Документ взят из кэша поисковой машины. Адрес оригинального документа : http://www.atnf.csiro.au/the_atnf/annual_reports/2003/Contents&pg2-4.pdf Дата изменения: Mon Jul 12 10:30:26 2004 Дата индексирования: Sun Dec 23 10:12:51 2007 Кодировка: Поисковые слова: barnard 68

Contents
Chair's report Director 's report The ATNF in brief Performance indicators Astronomy reports Observatory reports General activi ties Technology developments Appendices 2 3 5 11 19 31 41 55 63

The Parkes radio telescope Photo: © Shaun Amy


Chair's report
This y ear was one of many changes for the ATNF, with Professor Ron Ekers stepping down as Director in March 2003 and his suc cessor Professor Brian B oyle (f ormerly Director of the Anglo-Austral ian Observatory) arriving in July 2003. As the Foundation Dir ector, Ro n w as r esponsible f or shaping the culture of the Australia Telescope as a national research facility for Austral ian and overseas scientists. In this, he has been outstandingly suc cessful; in 2003 the A u str a l ia Telescope f a c i lities wer e used b y o v er 400 scientists from 21 countries, and user feedback indicated an extremely high level of satisfaction with almost every aspect of telescope performance and support. Under Ron's leadership , the ATNF has become r ecognised as an institution which both inspires and supports excellence while at the same time being inclusive and welcoming to a wide and growing user community. As an example, the ATNF's student program now includes around 30 graduate students from Australian and overseas universities who are co-supervised by ATNF staff members. The AT Steering Committee thanks Ron for his outstanding efforts as ATNF Director from 1988 to 2003, and wishes him well as he takes on new chal lenges as President of the International Astronomical Union and as a Federation Fel low. We also acknowledge the efforts of Professor Ray Norris as Acting Director for several months in 2003, and extend a warm welcome to the new Director, B rian Boyle. 2003 was another excel lent year for both science and technology at the ATNF. The science highl ights included the discovery of the first double pulsar, which will provide important tests for theories of strong-field gravity. The completion of the 12-mm upgrade to the AT Compact Array has opened up a new and very broad (16 ­ 25 GHz) region of the radio spectrum for both continuum and spectral-line imaging, and the eagerly-awaited full 3-mm system will be a vai lable by mid-2004. The ATNF continues to play a leading role in the international S quare Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project, both in technology development and in the planned setting up of a radio-quiet zone in a remote region of A ustralia. It has been both a privilege and an education to serve on the AT Steering Committee for the past thr ee years. My overwhelming impression is that the ATNF is a healthy and vibrant organisation which is well-positioned for an exciting future.

Dr Elaine Sadler, Acting Chair (April - December 2003), AT Steering Committee Photo: © University of Sydney

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Chair's report


Director's report
2003 has been a year of great success and new directions for the ATNF. As the incoming Director, I have the pleasure and privilege of taking over the leadership of such a worldclass faci l ity. At the core of the ATNF's success is it s outstanding staff, the collaborative CSIRO network in which they work, and the strong national and international astr onomical communi ty that they support. The achievements wrought by this teamwork are evident for all to see in the pages of this annual report. Over the past year a number of major upgrades and instrumentation have been delivered to both the Compact Array and the Parkes r adio telescope. This includes the 12-mm receiver at the Compact Array, already del ivering important new resul ts on molecular gas in star-forming galaxies and providing the highest resolution radio maps of SN 1987A. Two new receivers, the 8-GHz receiver built for NASA and the 10/50-cm receiver designed for pulsar timing, were also successfully commissioned on the Parkes radio telescope. Howev er, it was the by-now venerable mul tibeam receiver that perhaps produced the most spectacular scientific result of the past year; namely the disco very of the double pulsar. This was a true "breakthrough" discovery that will provide a wealth of information on both pulsar systems and fundamental physics over the coming years. As exempl ified by the Parkes pulsar surv ey, the international nature of the ATNF's user community is another of its great strengths. Time dev oted to programs wi th an overseas principal applicant remains at a healthy forty per cent. This open access leads to a rich network of international collaborations and knowledge exchange for the A ustral ian community and enables the ATNF to maintain a high profile and impact amongst the world's radio astronomy facilities. On the international stage, the highly suc cessful IAU 2003 General Assembly in Sydney enabled the ATNF and, more broadly, the Austral ian community to demonstrate its talents and capabilities. An important factor in this regard was the strong support the General Assembly received from industrial partners such as Connell Wagner. This underscores the need for partnership across al l key stake holders; Universities, I ndustry and Government, i f Austral ian astronomy is to achieve its long-term strategic goals. One of the key strategic goals is the Square Ki lometr e Array (SKA). Faci litating the Austral ian community's engagement in the SKA remains the primary long-term goal of the ATNF. During 2003, Australia continued to re-enforce its position as one of the leading members of the international SKA consortium. Through events such as the SKA meeting in Geraldton, Australia provided key input to the scientific and technical case for a wide-field SKA and was able to showcase the unique qualities of a remote Austral ian site for SKA. Further related development of SKA technology and infrastructure issues, including capi talising on new br oadband-network opportunities within Austral ia, will remain a major focus of the ATNF's activities during 2004.

Professor Brian Boyle, Director of the ATNF Photo: © Kristen Clarke

Director's report

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A Compact Array antenna Photo: © David Smyth