From ahassan at swin.edu.au Mon Sep 26 10:28:02 2016 From: ahassan at swin.edu.au (Amr Hassan) Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2016 00:28:02 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Astronomy Supercomputer Time Allocation Committee - Call for Proposals Q1-Q2 2017 Message-ID: Astronomy Supercomputer Time Allocation Committee Call for Proposals ? NCI Primergy, and Green II (gSTAR/swinSTAR) ** Call closes at 5pm (AEDT) Monday Monday 31st October, 2016** Attached is a call for proposals for time on the following facilities (Q1-Q2 2017): 1. NCI Astronomy Flagship Program: up to 1,000 kSUs 2. gSTAR and swinSTAR: up to 1,700 kSUs For assistance with the proposal form, or for more information on the resources available, please contact Dr. Amr Hassan (ahassan at swin.edu.au). On behalf of the ASTAC Committee Dr. Amr H. Hassan gSTAR Projects and Engagement Support Leader Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing Swinburne University of Technology H29, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia Phone: +61-3-9214-8546 Fax: +61-3-9214-8797 http://amrhassan.website -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ASTAC-call.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 197579 bytes Desc: ASTAC-call.pdf URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ASTAC-form.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 30564 bytes Desc: ASTAC-form.docx URL: From itso at aao.gov.au Wed Sep 28 09:28:58 2016 From: itso at aao.gov.au (International Telescopes Support Office) Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2016 09:28:58 +1000 Subject: [ASA] Reminder: Call for Gemini, Magellan, and Blanco proposals in Semester 2017A In-Reply-To: <52711eb2-e5b1-574a-9c03-7b4a3b9ca21f@aao.gov.au> References: <52711eb2-e5b1-574a-9c03-7b4a3b9ca21f@aao.gov.au> Message-ID: <68992c23-66b9-8f62-2d5d-c6bb9dc70564@aao.gov.au> We would like to take this opportunity to remind the community that proposals for ATAC time on the Gemini, Blanco, and Magellan telescopes in 2017A close shortly. Stuart Ryder International Telescopes Support Office #ITSOaao ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gemini 8m telescopes Proposal deadline: *5pm AEST, Friday 30 September 2016* Instrumentation: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/gemini/instruments How to apply: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/gemini/apply What's new in 2017A? * Astronomy Australia Ltd and the AAO have secured a limited-term partnership in Gemini for 2017, providing a total of 7 classical nights over Semesters 2017A and 2017B split between Gemini North and Gemini South. ATAC will have up to 2 classical nights on Gemini North plus 2 classical nights on Gemini South to allocate in 2017A. As a limited-term partner, Australia is ineligible to participate in the Gemini queue process; the exchange program with Subaru; or in the joint proposal process. * The Phoenix high resolution near-infrared spectrograph will be available as a visitor instrument at Gemini South in 2017A, while the TEXES high resolution mid-infrared spectrograph will be available as a visitor instrument at Gemini North in February 2017. * Gemini North will not be available from Monday July 10 2017 to the end of the semester, for work on the dome. Gemini North will also have dome shutter restrictions in place through 2017A. * GMOS-North will not available February 1 through March 19 2017 for installation and commissioning of the Hamamatsu CCDs. Investigators should however use the EEV-DD CCD option when using the GMOS-N ITC for Semester 2017A. * The non-redundant mask in the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) will be offered for Semester 2017A, in shared risk mode. * The use of an On-Detector Guide Window (ODGW) star for flexure compensation with the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) is no longer required, opening up many targets which were previously inaccessible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Blanco 4m telescope Proposal deadline: *5pm AEST, Friday 30 September 2016* Instrumentation: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/blanco/instruments How to apply: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/blanco/apply What's new in 2017A? * In Semester 2017A there will be 5 nights available to the Australian community to apply for. The Dark Energy Survey (DES) has been granted 105 nights per year, for five years, on the Blanco Telescope. In 2017A the first half of the nights of February 1-8 and 15-18 are allocated to DES. NOAO has also pre-committed 22 full nights during 2017A for the DECals survey. The specific nights allocated are: Feb 28; March 1-5 and 26-31; April 18-21; and May 18-23. * It is possible that the primary mirror of the Blanco telescope will be re-coated towards the end of 2017A, which will require a 3-4 week engineering block; whether this happens and exactly when will not be finally decided until the telescope is scheduled in November. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Magellan 6.5m telescopes Proposal deadline: *5pm AEST, Friday 7 October 2016* Instrumentation: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/magellan/instruments How to apply: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/magellan/apply What's new in 2017A? * There will be a single MegaCam f/5 block in 2017A. * There will be a 14 night shared risk science run with MagAO in early 2017. The new CLIO detector will be installed in time for this run. * PFS will be unavailable for the second half of 2017A for an upgrade to the CCD camera, spectrograph alignment, and slit input mechanism. * The Parallel Imager for Southern Cosmology Observations (PISCO) provides simultaneous imaging in the 4 SDSS bands g', r', i', and z' over a 7.3 x 5.4 arcminute field of view at 0.11 arcsec/pixel. PISCO is a PI instrument and is only available via collaborative arrangement with the instrument team. Contact Tony Stark (astark at cfa.harvard.edu) before submitting a proposal. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au Wed Sep 28 13:35:23 2016 From: john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au (John O'Byrne) Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2016 03:35:23 +0000 Subject: [ASA] Workshop announcement: Fine-tuning, the Multiverse and Life In-Reply-To: <07559F51-E374-4713-968D-B1BDA20E617B@sydney.edu.au> References: <07559F51-E374-4713-968D-B1BDA20E617B@sydney.edu.au> Message-ID: Subject: Workshop announcement: Fine-tuning, the Multiverse and Life Workshop: Fine-tuning, the Multiverse and Life http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~luke/2016FTConf/ Registrations are now open for the 2016 Fine-tuning, the Multiverse and Life Workshop, hosted at the University of Sydney. Issues of fine-tuning and naturalness are central to evaluating such physical and cosmological theories as inflation and extension to the Standard model of particle physics, including supersymmetry. In addition, our values of the fundamental constants of nature have the seemingly rare ability to support the complexity required by life. This has become an important way to test multiverse theories: the predicted observed value of fundamental "constants" depends on the values that permit the existence of observers. In light of these challenges, this workshop will bring together physicists, cosmologists, astronomers and philosophers of science for two days of invited and contributed talks, and discussion sessions. Topics covered will include the nature of fundamental constants, physical theories of the multiverse, the role of probability theory in evaluating cases of fine-tuning and naturalness, and the conditions for life in the universe. Venue: Sydney Nanoscience Hub, School of Physics, University of Sydney Date: Thursday 24 - Friday 25 November, 2016. Note that this is immediately before the 2016 International Symposium on Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (COSPA), also hosted at the University of Sydney, 28 Nov - 02 Dec 2016. Contact: Luke Barnes, University of Sydney: luke.barnes at sydney.edu.au ????????????????????????? "The standard you walk past is the standard you accept? ????????????????????????? ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN O?BYRNE Associate Head (Teaching & Learning), School of Physics Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching), Faculty of Science Secretary, Astronomical Society of Australia Inc. Sydney Institute for Astronomy School of Physics | Faculty of Science THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm 205, Physics Building A28 Postal address: School of Physics | The University of Sydney | NSW | Australia | 2006 T +61 2 9351 3184 | F +61 2 9351 7726 E john.obyrne at sydney.edu.au | W http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/john.obyrne CRICOS 00026A This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please delete it and any attachments. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: