The globular clusters 47 Tuc (NGC 104) and NGC 6723 both belong to the group of clusters which have late-type integrated spectra and which appear to be only slightly metal deficient with respect to the stars in the Hyades.

Despite its superb optical and radio observatories, Australia is essentially blind to the entire submillimeter and far-infrared spectrum. The importance of this spectral region can perhaps best be illustrated by reference to Figure 1, which shows the flux of the galaxy NGC253 as a function of frequency.

This communication describes techniques, new to radio astronomy, which permit the analysis of electrical signals at radio-frequencies by optical methods.

Two applications will be described: the first is to a spectrograph which gives the instantaneous power spectrum of a single broad-band electrical signal; the second is to the analysis of the signals from a number of aerials of an array in order to form a simultaneous image of the brightness distribution of the region of the sky under observation.

In May 1984 site testing began for the Automated Patrol Telescope. A series of atmospheric extinction and night sky brightness measurements were made over the following year at Parkes and Siding Spring Mountain using B and V filters. Parkes revealed an extinction greater than that of Siding Spring and more prone to variation. Results for the night sky brightness indicated Parkes has a sky slightly brighter than that at Siding Spring. The paper discusses the procedures used for obtaining the results and their limitations.

Recent spectroscopic investigations of OB stars by Walborn (1970,1971a) have revealed the existence of OB stars with anomalous nitrogen and carbon spectra. In particular, two groups of stars were identified — those with strong nitrogen features and accompanying weak carbon-oxygen blends (called ON stars), and those with weak nitrogen features and strong carbon features (called OC stars). These groups bear a striking resemblance to the WN, WC dichotomy exhibited by the Wolf Rayet stars and is suggestive that a common process may be responsible for both phenomena.

The eighth magnitude star HD 101065 is an extremely peculiar star with a unique spectrum characterized by numerous strong lines of the rare earths and the absence, or at least a remarkable weakening, of the lines of the iron group (Cowley et al. 1977). Besides the lanthanides only yttrium, zirconium, calcium and barium are definitely present in the atmosphere in substantial quantities. The evidence for the presence of lithium and strontium is subject to some doubt since these elements are represented only by one or two reasonably strong lines, which is insufficient for a positive identification in a spectrum as complex as that of HD 101065. The evidence for the presence of other elements is the subject of a critical examination in a recent paper by Cowley et al. (1977). The effective temperature of the star is about 6100 K (Przybylski, 1977) which is substantially lower than the temperature of any known Ap star. However, the effective temperature of HD 101065 is still subject to controversy (Wegner, 1976).

Using a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation of a galaxy of similar mass to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), we examine the predicted characteristics of its lowest metallicity populations. In particular, we emphasise the spatial distributions of first (Pop III) and second (polluted by only immediate Pop III ancestors) generation stars. We find that primordial composition stars form not only in the central galaxy’s progenitor, but also in locally collapsed subhaloes during the early phases of galaxy formation. The lowest metallicity stars in these subhaloes end up in a relatively extended distribution around the host, with these accreted stars possessing present-day galactocentric distances as great as ~40 kpc. By contrast, the earliest stars formed within the central galaxy remain in the inner region, where the vast majority of star formation occurs, for the entirety of the simulation. Consequently, the fraction of stars that are from the earliest generation increases strongly with radius.

We present global VLBI and VLBA observations of the compact steep spectrum quasar B1524–136. These observations reveal well-defined radio jets on both sides of the active nucleus. Also, the overall radio structure appears highly distorted and asymmetric with the counter-jet exhibiting several oscillations. A possible scenario is one in which jet and counter-jet are inclined at about 25° and 75° to the line of sight respectively and an environment which is dense on the jet side. Possible implications of these results are discussed.

It is argued that the new morphological and spectral information gleaned from the recently published LoFAR Two metre Sky Survey data release 2 (LoTSS-2 at 144 MHz) observations of the cluster Abell 980 (A980), in combination with its existing GMRT and VLA observations at higher frequencies, provide the much-needed evidence to strengthen the proposal that the cluster’s radio emission comes mainly from two double radio sources, both produced by the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in two major episodes of jet activity. The two radio lobes left from the previous activity have become diffuse and developed an ultra-steep radio spectrum while rising buoyantly through the confining hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) and, concomitantly, the host galaxy has drifted to the cluster centre and entered a new active phase manifested by a coinciding younger double radio source. The new observational results and arguments presented here bolster the case that the old and young double radio sources in A980 conjointly represent a ‘double-double’ radio galaxy whose two lobe pairs have lost colinearity due to the (lateral) drift of their parent galaxy, making this system by far the most plausible case of a ‘Detached-Double-Double Radio Galaxy’ (dDDRG).

