AAL and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science are pleased to announce the launch of the Australian ESO Forum. This Forum is intended to enhance the flow of information and ideas among experienced and prospective Australian users of ESO facilities and data. Here users can find:

• Answers to several Frequently Asked Questions from new ESO users.
• Blog postings from Australia's representatives on ESO committees, and other ESO users.
• An overview of what ESO offers and how to apply. The next Call for Proposals in Period 103 is due to be issued at the start of September.
• A summary of Australian proposal statistics and allocations to date. Did you know that Australian-led proposals were awarded more than 8% of the available VLT time in the current Period 101?
• An “ESO Collaboratory” where users can post ideas for new ESO proposals, seek out collaborators, and/or offer to join these projects.
  
• A list of all recent and upcoming ESO-related events in Australia, including the first Australia-ESO Joint Conference on “Linking galaxies from the epoch of initial star formation to today” from 18-22 Feb 2019 in Sydney, for which registration is now open.
  
• The latest Tweets from @ESO.
  

 
RSS feeds are available for the ESO blogs and Collaboratory, so users can keep up to date with the latest postings. All members of the Australian astronomy community are welcome and encouraged to post comments and questions, and guest blog posts are welcome. Please contact eso-forum@astronomyaustralia.org.au with any contributions and suggestions.

Applications close on Wednesday 29th August 5 PM AWST.

On behalf of the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) Council, Astronomy Australia Limited (AAL) seeks applications for the AAT Time Allocation Committee and AAT Users’ Committee (AATUC).  These two committees are continuations of the Australian Time Allocation Committee and AAO Users’ Committee respectively, previously managed by the Australian Astronomical Observatory. Their operation is expected to largely remain similar to those of their predecessors.
 
ATAC will meet twice a year in person, with the next meeting scheduled for early November. AATUC will meet twice a year via videoconferencing, with the next meeting scheduled for mid-October.
 
If you consider yourself well placed to contribute to one of these committees via your expertise, ideas, and experience, please email applications@astronomyaustralia.org.au with a maximum three page application with:

•  a covering letter describing your expertise relevant to the committee terms of reference
• a brief CV
• any relevant conflicts of interest.

AAL is committed to equity and diversity and encourages applications from all interested candidates with relevant expertise and skills.

​Please do not hesitate to contact AAL if you have any questions regarding these committees:

Mita Brierley, Senior Program Manager
Mark McAuley, CEO


Applications close on Wednesday 29th August 5 PM AWST. Late applications will not be accepted.

More details may be downloaded below:
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The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) Organisation have announced the release of the 2018 Science Book describing GMT’s strengths and its potential for scientific discovery.
The book describes the transformative impact that GMT will have on areas spanning observational astrophysics—from exoplanets around neighboring stars to the formation of the first, most distant stars, galaxies, and black holes in the universe. It also describes the GMT itself, explaining its unique design and capabilities, including the first-generation instrument suite that has been chosen to maximize the GMT’s scientific impact during early operations.

​The Science Book can be downloaded in pdf format from the GMTO website.