ATNF News 7 | December 2025
Welcome to our last newsletter from 2025. Rather than hearing just from me, I invite the ATNF leadership team to offer their updates. The new leadership structure implementation was a highlight this year, with the team working together on the priorities, actions and goals set by the Australia Telescope User Committee, Steering Committee and CSIRO.
I would like to congratulate the whole ATNF team and user community for an excellent year. Today we published our Annual Report for 2024-2025, which offers a snapshot of our work across facility operations, scientific research, engineering, data management and community engagement.
Happy holidays and all the best as we head towards the New Year.
– Douglas Bock, ATNF Director
Since I joined the ATNF team at the beginning of the year, I have seen firsthand how our exceptionally dedicated staff works tirelessly to maintain and enhance our radio astronomy facilities and instruments. Our common aim is to provide reliable observation opportunities and data products to advance your research.
This newsletter captures some of our updates and is a chance to remind you that calls for proposals are open, including observations with the new, revolutionary CRACO instrument, and shared risk observing on ATCA with the new BIGCAT system.
– Celine D’Orgeville, ATNF Program Director
I enjoyed reading in this newsletter about Dr Barnali Das’ experience as one of the first researchers to use the new BIGCAT system. The science that will come from this system is truly exciting and I look forward to seeing these highlights in the newsletter, our annual reports, and online on our news page.
We have updated some of the communications channels for ASKAP surveys, including new ATNF liaisons for each team to enable more efficient flow of information, and providing weekly updates on plans and outcomes to the team Principal Investigators. We are discussing whether a specific ASKAP newsletter, as had previously existed, may be a valuable edition. Stay tuned.
– Cathryn Trott, ATNF Chief Scientist
We’ve got marvellous science highlights in this edition that are only two examples of a wealth of research I know is being produced by our user community. I look forward to seeing what boundaries of scientific knowledge will be addressed in the next round of proposals.
It’s great to see that ASKAP has been progressing the Survey Science Programs in line with its timeline. We are working towards completing the FLASH neutral hydrogen absorption survey by March 2026, and are also excited to have started observing for the GASKAP-HI survey that is studying star-forming gas in our own Galaxy.
– George Hobbs, ATNF Head of Science
In April, the ATCA Science Day was held in Marsfield and online. It was very well-attended, with active participation from the community and a lot of discussion on ATCA science and addressing future funding challenges.
The community is excited about the science capabilities of recent upgrades, including the flexibility and agility enabled by the new BIGCAT correlator.
There was a lot of discussion and enthusiasm for exploring future capabilities for transient science, including maximising spectral bandwidth and using sub-array modes for flexibility in how observations are undertaken.
The role of ATCA as the sensitivity core of the LBA was highlighted, with some discussion about the flexibility enabled by BIGCAT for VLBI scheduling.
Beyond the science with ATCA that the community is excited about, there was discussion about the overall funding challenges with its operations, and ATNF invited the community to channel their science enthusiasm into supporting the pursuit of avenues for future funding, including through domestic funding opportunities, and partnerships with international observatories.
In February, we will host a similar day for considering the ATNF of the future, particularly at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, our Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. More information is available on our website events listing.
Andrew Zic is the new Executive Officer for the Australia Telescope User Committee, taking over the role from Vanessa Moss. He is also one of our Bolton Fellows, researching time-domain radio astronomy using Australian and international radio telescopes to investigate the sky from millisecond to decade-long timescales.
As Executive Officer of ATUC, Andrew coordinates the meeting and ensures all relevant documentation is produced before and after the meeting. He is the interface between CSIRO and the User Committee, which is made up of those from all around the world who use the ATNF for their research. Find out more on ATUC.
Tim Galvin is the new Executive Officer of the Time Assignment Committee (TAC), taking on the three-year appointment from Elizabeth Mahony. Tim is our ASKAP data specialist, supporting the data production and management of the ASKAP pipeline. A member of several ASKAP survey science teams, he also supports MWA’s GLEAM survey.
The TAC assesses proposals submitted to the ATNF on their science and technical merit and meets twice a year. As Executive Officer of the TAC, Tim plans, organises and facilitates the assessment meetings and processes. Find out more about the TAC.
Upcoming meetings we'll be at:
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