRIM 2014] 12th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting - 5th Newsletter In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <53565984.6050308@aao.gov.au> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [APRIM 2014] 12th Asia-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting - 5th Newsletter Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 15:09:47 +0900 From: APRIM 2014 Reply-To: APRIM 2014 To: APRIM 2014 ** *APRIM 2014 5th Nesletter: **http://www.aprim2014.org/newsletter/news5.htm* -- 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcroton at astro.swin.edu.au Wed Apr 23 12:23:15 2014 From: dcroton at astro.swin.edu.au (Darren Croton) Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 12:23:15 +1000 Subject: [ASA] ANITA lecture: An astronomers introduction to databases and SQL, Paul Hancock -- Mon 2pm (AEST) 28th Apr Message-ID: Dear ANITA and ASA members. Next Monday 28th April at 2pm (AEST) ANITA will hold its next online lecture: "An Astronomers Introduction To Databases And SQL", by Paul Hancock from Curtin University. All are welcome to join! The target audience will range from undergrad to postdoc, however anyone interested is sure to get something out of it. More details (including lecture notes and slides) are available at: http://anita.edu.au/lectures/ Thanks, and see you there! Darren Croton & Chris Power ----------------------------- The lecture will be held through Google Hangouts on Air. You'll first need a Google account (e.g. gmail). Log in to it. If you've never done a Google Hangout before you'll need to install a plugin for your browser. See https://www.google.com/tools/dlpage/hangoutplugin On Google+ search for "Anita Chapter" and head to our page. Alternatively, go directly to our Chapter page here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/104967001091880466806/posts You'll see a post for the Hangout on Air at around 12pm - hit play and enjoy! Some hints for a better experience: You can breakout the small video window on the Google+ page by opening it in YouTube. This gives you a much bigger view. Post any comments/questions under the video in the comments box on the Google+ or YouTube page. We'll try and answer them in real-time. I don't believe that comments are updated automatically; you may need to reload the page to see the latest. All lectures will be hosted on our ANITA YouTube page for later viewing. -- Darren Croton Associate Professor & QEII Research Fellow Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing Swinburne University of Technology PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia Phone: 61-3-9214-5537; Fax: 61-3-9214-8797 http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~dcroton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: