ATNF News Issue No. 49, February 2003 ISSN 1323-6326 FEATURES Compact Array millimetre images of disks IN THIS around the young stars TW Hya and HD 100546 ISSUE ATCA mm images of disks around young stars Page 1 John Brooks CSIRO Lifetime Achievement Medal Page 3 ATCA mm science workshop Figure 1: Left – TW Hya continuum emission at 89 GHz. The contour levels are ±2, 4, 6,…× Page 4 2.5 mJy. Right – HD 100546 continuum emission at 89 GHz. The contour levels are ±2, 4, 6,…× 3.1 mJy. The ellipse in the lower left corner of each figure represents the The first Bolton synthesized beam. The beam size in the left figure is 6.9 × 2.1 arcsecond2 and in the Symposium right, 3.2 × 2.2 arcsecond2. Images were made using natural weighting to obtain best Page 5 sensitivity. Negative contours are dotted. Eclipse in corner Many young stars exhibit emission from nearby dark clouds like Taurus, which country circumstellar dust particles distributed in makes it an especially attractive target for Page 8 disks with properties similar to the early observations with high angular resolution. Solar System, and much activity is TW Hya retains a face-on molecular disk IAU General currently devoted to characterizing the visible in scattered light that extends to a Assembly physical properties of these disks to radius of at least 3.5 arcseconds (200 Page 10 extract information on planet formation. AU). This disk has been detected in a Observations at millimetre wavelengths suite of molecular species (CO, HCN, LOFAR in Australia are especially important because the disk CN, and HCO+) at sub-millimetre Page 11 material beyond a few stellar radii is at wavelengths using single-dish telescopes temperatures from a few hundreds to a (Kastner et al.,1997; van Zadelhoff et al., aips++ few tens of degrees Kelvin, and the 2001). At an age of about 10 million years, Page 12 physical and chemical conditions can be the TW Hya disk appears to be ATCA imaging of probed in detail in this part of the substantially evolved, with significant grain clusters of galaxies spectrum. growth and indications of a cleared inner in the SUMMS hole, perhaps related to planet formation. During the 2002 ATCA millimetre season Page 14 we observed the dust continuum and HD 100546 is among the nearest Herbig Gravity HCO+ J = 1–0 line emission from two Ae/Be stars at 103 ± 6 pc, and shows a deformations in southern disk targets: (1) TW Hya, the disk-like scattered light distribution of ATCA antennas closest known classical T Tauri star, and substantial size, about 8 arcseconds (8000 Page 16 (2) HD 100546, a nearby Herbig Be star AU), as well as strong millimetre emission whose infrared spectrum shows from dust. Mid-infrared spectroscopy SKA program crystalline silicates, indicative of comet- from ISO shows remarkably strong report like dust. We observed both stars at 89 crystalline silicate bands, similar to those Page 20 GHz (3.4 mm) using two compact array observed in comet Hale-Bopp and configurations of three antennas, resulting indicative of substantial processing of the in a resolution of about 2 arcseconds. dust within the disk. At a distance of 56 ± 7 pc, TW Hya is Figure 1, shows the 89-GHz continuum almost three times closer than the classical T Tauri stars associated with Continued on page 18 Editorial Welcome to the February 2003 issue of ATNF News. The ATNF is going through a period of considerable changes in its senior management. After 37 years with CSIRO, the Assistant Director John Brooks leaves the ATNF in February 2003 for long service leave and retirement. John joined CSIRO in 1965 as an apprentice. His remarkable career, recently recognized with an award for lifetime achievement, is described briefly on page 3. Professor Ron Ekers, the ATNF Director since 1988, stands down as Director in March 2003 to take up a prestigious and well-funded research position as a Federation Fellow. Under the terms of this appointment Professor Ekers will cease to hold management responsibilities. ATNF and CSIRO processes to appoint a new Director for the ATNF are well underway. Until a new appointment is made, Professor Ray Norris will head the ATNF as acting Director. Change always presents some threats as well as new challenges and opportunities. The ATNF has had the benefit of a long period of stability under the strong leadership of Ron Ekers and this has allowed the organization to develop well-defined goals, with a focus on radio astronomy and associated technologies, and a clear vision for the future. Overall, the ATNF has a high level of staff satisfaction and a research environment that is characterised by excellence, creativity and cooperation. These characteristics should serve the ATNF well through the present transition period. This is our first issue of ATNF News with Lakshmi Saripalli as editor. As always, we welcome contributions to the newsletter. Jessica Chapman, Lakshmi Saripalli, Jo Houldsworth ATNF News Production Team ([email protected]) Contents Compact Array millimetre images of disks around the young stars TW Hya and HD 100546 ............... 1 John Brooks awarded CSIRO Lifetime Achievement Medal ................................................................. 3 Workshop report: ATCA millimetre science in 2002 ...............................................................................4 The first Bolton Symposium ..................................................................................................................... 5 Australia Telescope Users Committee report .......................................................................................... 6 ATNF visitor program .............................................................................................................................. 6 New research position at Narrabri .......................................................................................................... 7 ATNF graduate student program ............................................................................................................. 7 Eclipse in corner country ......................................................................................................................... 8 And I thought I’d have quiet retirement! ............................................................................................... 10 LOFAR in Australia ................................................................................................................................11 aips++ .................................................................................................................................................... 12 Symposia and workshops – March 2003 to July 2003 ........................................................................... 13 IAU General Assembly XXV Sydney 13 – 26 July 2003 ...................................................................... 13 ATCA imaging of clusters of galaxies found in the SUMSS ................................................................. 14 The gravity deformations in the Compact Array antennas .................................................................... 16 SKA program report .............................................................................................................................. 20 ATNF outreach ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Compact Array and Mopra report ......................................................................................................... 22 Parkes Observatory report .................................................................................................................... 24 Time Assignment information ................................................................................................................ 26 ATNF publications list ............................................................................................................................ 27 Page 2 ATNF News, Issue No. 49, February 2003 News John Brooks awarded CSIRO Lifetime Achievement Medal John Brooks, the staff and always Assistant Director and giving credit to Engineering Manager colleagues. of the Australia Telescope National For 37 years John Facility, has been has shown what awarded a CSIRO ‘service to science’ Lifetime Achievement means. He leaves the Medal for his many ATNF in February contributions to the 2003 for long service ATNF. The Lifetime leave and retirement. Achievement Medal is He will be greatly a new CSIRO award photo by Kristen Clarke missed. We wish and was given at a John Brooks as a young engineer in 1967 (left) John and his family ceremony held in and as ATNF Assistant Director in 2002 (right). many years of Parliament House, Canberra on 10 December 2002. happiness in the next stage of their lives. John joined CSIRO in 1965. As a young engineer he CSIRO medal for ATNF and CTIP staff worked on equipment for the Parkes radio telescope. In 1982 the (then) Director of CSIRO Radiophysics, Several ATNF and CSIRO Telecommunications and Bob Frater, had the daunting task of building the Industrial Physics staff were also honoured at the Australia Telescope Compact Array. This was an CSIRO annual awards on 10 December 2002. The ambitious project, with the aim of building a world- ATNF/CTIP MMIC team, John Archer, Mal Sinclair, class array with 80 per cent Australian content. Bob Russell Gough, Paul Roberts and Oya Sevimli, was selected John Brooks as the man who could make honoured