III Zw 35 is a pair of galaxies characterised by intense OH maser emission, and powerful far-infrared and radio continuum. We have made a detailed study of the galaxy pair based on optical, infrared and radio observations. The brighter northern component is identified as a LINER or Seyfert galaxy and contains an active nuclear region from which radio continuum, OH maser and thermal dust emission are detected. We propose that the northern component has a compact active nucleus deeply embedded in an obscured region of diameter ~ 210 pc within which enhanced star-formation occurs. The lower luminosity, southern component is of low mass and is undergoing starburst activity over an extended region of diameter ~ 5.5 kpc. The origin of the starburst and non-thermal activity appears to be an interaction between the two components.

Among the most important stimuli for developing the FLAIR multi-object spectroscopy system on the 1.2-m UK Schmidt Telescope was its potential for carrying out large-scale redshift surveys of galaxies of intermediate magnitude (B <~ 17). During FLAIR’s lengthy development period, these objects provided the yardstick by which the system’s performance was measured, and a number of limited-area redshift surveys were carried out. We are now following these with a 1-in-3 survey over the 60 fields of the ROE/Durham Galaxy Catalogue to produce a redshift map of some 4000 galaxies out to a distance of ~ 300h −1 Mpc (where the parameter h is the Hubble constant expressed as a fraction of 100 kms−1 Mpc−1). In this paper we summarise the results from our redshift surveys to highlight the capabilities of FLAIR. We present a status report on the current large-scale survey, and show that the recently-introduced FLAIR II system will speed its progress considerably.

Results from carbon 14 analysis of Bristle cone pine wood, using samples bounded by decade groups of annual rings, has established a significant long term solar periodicity of just over 200 years. Sites with large quantities of buried sub-fossil Kauri, Huon pine and Celery pine logs, which can provide data for a record possibly exceeding 20 000 years, have been identified in New Zealand and Tasmania. An initial study into periodicities, of possible solar origin, embedded in these ring-index time series can be justified on the basis that there are few other sources of annual proxy data, extending beyond the last 2000 years, that may reflect solar variability. Results from spectral analysis of a sub-fossil floating Celery pine chronology, which extends over 426 years, are considered. Carbon dating indicates that the Taupo volcanic eruption, which buried this forest, occurred about AD 177.

All studies of circulation in stars have been based on a linear perturbation analysis (e.g. Sung 1975). This analysis establishes criteria for the onset of circulation and, if the perturbations remain weak, allows the circulation pattern to be determined. (For a survey see Tassoul 1978).

There has been considerable interest in the appearance and nature of images on astronomical photographs which may suggest a transient optical event as the source of the image. In particular, much has been made of possible connections between such images and hypothesised optical activity associated with gamma-ray bursters. This paper describes the investigation of such an image, and discusses briefly various hypotheses as to the nature and source of the image under investigation.

The Parkes radio telescope has been fitted with a new control system. Part of this system is a computer for transforming position requests into commands to the telescope drive. The high computing power coupled with a new control for the master control unit has allowed modes of telescope control not previously available. These new capabilities include scanning the telescope in any astronomical coordinate system, the definition and use of beams offset in azimuth and elevation from the telescope’s optical axis and the definition of arbitrary coordinate frames which may move with respect to standard reference frames. The new control system fully supports the new standard epoch of J2000.0 and uses the newly adopted constants for Earth axis precession and nutation.

A description was given in a previous paper of the first observations of the two-dimensional image of the Crab Nebula as it became broadened by the solar corona in June 1969. In this paper we describe further observations at 80 MHz during 1970 and 1971, again using the CSIRO Radioheliograph at Culgoora, N.S.W., and we discuss the derived values for radial and tangential broadening in relation to previous work at various phases of the solar cycle. Other methods of observing angular broadening have generally employed two or three interferometers at different position angles, and only the simplest model for the image could be assumed in interpreting the results. The radioheliograph, however, has the advantage of recording the complete two-dimensional image and also, simultaneously, the surrounding background.