Four examples of dwarf galaxies apparently undergoing mass loss are discussed. All have an Hα morphology suggesting a minor axis flow. This is supported by velocity field measurements in three cases. All also have at least one compact central object, probably a young star cluster, apparently powering the flow. Some implications of these results are briefly discussed.

There have been a number of attempts made in the last decade or two to observe deuterium in parts of the universe other than here in Earth. It is of interest merely to detect deuterium elsewhere just as it is to detect the occurrence of any nuclide. However in the case of deuterium there is a special interest because in big-bang cosmologies the great majority of deuterium in the universe is considered to have been formed in the initial fireball (Wagoner, 1973). Any observation of the present abundance of deuterium thus might give information about the very early stages of the creation of the universe. Detailed studies of nucleosynthesis during the early expansion of hot big-bang universes have however indicated a particular feature of deuterium production. (Fig. 1) The mass fraction produced X(D) is a very sensitive function of the size of the universe, as measured say by the present baryon density ϱb. Other nuclides that are mainly produced in the early expansion, such as 4He, have mass fractions less dependent on ϱb. Thus if we adopt the big-bang model for our universe we can determine ϱb from observations of X(D). Apart from any intrinsic interest in the present density of the’universe, there is considerable interest in whether the value is great enough for the present expansion to halt and go over to a collapse — or so small that the expansion of the universe will go on forever.

It is now well established that observations of interplanetary scintillation from a single station can yield useful information on the angular structure of radio sources, and on the propagation of large-scale disturbances through the interplanetary medium. However, when it is required to obtain detailed information on the plasma properties single station observations suffer from the disadvantage that, in general, it is not possible to measure the velocity and scale of the irregularities independently. For example, a change in the width of the observed temporal power spectrum of the scintillations might be caused by either a change in velocity, or a change in scale, or a combination of both.

The Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica conducts various educational outreach programs as part of its mission as a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center. The method behind the outreach programs is one of forging partnerships between Center researchers and other educational organisations. The main program serves primary and secondary students in Chicago. The core of the program is called Space Explorers and is targeted at high school students. These students attend a summer residential institute at the University of Chicago’s Yerkes Observatory. The high school Space Explorers then extend the reach of the program during the academic year by teaching in primary schools using a portable planetarium. The Center also pursues many other outreach activities and is in the process of forming an Antarctic Education Alliance.

One of the basic tasks of the one-mile cross at the Molonglo Radio Observatory is the compilation of a catalogue of radio sources complete to a low flux density level. This level has been tentatively chosen as 0.2 f.u., which is well above the ultimate detection level which can be reached in selected areas of sky. Such a limitation is necessary if the catalogue is to be restricted to a manageable number of sources; a few tens of thousands, which will be achieved with the above limit, seems appropriate and useful at the present time.

The Corona Australis cometary globule is a large southern object known to be a region of slow star formation. We have mapped the complex in the 21cm hydrogen line and preliminary results are reported in Llewellyn et al. (1981) and Taylor et al. (1981). The most extensive A, map of the region is given by Rossano (1978) and is based on star counts.

The diatomic free radical methylidyne (CH) is an important tracer of the interstellar medium, and the study of it was critical to our earliest understanding of star formation. Although it is detectable across the electromagnetic spectrum, observations at radio frequencies allow for a study of the kinematics of the diffuse and dense gas in regions of new star formation. There is only two published (single-dish) detections of the low-frequency hyperfine transitions between 700 and 725 MHz, despite the precise frequencies being known. These low-frequency transitions are of particular interest as they are shown in laboratory experiments to be more sensitive to magnetic fields than their high-frequency counterparts (with more pronounced Zeeman splitting). In this work, we take advantage of the radio quiet environment and increased resolution of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) over previous searches to make a pilot interferometric search for CH at 724.7883 MHz (the strongest of the hyperfine transitions) in RCW 38. We found the band is clean of radio frequency interference, but we did not detect the signal from this transition to a five-sigma sensitivity limit of 0.09 Jy, which corresponds to a total column density upper limit of 1.9 $\times 10^{18}$ cm–2 for emission and 1.3 $\times 10^{14}$ cm–2 for absorption with an optical depth limit of 0.95. Achieved within 5 h of integration, this column density sensitivity should have been adequate to detect the emission or absorption in RCW 38, if it had similar properties to the only previous reported detections in W51.

