The outburst and storm of more than four hours’ duration that accompanied the importance 2 flare beginning at 0h25m U.T. on 9 June 1968 were observed at 80 MHz with the Culgoora radioheliograph. More than 104 heliograms in both senses of circular polarization were recorded at one-second intervals both as cathode-ray-tube photographs and as digital characters on magnetic tape. It is the purpose of this preliminary account to summarize these observations and bring attention to a new phenomenon observed before the start of the flare.

A catalogue of 38 supernova remnants (SNRs) identified in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds from X-ray, optical and radio observations has recently been presented by Mills et al. (1984). One important consideration is the completeness of this catalogue and of the Galactic catalogues with which it is compared. These are currently being investigated.

A proposal for a medium rigidity muon telescope system to be installed at the U.S. South Pole Station for observations of time variations of cosmic ray intensity is at present being prepared by Professor Pomerantz, Director of the Bartol Research Foundation, University of Delaware and Drs Jacklyn and Duldig of the Cosmic Ray Section, Antarctic Division, Department of Science. A novel approach to medium energy cosmic ray observations viewing in equatorial to mid-latitude directions is described. The absorber depth required for the proposed 50-1000 GV rigidity range would be achieved by locating the telescope system at a depth of approximately 7 metres water equivalent (MWE) in the ice and viewing at high zenith angles. Optimization techniques used in the telescope design are presented together with the unique advantages of the location. Justification for the experiment and comparison with important observatories in this rigidity range are also discussed.

Results from optical and infrared observations of SN 1987A obtained at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory since maximum light (100-400 days after core collapse) are reviewed.

Results of recent surveys of high velocity HI clouds with the 80-ft reflector at Dwingeloo and with the 260-ft x 80-ft standing paraboloid of the Ohio State University are combined. They show that clouds with high negative radial velocities occur mainly in the longitude range 50° to 220° from N. to S. galactic poles. However, nearly three times as many clouds are found north than south of the galactic plane. Clouds with high positive radial velocities are much less numerous than the negative velocity clouds. They have been found between longitudes 260° to 350° and scattered around lII = 75°, bII = +45°.

A method for calculating the resultant probability distributions of orbital elements for a small body (a comet, asteroid or meteoroid) after a gravitational encounter with a planet is described. This technique incorporates the frequency of such encounters so that the chance of attaining a certain new orbit per unit time is derived. The use of this technique is then illustrated by considering the effect of Jupiter upon the orbits of near-parabolic comets with perihelia near that planet (q = 5.2 AU) and in the inner solar system (q = 1.0 AU), with prograde (i = 10°) and retrograde (i = 170°) paths. As indicated by previous authors the prograde comets are more easily captured into short-period (P< 20 yr) and intermediate-period (20<P<200 yr) orbits; however, in contradiction to most previous work but in agreement with the results of Stagg and Bailey (submitted to Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.) it is found that the comets with smaller perihelia, rather than those with perihelia near Jupiter, have higher capture probabilities. This is apparently due to the fact that a small deflection only is needed to sufficiently decelerate a comet onto a smaller orbit if it makes a near-perpendicular crossing of Jupiter’s path, whereas a larger deflection (to achieve a large orbital change) is needed if the paths are near-parallel. With comparatively modest amounts of computer time this method may be used to calculate the relative capture probabilities as a function of i and q for all values of interest, and is thus a useful precursor to integrations following orbital evolution, since it indicates the most likely avenues whereby shorter-period comets are derived from the near-parabolic flux.

Aperture synthesis is a two-step imaging process in which the final map or image is reconstructed from intermediate measurements. As an alternative to digital computers, optical computers can be used to perform the reconstruction step. Optical reconstruction can be a fast and cheap way to handle the large amount of data now being generated by earth rotation aperture synthesis arrays.

Historically, infrared instrumentation for astronomical research has been developed by individual groups largely for their own enjoyment. The commissioning of the AAO’s infrared photometer-spectrometer (IRPS) in late 1978 provided for the first time in Australia a common-user instrument. Since then it has attracted considerable interest and is now the second most popular instrument in use at the AAT.

Radio emission at centimetre and millimetre wavelengths provides a powerful tool for studying the circumstellar envelopes of evolved stars. These include stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), post-AGB stars and a small number of massive M-type supergiant stars. The AGB stars and M-type supergiants are characterised by extremely high mass-loss rates. The mass loss in such an evolved star is driven by radiation pressure acting on grains which form in the outer stellar atmosphere. The grains are accelerated outwards and transfer momentum to the gas through grain–gas collisions. The outflowing dust and gas thus form an expanding circumstellar envelope through which matter flows from the star to the interstellar medium, at a typical velocity of 15 km s−1. For a recent review of circumstellar mass loss see Chapman, Habing & Killeen (1995).

A simple model for estimating the intrinsic flow direction and speed in the parsec-scale jets associated with extragalactic radio sources is presented. In this model, radio source brightness asymmetries are attributed to the apparent amplification caused when a relativistic jet of radiating material is somewhat aligned with the observers line of sight. The knots of emission commonly seen in parsec-scale radio jets are interpreted as shocks in the relativistic fluid.

