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ATNF News Issue No. 66, April 2009 ISSN 1323-6326 See Compact Array Broadband Backend (CABB) article on page 6. Left to right: CABB Project Leader Dr Warwick Wilson, CSIRO Chief Executive Offi cer Megan Clark and ATNF Acting Director Dr Lewis Ball, with a CABB signal processing board in front of two antennas of the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Photo: Paul Mathews Photographics Removing the “spaghetti” of ribbon cable that fed the old correlator, from left to right, Matt Shields (obscured), Brett Hiscock, Scott Munting, Mark Leach, and Peter Mirtschin. Photo: CSIRO Cover page images CABB Project—team photo. Back row, left to right: Warwick Wilson (Project Leader), Paul Roberts, Grant Hampson, Peter Axtens, Yoon Chung. Middle row: Aaron Sanders, Dick Ferris (Project Engineer), Matt Shields, Mark Leach (Project Manager). Front row: Troy Elton, Andrew Brown, Raji Chekkala, Evan Davis. Other contributors (not in photo): Scott Saunders. (See article on page 6.) Photo: Tim Wheeler, April 2009 The Sunrise television crew prepare to broadcast live from the grounds of the CSIRO Parkes Observatory. Photo: Tim Ruckley, CSIRO Installation of a 300 – 900-MHz receiver on the Parkes 64-m radio telescope. (See article on page 28.) Photo: Maik Wolleben, CSIRO 2 ATNF News, Issue 66, April 2009 Contents Editorial.............................................................................................................................................................................3 From the Director ......................................................................................................................................................4 Brian Boyle Takes up New Role as CSIRO SKA Director ...................................................................5 Compact Array Broadband Backend ..............................................................................................................6 Exchange Expertise ...................................................................................................................................................8 ATNF Distinguished Visitors .................................................................................................................................9 ATNF Graduate Student Program ...................................................................................................................9 Highlighting our History: Potts Hill Field Station, 1948 – 1962 ........................................................10 Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfi nder (ASKAP) .....................................................................14 OCE Postdoctoral Fellowship Success ...........................................................................................................17 Pulse@Parkes: A Month of Pulsar Observing with the ASKAP Test-bed Antenna ................18 Unraveling the Mysteries Surrounding the Life and Death of the Most Massive Stars ......20 S-PASS: the Polarised Southern Sky .................................................................................................................24 National Facility Operations .................................................................................................................................27 Time Assignment Information .............................................................................................................................31 ATNF Publications List .............................................................................................................................................32 ATNF Outreach ..........................................................................................................................................................34 Editorial In this issue, Phil Edwards reports on In other news, George Hobbs and the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics. For the tremendous achievements that collaborators discuss pulsar observing 40 years he made a huge contribution to have taken place with the Compact with the ASKAP test-bed antenna a magnifi cent photographic archive that Array Broadband Backend (CABB) situated at Parkes, while a history records the events, facilities and people project. This is an upgrade that will of the research undertaken at Potts that make up the history of CSIRO keep the Australia Telescope Compact Hill Field Station is examined in Radiophysics and the ATNF since the Array at the forefront of radio a paper by Harry Wendt, Wayne earliest days. Examples of his superb astronomy, providing observers with Orchiston and Bruce Slee. photography can be seen around the much improved bandwidth allowing Marsfi eld site, ATNF Observatories and Finally, we provide an in-depth update for more sensitive observations. in many publications. An obituary and on ASKAP activities including a special examples of his work will be available We also feature a number of articles antenna report prepared by Ross in the next edition of ATNF News. which highlight the wide-ranging and Forsyth, together with information on insightful science being undertaken the SKA Forum held in Cape Town, If you would like to contribute to at ATNF facilities. Franz Bauer and as well as information on continuing later editions of the ATNF News, please collaborators report on SN1996cr, ASKAP industry engagement. contact the newsletter team. the strongest radio supernova ever As this issue was being prepared, discovered, while Ettore Carretti Tony Crawshaw and Joanne Houldsworth we were saddened to hear of the reports on the S-band Polarisation death of John Masterson on 9 April The ATNF Newsletter Production Team All Sky Survey (S-PASS), a project to 2009. John was an esteemed and ([email protected]) map the diffuse polarised synchrotron highly respected photographer with emission of the entire southern sky. 3 From the Director Lewis Ball ATNF Acting Director This newsletter details a range of achievements by a great team Brian deserves specifi c acknowledge- of people engaged in radio astronomy activities. It is increasingly ment for his leading role in the development of the Decadal Plan for important to recognise that the makeup of that team extends Australian Astronomy in 2005, and well beyond the staff within the Australia Telescope National for the rapid fi rming of Australia’s commitment to playing a leading role Facility (ATNF) and the astronomers who use our telescopes. in the SKA. The resulting funding of A$51.7M from the Commonwealth The biggest news at this time for users ATNF was the fi rst observatory to Government to CSIRO to expand its of the ATNF telescopes is the start of use digital data transmission of radio plans for a new telescope in Western scientifi c operations of the Compact astronomical data on optical fi bres Australia to become the Australian Array Broadband Backend, or CABB, on and their use of this technology SKA Pathfi nder is one of the largest 22 April 2009. The system is described for CABB is state-of-the-art.” injections of funds into Australian in articles within this newsletter. I’d like Signifi cant funding was received from astronomy. This will continue to to acknowledge here the contributions the Major National Research Facilities have a profound impact on Australian of the team that have made this project grant from the 2001 round on the basis astronomy in future decades. Brian’s possible. Warwick Wilson has led that the technology underlying CABB new role, in which he is seconded into the CABB project from its inception was on the development path towards the Department of Industry, Innovation, and Warwick and the rest of the the realisation of the Square Kilimetre Science and Research for 40% of his ATNF’s back end engineering group Array (SKA). As the focus shifts from time, is further indication of Australia’s have worked tirelessly on this very building CABB to using and operating and CSIRO’s commitment to the challenging project for the last seven it, the staff of the back end group will strategic opportunities associated with years. The expertise of the group was shift their efforts further towards radio astronomy over the decades to acknowledged as being world class by the development of the beamformer, come. It is a privilege for me to fi ll the independent, international panel correlator and data transport systems the role of Acting Director of ATNF that conducted the ATNF Science for the Australian SKA Pathfi nder until CSIRO completes a competitive Review in 2007. In their overview, (ASKAP), while the software and appointment process for a new the Science Review panel stated: fi rmware gurus (Warwick Wilson and Director. This is expected to occur by “In the area of digital signal processing, Dick Ferris) continue to work on the end of 2009. In the role of ATNF the ATNF developed the fi rst digital providing different modes of operation Acting Director I continue to work very frequency conversion system for Very of CABB. Operations and astrophysics closely with Brian. I have responsibility Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) staff are now in the front line of for the ATNF Business Unit—essentially and their experiments in electronic- ensuring that astronomers can make the all the staff and equipment—and VLBI (e- VLBI) have achieved very best use of the new system, and I am for the delivery of the Operation of competitive bandwidths. The advanced sure that in years to come it will result the National Facility telescopes, the design and short development time of in science that we haven’t predicted. astrophysics research