Blog Archives

Applications Open for the Australian positions on the ESO STC and UC

30/8/2017

Under the Strategic Partnership between Australia and the European Southern Observatory (ESO), signed in July 2017, Australia is entitled to representation on four ESO governance bodies: The ESO Council, Finance Committee, Scientific Technical Committee, and Users Committee.

On behalf of the Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS), AAL is calling for nominations from Australian-based astronomers to represent Australia on the following ESO bodies:

ESO Scientific Technical Committee (STC)
ESO Users Committee (UC)

Applications close 9am AEST 11th September 2017.
Please see our advertisement page for further details.

Call for Australian Subaru Proposals in Semester 2018A

14/8/2017

Proposals for Australian time on the Subaru 8.2m telescope on Mauna Kea in Semester 2018A (1 Feb - 31 July 2018) are due by 1:00pm AEST, Thursday 7 September 2017.

The Subaru 8.2 metre telescope located on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). In December 2016 Astronomy Australia Ltd negotiated a new collaborative program with NAOJ, providing 5 nights in Semester 2018A and 5 nights in Semester 2018B for the Australian community on the Subaru telescope. Australia will also make technical contributions to the Subaru program, and Japanese astronomers will get access to 4 nights on the AAT in 2018. Australian access to the Subaru telescope has been enabled through the Australian Government's National Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

Further information about Australian access to Subaru can be found: Subaru ITSO web pages. Please direct any questions to the International Telescopes Support Office (itso@aao.gov.au) at the AAO.

ESO Community Days

14/8/2017

Following the signing of the Strategic Partnership agreement between the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Australian government on 11 July 2017, Australian-based astronomers will be eligible to apply for observing time on the facilities of the La Silla Paranal Observatories in Chile commencing with Period 101 (1 April - 30 Sep 2018). The Call for Proposals will be issued at the end of August, and the proposal deadline will be Thursday 28 September 2017.

In the lead up to this proposal round the AAO's International Telescopes Support Office (ITSO) is coordinating a series of "ESO Community Days" around Australia, on behalf of ESO, the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, and Astronomy Australia Ltd. The ESO Director for Science Dr Rob Ivison, and the Head of the Observing Programs Office at ESO Dr Ferdinando Patat, will provide a comprehensive overview of the current and future observing facilities available, as well as the proposal preparation, submission, and assessment process. The sessions will run from 10am until lunchtime as follows:

Monday 18 Sep 2017: AAO, Sydney
Tuesday 19 Sep 2017: RSAA Mt Stromlo, Canberra
Wednesday 20 Sep 2017: Swinburne University, Melbourne
Thursday 21 Sep 2017: University of Western Australia, Perth
Friday 22 Sep 2017: University of Queensland, Brisbane

Further details can be found on AAO's website: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/eso

AST3-2 Antarctic Telescope

7/8/2017

Approximately 15TB of AST3-2 optical g-band raw image data obtained with the Chinese AST3-2 telescope during 2016 has been made available through the University of New South Wales. AST3-2 is a 0.5m aperture optical telescope located at Dome A in Antarctica and partly funding By the Australian Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy NCRIS.

For more information, please contact: Professor Michael Ashley, Department of Astrophysics, University of New South: m.ashley -@- unsw.edu.au