Recent observations of the radio-frequency flux spectrum of Jupiter in the frequency range 80-10 000 MHz suggest that the synchrotron component is not independent of frequency as has been generally accepted. Rather, the flux decreases at frequencies below 300 MHz and above 3000 MHz. In this paper we show that extensions and variations of the well-known dipolar model for this emission can account for the modified spectrum.

Since their initial discovery by Hale, the nature of solar magnetic fields has presented us with a number of problems. At one time it was thought that the field consisted of a weak background dipole field of order 1-2 G on which was superimposed the considerably more intense fields associated with active regions and sunspots. However, more recent observational studies by Harvey, Frasier, Stenflo and others have suggested that 90% of the background field appears in the form of intense small-scale fields with intensities of order 103 gauss or greater and which have remarkably similar properties whether they occur in active or quiet regions. In particular, the field intensity appears independent of the total amount of flux present but the appearance of the structure depends critically on the total flux.

We have mapped the molecular clouds of Sgr B2 in the 110 → 101 ortho-transition of C3H2 at 18.3 GHz, using the 70-m NASA telescope at Tidbinbilla (beamwidth 55 arcsec). Three clouds show absorption against the Sgr B2 continuum emission at radial velocities of 50, 65 and 80 km s−1. The 65-km s−1 cloud covers most of the observed area (4 × 6 arcmin in right ascension and declination), has a peak optical depth of 2.7 and a corresponding C3H2 column density of 7.6 × 1015 cm−2. The C3H2 fractional abundance relative to H2 is 1.5 × 10−9. The 80-km s−1 cloud, located north of the Sgr B2 continuum peak, has a peak optical depth of 0.9 and a C3H2 column density of 1.9 × 1015 cm−2. The 50-km s−1 cloud is centred 2 arcmin south of the continuum peak; here the minimum optical depth of 0.5 yields a column density of 5.3 × 1014cm−2.

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) occur with widely differing characteristics of luminosity, variability and non-thermal emission. Although it is generally accepted that all such objects are powered by the accretion of matter to a super-massive black hole, no convincing model has been proposed which accounts for the diversity of observed phenomena. The model described here is based upon the hypothesis that shear flows in a misaligned accretion disc around a Kerr black hole lead to the growth of dynamical instabilities which disrupt the disc near the Bardeen-Petterson radius. Resulting clouds of disc material are fragmented by collisions and ablated by radiation from the compact core to produce a hot Parker wind which is optically thick to electron scattering. Within this wind, many fragments of disc material are entrained and photoionised to produce the broad emission lines, while some are accreted to power the system. Usually the wind impedes jet flows, in which case the object is radio quiet. When the disc and black hole are only slightly misaligned, however, the wind is equatorially biased and collimated axial jets may form. Such objects will be radio loud, and may exhibit superluminal phenomena if the jet is oriented close to the line of sight.

This paper describes a preliminary series of observations of the Sun made at a frequency of 80 MHz with the 3 km radioheliograph of the Culgoora Observatory. The instrument records, at one-second intervals, pictures of the solar image in the form of 60 (E-W) × 48 (N-S) points, each separated in angle by half the Rayleigh limit (2’ arc in the zenith). At the time of the present observations the instrument was incomplete in three main respects : (a) the facilities for recording opposite senses of circular polarization were not available; (b) the automatic image compensation for zenith-angle foreshortening was not available—hence the optical disk of the Sun appears elliptical; and (c) the phase and amplitude calibration procedures had not been fully established, resulting in a higher sidelobe level than that specified in the design—the effects are sometimes evident in the pictures as spoke-like brightenings.

At a previous meeting of the Society I well remember Paul Wild saying, in a humorous vein of course, that until recently he had always thought that an H-R diagram was a plot of H against R. It occurs to me that the same kind of vagueness, although perhaps not to the same degree, might be present with astronomers not directly concerned with the theory of stellar atmospheres in regard to ‘L.T.E.’ and ‘Non-L.T.E.’ analysis of spectral lines. In the present paper, I would like to point out some of the important features of non-L.T.E. analysis, to indicate how the basic theory may be developed, and to show what effect this has on the theoretically produced absorption lines. I will make particular reference to the solar atmosphere and here we take the ‘model atmosphere’ approach where all the physical parameters such as gas pressure, electron pressure, temperature etc., are all specified as functions of optical depth.

Several catalogues of radio sources at 408 MHz have been prepared from observations made with the Molonglo cross telescope. These include (in chronological order) ‘The Molonglo Radio Source Catalogue 1’, the MC1, by Davies et al. (1973), the MC2 and MC3 by Sutton et al. (1974), MC4 by Clarke et al. (1976), ‘The Molonglo Deep Sky Survey of Radio Sources’ by Robertson (1977a,b,d) and ‘The Molonglo Reference Catalogue of Radio Sources’ (MRC) by Large et al. (1981). The catalogues MC1-4 cover selected areas of sky to a flux density limit of ~0.2 Jy to 0.3 Jy. The MRC includes extragalactic radio sources between δ = +18° and δ = −85° and is essentially complete at S408 = 1.00 Jy with raany sources to ˜0.7 Jy. The Wyllie (1969a,b) scale of flux density is used throughout.