Clumpy, intense wave packets observed in situ in the Jovian and terrestrial electron foreshocks, and in the Earth’s auroral acceleration zone, point to the existence of non-linear plasma turbulence in these regions. In non-linear turbulence, wave packets collapse to short scales and high fields, stopping only when coherent wave-particle interactions efficiently dissipate the energy in the waves. The purpose of this paper is to examine the shortest scales and highest fields achieved during collapse in a strongly magnetised plasma, and identify parts of the solar system where the magnetised aspects of wave collapse are important.

A coudé spectrogram of dispersion 150 µ/Å, exposed at the 74-inch reflector by D. S. Mathewson, reveals very many unusually sharp absorption lines due to ionized metals in the atmosphere of the B9 star HD 1909.

There are two major difficulties associated with theoretical studies of star formation. The first of these is that the dominant physical process or processes leading to star formation have not been identified. The second is that realistic calculations at an appropriate level of accuracy have been impossible to carry out. The result has been that only minor advances have been made on the early work of Jeans (1929) and Hoyle (1953). Much greater progress can be expected in the next few years both because observations of infra-red sources have given us much more information about the site of star formation, and because access to the current generation of very fast computers is becoming more common.

New HI observations of the Magellanic Stream have been made using the Parkes 64 m telescope. These observations highlight in detail its complicated structure and uncover new features of the Stream. The extreme velocity clouds (EVCs) are morphologically linked to the Stream indicating that these HI clouds are very likely truly part of the Stream. Also it is suggested that many of the high velocity clouds seen around the Stream are indeed part of the Magellanic Stream itself, and that the stream consists of many different velocity components in bulk motion.

Cosmic ray transient variations are signatures of the underlying solar processes which affect the heliomagnetic structure. They can be found in the data from surface systems, such as neutron monitors and muon telescopes, and from shallow underground muon telescopes. Although sometimes observable at all latitudes, the global distribution of the effects is important in determining the structures and causes. Three transient variation types are known, namely Forbush decreases, ground level enhancements, and quasi-periodic fluctuations. The latter category includes some variations which are, perhaps, too long-lived to be considered truly transient. In this review, the detection techniques and background of cosmic ray research are followed by a summary of some observations in each transient category. The heliomagnetic structures and dynamics inferred from such transients are discussed together with the possible impact such events can have on human activity.

An outline is given of the main research programs currently in progress at the Carter Observatory. These include: the establishment of a set of standard star magnitudes and colours in the Vilnius seven-colour photometric system; the study of galactic and extragalactic star clusters using Vilnius and broadband photometries; binary stars and the development of APTs; and the history of Australasian astronomy. The role of Carter Observatory Honorary Research Associates is described and mention is made of the joint New Zealand/Japan program to observe gravitational microlensing effects, discover variable stars and patrol selected clusters of galaxies for supernovae.

In this paper possible causes of line splitting in emission near the local plasma frequency are considered in connection with drift pair solar radio bursts. The basic model envisaged for the bursts involves a bunch of electrons streaming through the solar corona at several times the thermal velocity of electrons. The emission process assumed is the transformation of coherently generated electron plasma waves (I-waves) into electromagnetic waves (t-waves) with little change in frequency.

The radio source associated with Circinus X-1 has been observed several times at Molonglo since 1970 and some of these observations have already been reported (Whelan et al. 1977). In 1977 the source was again observed, this time for 17 consecutive days and during these observations the position and flux of the reference source 1505-56.9 were more precisely determined. A few sporadic observations have also been made in 1978. This note brings together the new observations and all the old measurements which have been corrected on the basis of the new data for 1505-56.9 Other observations have been made which were not calibrated against this source but these have not been included in this note since they are less well calibrated.

Described here is the new infrared camera/spectrograph, IRIS, that was brought into operation at the Anglo-Australian Telescope early in 1991. A number of scientific discoveries are used to demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument.