Quarterly update: March 2009

ESO

The AAL roadmap recommends that, "The Australian Government explores the ESO option, so that in 2011/12, two options exist for access to 8-metre and 20-metre class telescopes." AAL, in partnership with the NCA, will therefore seek input from the astronomical community regarding any potential ESO opportunity. An ESO working group has been established, consisting of:

• Jeremy Mould (AAL);
• Brian Schmidt (AAL);
• Brian Boyle (NCA).

The working group plans to release an online survey in the near future.

Annual General Meeting

AAL has set the date of the 2009 AGM as 18th November 2009. All member representatives are asked to note this date. The location of the meeting is yet to be determined.

High Performance Computing Working Group

Following discussions with members of the ANITA Steering Committee, AAL will establish a HPC working group for one year. The working group will be asked to:

• Monitor and assess the state of HPC available to Australian astronomers, and report on this to the AAL Board;
• Explore and advise on the means by which AAL best engages with providers of HPC, and the relationship structure that is required to facilitate this; and
• Recommend on future investments in HPC for astronomy.

MWA Review

Following the advice of the Murchison Widefield Array review committee, chaired by Lister Staveley-Smith, AAL has accepted the plans for a major MWA deliverable, a 32T system installed on the Boolardy site. The MWA team have also recently provided AAL with a project plan for the complete MWA system. This plan will be reviewed by AAL in coming weeks and will form part of the decision making process for the consideration of MWA NCRIS funding.