ATNF Media Releases 1998

24 Nov 1998 AUSSIES HELP HUBBLE HUNT ANCIENT GALAXIES Australian telescopes have helped the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) find thousands of new galaxies. The Anglo-Australian Observatory and CSIRO helped choose the patch of sky in which the HST found the previously unknown galaxies. They are now helping Hubble astronomers to learn more about these new discoveries. Preliminary HST results were released today by NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute, as were the results from the Australian institutions. More information: Dr Ray Norris, CSIRO Tel: (02) 9372 4416 (bh), (02) 9369 9591 (ah), 0417 288 307 (mobile) E-mail: rnorris@atnf.csiro.au Dr Brian Boyle, Anglo-Australian Observatory Tel: (02) 9372 4811 (bh), (02) 9498 1584 (ah) E-mail: director@aaoepp.aao.gov.au See also: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/1998/41/ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html http://www.atnf.csiro.au/~rnorris/hdf-s http://local.aao.gov.au/AAO/hdfs/

5 Nov 1998 PARKES RADIO TELESCOPE PUTS 1000 PULSAR RUNS ON THE BOARD. A team using CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope has just found the thousandth pulsar known to science. The telescope holds the international record for having discovered the largest number of these small spinning stars since the first was found in 1967. The new survey is clocking them up more than ten times faster than any previous search, anywhere - about one for each hour the telescope is used - and has already found more than 200. Contacts: Dr Dick Manchester, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility. Tel:(02) 9372-4313 (bh), (02) 9449-4534 (ah) Fax (02) 9372-4310 E-mail:rmanches@atnf.csiro.au Professor Vicky Kaspi, Department of Physics and Center for Space Research, MIT. Tel: +1 617-253-5169 Fax: +1 617-253-0861 E-mail:vicky@space.mit.edu Dr Fernando Camilo, University of Manchester, UK. Tel: +44-1477-571-321 Fax: +44-1477-571-618 E-mail:fc@jb.man.ac.uk See also: Pulsar - Supernova Remnant Project, The Parkes 21 cm Multibeam Project, CSIRO Media Release.

20 August 1998 CAUGHT RED-HANDED: OUR GALAXY IS DESTRYING ITS NEIGHBOURS Astronomers using the CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope have made a picture that shows our galaxy ripping apart its nearest neighbours. Contacts: Dr Lister Staveley-Smith, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility Tel. (02) 9372-4271 (work), (02) 9871-1307 (home) Email: lstavele@atnf.csiro.au Dr Brad Gibson, Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Australian National University Email: gibson@mso.anu.edu.au Dr Rachel Webster, University of Melbourne Email: rwebster@physics.unimelb.edu.au Prof Ron Ekers, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility Email: rekers@atnf.csiro.au See also: Nature paper, The Parkes 21 cm Multibeam Project, Related Pictures.

9 June 1998 ASTRONOMERS FIND GALAXIES HIDDEN BEHIND THE MILKY WAY About one-quarter of the distant Universe is hidden from photographic exploration by dust in our own Milky Way galaxy. Now astronomers are mapping unseen galaxies using radio telescopes, unveiling the so-called "Zone-of-Avoidance". Contacs: Dr. Patricia Henning

8 May 1998 AUSSIES FIRST TO SEE LIKELY BLACK HOLE BIRTH Australian astronomers may be witnessing what has never been seen before - a black hole being born as the core of a supermassive star collapses in on itself. Contacts: Professor Ron Ekers, Director, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility Tel: 02 9372 4301 (BH), 02 9869 8656, email: director@atnf.csiro.au Dr Brian Boyle, Director, Anglo-Australian Observatory Tel: 02 9372 4811 (BH), email: director@aaoepp.aao.gov.au Dr Elaine Sadler, University of Sydney Tel: 02 9351 2622 (BH), 02 9922 6368 (AH), email: ems@physics.usyd.edu.au Dr Dale Frail, US National Radio Astronomy Observatory * 16 hours behind Eastern Australian Time* Tel.: 1-505-835-9115 (home), 1-505-835-7338 (work), email: dfrail@nrao.edu See also the ATCA Gamma-Ray-Burst Page, Optical Pictures of ESO184-82, Selected GRBs and APOD

7 May 1998 STINGRAY IN THE SKY SPARKS NEW THEORY Australian astronomers have put forward a new theory to explain a weird stingray shaped remnant of a giant exploded star, or supernova. Contact: Mr. Bryan Gaensler CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility & University of Sydney phone: 02 9372 4263 (ATNF), 02 9351 7688 (USyd)

18 February 1998 AUSTRALIA TO SHARE IN "HEAVENLY TWINS" The Australian Academy of Science today welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Education, Dr. David Kemp, that Australia is to join the International Gemini Project now building two astronomical telescopes for optical and infrared wavelengths in Hawaii and Chile. Contacts: Sir Gustav Nossal: 03 9344 6946 (Dept. Pathology, Uni. of Melbourne) Prof. Jeremy Mould: 02 6249 0266 (Director, Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories) Academy Secretariat: Trish Nicholls: 02 6247 3966 (Australian Academy of Science Secretariat)

February 1998 TELESCOPE DREAMING (ABC Science-Lab) It's 10 pm on 5 March, 2013, and you've just checked the Net for the latest results on a newly discovered parallel universe. You, and thousands of other people in your city, are taking part in a giant new experiment in astronomy. Contacts: Helen Sim, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility.

11 January 1998 ASTRONOMERS TAKE PULSE OF DOOMED STAR CSIRO's Australia Telescope has tracked the throbbing 'pulse' of a bizarre gigantic star called Eta Carinae, a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Washington D.C. was told on Thursday. Contacts: Dr. Bob Duncan, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility (phone: 02 9372 4260 (bh) or 02 9484 1375 (ah)) Dr. Stephen White, Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, USA (phone: (301) 405 1547, fax (301) 314 9067, www-homepage)

General public relations enquiries should be directed to:

Helen Sim (hsim@atnf.csiro.au) --- Phone: +61 (0) 2 9372 4251, Fax: +61 (0)2 9372 4310

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