ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCE www.csiro.au CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility Annual Report 2016 CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility Annual Report 2015 ISSN 1038–9554 This is the report of the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility for the calendar year 2015, approved by the Australia Telescope Steering Committee. Editor: Helen Sim CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility DesignAnnual andReport typesetting: 2016 Caitlin Edwards PrintedISSN 1038–9554 and bound by XXX CoverThis is image: the report Work of thebeing CSIRO done Australia on an antennaTelescope of National the Australian Facility for the SKAcalendar Pathfinder. year 2016, Credit: approved CSIRO by the Australia Telescope Steering Committee. Inner cover image: An observer in the ATNF Science Editor: Helen Sim Operations Centre. Credit: Flornes Yuen Design and typesetting: Jo Ashley and Caitlin Edwards Printed and bound by New Millenium Print Cover image: the 19-beam receiver designed and built by the ATNF for China’s FAST radio telescope, under test in CSIRO’s antenna range at Marsfield, Sydney. Credit: Wheeler Studios Inner cover image: students from the Pia Wadjarri Remote Community School on a visit to the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. Credit: Rob Hollow b Document title Contents Chair’s report 2 Director’s report 3 The ATNF in brief 5 Performance indicators 9 Science highlights 15 The Australia Telescope Survey for Extreme Scattering Events (ATESE) 16 Largest galaxies form from ‘star dew’ 17 ASKAP begins Early Science observations 18 A powerhouse of stars in the early Universe 19 Finding hidden H I in the Milky Way’s halo 20 Brilliant fast radio burst probes intergalactic gas 21 Tighter pulsar timing gives exquisite star distance 22 Galaxy surveys in the Zone of Avoidance 23 Observatory reports 25 Technology development 34 People and community 39 Appendices 47 A: Committee membership 48 B: Financial summary 49 C: Staff list 50 D: Observing programs 54 E: PhD students 61 F: PhD theses 62 G: Publications 63 H: Abbreviations 72 1 Chair’s report Dr Susan Barrell The ATNF should build on and facilities versus international users’ Chair, ATNF Steering Committee strengthen its connections with the access to Australian facilities. Credit: Bureau of Meteorology Australian and international astronomy communities, and take a leading The Committee recognised that a vibrant technology-development program The Australia Telescope National Facility role in developing an inclusive and is essential to ensure a world-class (ATNF) continued through 2016 to deliver nationally collaborative structure for capability in radio astronomy in the high-quality science and technology an Australian Regional SKA Centre SKA era and to broaden the impact of outcomes in support of CSIRO’s strategic that provides data services and user ATNF technology. To achieve that, the objectives and contributed strongly support for Australia and the Asia-Pacific Committee recommended that CSIRO to national and international science region. It should also take a central invest at a significant level to maintain achievements. The Steering Committee coordinating role in the development and develop long-term capability for acknowledged the leadership that of both a nationally supported science radio-astronomy instrumentation; both Dr Lewis Ball, the departing and engineering strategy and a maintain a pipeline of projects with Director, and Dr Douglas Bock, the new cohesive and well-informed science a mix of SKA and other telescopes to Director, have brought to sustain these community for the SKA in Australia. ensure sustainable revenue, continuity achievements, and welcomes the energy The status of the ATNF under current and scale; and engage with partners and direction that Douglas brings to research funding challenges, as a to maximise the impact of radio- guide the facility into the SKA era. true national facility being free to the astronomy technology and capture The Steering Committee continued to end user at the point of use, and the innovations from outside the ATNF. provide high-level advice to guide the ongoing need to consider external The Steering Committee expressed strategic directions, performance and funding options, occupied considerable its confidence in a positive future allocation of observing resources for Committee discussion. The Committee for the ATNF and for Australian the facility. The Committee convened recommended a multi-faceted approach astronomy more generally. twice through the year and engaged in to external funding, such as offering ongoing consultations as required. The telescope time for sale; obtaining Committee’s advice to the Director and external funding to support use of the CSIRO Board