[ASA] Virtual Town hall on 'Plan B' for large telescope access: Friday 8th May

[Sarah Brough]

Dear colleagues,

Following on from our NCA and AAL emails over the past three weeks regarding the Minister’s decision not to pursue formal Australian membership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), we indicated that work was underway on a possible ‘Plan B’ to help secure ongoing access for our community to the facilities that are connected to this decision (large telescope access, optical instrumentation and the AAT).

We would now like to invite the Australian astronomy community to a virtual town hall meeting where we will present an outline of this draft Plan B and, importantly, provide an open forum for questions, comments, and discussion. The aim of the session is to hear community feedback, understand priorities and concerns, and help shape the next steps as this work progresses.

The meeting is open to all interested members of the community, and contributions from across career stages and sub‑disciplines are very welcome.

Details of the Zoom call, including date, time and connection information, are provided below. Attendees are required to register at the link provided.

Friday 8th May, 2.30pm in Sydney, https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/qpIJCD1vlpTnQRxlwTWf2TjjhYB?domain=science-org-au.zoom.us

We strongly encourage you to attend and to share this invitation with colleagues who may be interested. The meeting will be recorded and shared for those who are unable to attend.

With best wishes,

Sarah and Alex
On behalf of NCA and AAL

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Professor Sarah Brough
Head of School | School of Physics
Chair | National Committee for Astronomy
Australian Observer | European Southern Observatory Council
AD: #G06, Old Main Building (K15) | UNSW Sydney | NSW 2052 | Australia
PH: +61 2 9065 2579

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