A problem for studies of large scale structures in nearby space (cz < 10,000 km s-1) is the presence of the Zone of Avoidance which is so large and wide on the sky that potentially important clusters and voids remain undetected. A prime example was the Ophiuchus cluster discovered by Wakamatsu and Malkan (1981) as a heavily obscured cD cluster close to the Galactic centre region (l = 0·5°, b = +9·5°). It is the second brightest X-ray cluster after Perseus. A hidden galaxy survey was performed by visually searching ESO/SERC Sky Survey (R and J) copy films of the region centred at l = 355°, b = +10° finding more than 4000 galaxies in six fields. Several irregular clusters adjacent to Ophiuchus were found forming a supercluster which may be connected to the Hercules supercluster by a wall structure parallel to the local supergalactic plane (Wakamatsu et al. 1994). In front of this supercluster, an 'Ophiuchus Void' is suggested (cz = 4,500 km s-1). The Ophiuchus supercluster at cz = 8,500 km s-1 is similar to the Hercules supercluster (cz = 11,000 km s-1), and extends north toward the latter supercluster.

The next generation 2-μm sky survey should target nascent galaxies in the epoch of reionization for spectroscopic followup on large telescopes. A 2.5-m telescope at a site on the Antarctic plateau has advantages for this purpose and for southern hemisphere infrared surveys in general.

In the past few years the American Physical Society (APS) has conducted a number of surveys among the graduate student population in the US and also among young researchers. The purpose was to get an idea of the career expectations of the students and how these are met later on in their life. Two of the conclusions were: (1) students want to work in a research environment, preferably academic, and (2) graduate and undergraduate programs are not preparing them well for the different challenges and goals found in industry, the private sector and national laboratories. Jobs in academia, especially tenured positions, have been difficult to obtain forcing many students to give up on their goals after one or two postdoctoral positions. Some have found jobs in other sectors but others feel frustrated that their careers have not met their expectations and are poorly ‘prepared’ for other options. In the areas of Physics and Astronomy there is not much of a job market without graduate studies. So most students must continue graduate work, in these or other fields, in order to compete well in the job market. Graduate and undergraduate programs must become more responsible for the present state of affairs and for implementing improvements. This can be done by broadening the scope of the present programs so that a student is better prepared to face the challenges of other job opportunities. We present here a BSc program designed by astronomers and physicists, at the University of Guanajuato, to try to address some of these concerns and better prepare the students for either continuing with graduate studies or finding employment in an ever-changing job market.

We investigate the photographic-magnitude (mp) scale of Volume I of the Catalogue of Galaxies and of Clusters of Galaxies for galaxies in the Virgo direction. It is found that for 11.5 ≤ Bt < 14.5, the mp values listed correspond very closely (with a scatter of only 0.16 magnitude) to blue magnitudes measured to the B = 24.4 isophote. If mp values need to be used as estimates of total blue magnitude the scatter is 0.27 magnitude over the same range in Bt and the mean offset is mp – Bt = 0.28 magnitude. However, a serious scale error at the bright end causes both the isophotal and total luminosities of galaxies brighter than Bt ~ 11.5 to be severely underestimated. At the faint end there also appears to be a significant scale error. This causes galaxy luminosities to be seriously overestimated faintward of Bt ~ 14.5.We demonstrate that this is a real effect based on a detailed galaxy-by-galaxy study of the catalogue’s completeness down to Bt = 17.0. The catalogue is found only to be complete to Bt ~ 14.7 whilst its degree of incompleteness is found to be relatively constant at the 30% level over the range 14.75 ≤ Bt < 15.75. Most of the missing objects are found to be elliptical galaxies and so late-type objects are over-represented at the faint end.