was focused mainly on the Murchison Radio-astronomy three key areas: the Square Kilometre Observatory (MRO) by instruments Array (SKA); operations and funding of other than the Australian SKA Pathfinder the ATNF; and technology development. (ASKAP), including for the SKA Site Entity role; and identifying new models The Committee considered that CSIRO for funding individual telescopes, such has an essential role in leading and as using the Parkes telescope as an enabling the SKA and on building a educational facility. Consultation with widely supported SKA strategy for the broader astronomical community Australia. It recommended that CASS, and development of transition strategies as the national radio astronomy supported through bridging funding observatory, should place increasing would be essential, especially to ensure emphasis on the SKA, both through that PhD students are not disadvantaged. a technology program focused on To inform the consultation and SKA technologies and construction consideration of options, the Committee and through seeking roles as SKA also recommended an assessment of Operator and Site Entity for Australia. the benefit attained through Australian- based astronomers’ access to overseas 2 CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility | Annual Report 2016 Director’s report Dr Douglas Bock During the year we obtained funding Our publication numbers remain very Director, Australia Telescope to replace six first-generation ASKAP strong, with a slight decline within the National Facility PAFs with the most recent model, typical year-to-year variation. This may so all 36 antennas will be equipped reflect in part declining research staff Two thousand and sixteen (2016) was a with the new feeds in 2017. The latest numbers within CASS in recent years. year of consolidation and delivery for ASKAP PAFs are also influencing Our publication impact continues to the ATNF. It was a period of relative calm instrumentation on other telescopes. be underpinned by Compact Array after recent years, when the selection This year we completed an ASKAP PAF, and Parkes papers, but Long Baseline of the site for the Square Kilometre built for the Effelsberg 100-m telescope Array and Mopra publications are Array (SKA), technology choices for in Germany, and commissioned it on also strong. ASKAP publications are the SKA, and the need to fund the Parkes. Pilot observations made with this dominated by commissioning results. operational costs of the Australian SKA instrument are described on page 34 . In recent years, the response rates to Pathfinder (ASKAP) had all required Other aspects of the Parkes our user surveys have been low and we us to make significant changes to the instrumentation program continued have not published results. This was ATNF’s operations and direction. to forge ahead this year. We the case in 2016. However, we have In 2016 the Square Kilometre Array substantially completed the 0.7- introduced a simpler system and plan to (SKA) project reached the middle of 4.2 GHz ultra-wideband receiver, resume reporting our results in 2017. its ‘pre-construction’ phase. We are which will be commissioned in 2017, involved in several consortia and and began development of a next- Late in the year there was public lead two. This was a $21.5 m activity, generation cooled PAF for Parkes. comment around allegations of bullying largely funded by the Department of and harassment at CASS. Such behaviour Industry, Innovation and Science (over At the Compact Array, the first two is not acceptable. We have launched a five years), but with co-investment by ‘legacy projects’ began in the October review of our culture and environment CSIRO. During the year, our consortium semester, and were allocated about and engaged with staff and stakeholders teams doubled down to deliver their 25 per cent of observing time. Legacy to prevent a recurrence. CASS aspires allotted design work. We also supported projects are large, coherent science to be an employer of choice, with a Australia’s negotiations to create the investigations, not reproducible by intergovernmental “SKA Observatory”. any combination of smaller projects, diverse, safe and productive workforce. that are intended to generate data Finally, I would like to acknowledge We began using ASKAP-12, a 12-antenna of general and lasting importance to array using our latest phased-array the broad astronomy community. the support and advice given in 2016 feeds (PAFs), and delivering science by the Australia Telescope Steering with it. By the end of the year PAFs CSIRO funding for radio astronomy Committee (ATSC), Users’ Committee were deployed on 30 ASKAP antennas. remained at approximately the same (ATUC) and Time Allocation Committee. These were major milestones in the level for 2016 as for 2015, but other They are critical