The radio source PKS 0511-48 is among the hundred strongest southern sources at low frequencies. It was catalogued in the Parkes survey (Ekers 1969) and mapped with the Molonglo Cross at 408 MHz by Schilizzi and McAdam (1975) with a resolution of 2′ .6 arc. It appeared in that work as a complex source, with an integrated flux density of 8.8 Jy. A search for optical identifications was made by Tritton and Schilizzi (1973), but none were found to a level of B ~ 19. We have inspected the field on the ESO B survey film, and find a group of ~ 20 faint galaxies (approximately 19-20 mag).

There is growing evidence for the notion that large grains are an important constituent of the interstellar medium. It has been found to be necessary to invoke the presence of large grains (of radius a > 1.0 μm) in a number of circumstellar shells, including those around Eta Carinae, and some late type giants and supergiants. Most recently, as a result of IRAS observations, the same idea has been used in the interpretation of the extensive optically thin disks found around some young early type stars. It is important to establish size constraints on these grains, so as to determine better the probable mix of interstellar grains. Previous work on AG Carinae suggested merely that the grains in the circumstellar shell need to be larger than 1 μm, but gave no information regarding the maximum size which would be acceptable. In this paper, we explore the question of the characteristic size of the dust grains in the AG Carinae shell, by fitting the spatially integrated model energy distribution to observations over the wavelength range 360 nm–100 μm, and conclude that silicate grains of radius ~ 1.0 μm give a satisfactory fit to the spectrum and angular distribution, but that grains appreciably larger or smaller than this radius are unsatisfactory.

Since its commissioning in 1981 the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope has been used by the Astrophysics Department in the University of Sydney for many astronomical programs. These include completed surveys of both Magellanic Clouds made to study their SNR and HII content. The SNR work is essentially complete with 55 remnants identified and firm indications that the previously assumed evolution of a typical SNR (if such exists!) is incompatible with observation. The cataloguing and analysis of the HII regions and planetary nebulae data is complete in the SMC but barely started in the LMC. Other observing programs include the mapping of southern radio and ‘normal’, galaxies, the study of variable sources, ‘deep mapping’ of a selection of far southern fields for cosmological studies, studies of mass loss stars, the Galactic centre and a general survey of a strip along the Galactic plane as a long term program. In addition, advantage has been taken of the ‘real-time’ beams for pulsar studies and for the development of a ‘transient event recorder’ to permit a search for pulsed or other rapidly varying phenomena during normal map synthesis. Some of these programs have been completed but the majority are still in progress.

In March 1963 a paper by Hazard, Mackey and Shimmins in Nature, announced an accurate position for the radio source 3C 273. This was subsequently identified as the first known quasar. Through an innocent editorial mistake, the affiliation of the first author was wrongly attributed. This caused long-term animosity between the Physics Department of the University of Sydney and the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics.

In this paper we give an account of the corrections that must be made to the formula for the emissivity ηf due to a power-law energy distribution of ultrarelativistic charged particles in a uniform magnetic field B0 in directions well away from the field lines when the effects of upper and lower cut-off values E2 and E1 in the energy distribution are not negligible.

Phase coherent interferometers with intercontinental baselines became possible because of the development of stable frequency standards. With sufficiently stable frequency standards, no connection is necessary between the two ends of an interferometer. The first VLBI experiments were conducted by a group at the University of Florida who used an intensity interferometer with independent tape recorders for observations of Jupiter. Later, they changed to a coherent system using crystal-controlled oscillators. Since then, several interferometer systems have been developed. A Canadian group developed a system using video tape recorders at each end of the interferometer. They recorded the data in analogue form and managed to bring the two tapes together and to synchronize them to an accuracy of better than a microsecond. After synchronization, the outputs were combined and fringes extracted. Their system has a bandwidth of about 4 MHz. No-one else has attempted a wide-band analogue system.

This paper examines recent investigations of emission-line filaments along the edge of the radio source in Centaurus A. It shows how these studies have ramifications for the excitation of the narrow line regions and extended emission-line regions of other active galaxies.

At the first A.S.A. meeting in 1966 radio astronomers knew of only the 21 cm line of hydrogen, a handful of hydroxyl lines and some radio recombination lines. The number of molecular lines now known in the radio spectrum is close to 220, so radio spectroscopy has become a fully fledged subject. I shall not discuss here the recent ultraviolet studies of H2, HD and CO molecules that have been reviewed by Spitzer and Jenkins (1975).

We have carried out an extensive survey of Hα emission stars in the Orion region over an area of about 100 deg2. We present the results for the areas A-0975 and A-0976 of about 25 deg2 each.

Observations of the 21 cm line of neutral hydrogen can provide several integral properties of galaxies. The systemic velocity Vsvs indicates the distance Δ via the Hubble relation or through group membership. The integral over velocity of the flux density profile, ∫S dV, immediately yields the amount of neutral hydrogen in the galaxy: M H ∝ Δ2∫S dV (neglecting optical-depth effects). The profile width W and the inclination i (derived from the optical axial ratio), together with the (optical) angular diameter a, supply the ‘indicative mass’ Mi ∝ (W/sin i)2 a △ (Bottinelli et al. 1968; Balkowski 1973), which is a fair estimate of the total mass of the system. In addition, as shown by Tully and Fisher (1976), the profile width is a good indicator of luminosity L. The quantities and L, which are (at least roughly) representative of the amounts of matter and of gaseous and luminous material in the system, give an indication of its composition. Together with the linear diameter a△, these quantities contain clues as to galaxy formation and evolution.

The results of a new imaging survey of 68 bright (mv < 18) high redshift (z > 0.7) quasars are presented. The distribution of celestial distances between the quasars and the nearest galaxy neighbours shows an excess at small separations (< 15 arcseconds) significant at the 99.96% level. The redshifts of these galaxies are not known, so two interpretations are possible. If the galaxies are in groups physically associated with the quasars then they must be significantly brighter (> 3 magnitudes) than normal M* galaxies at the present epoch. Alternatively, this may be the result of a bias caused by gravitational amplification of background quasars by compact lenses in the halos of the nearest neighbour (foreground) galaxies. Of the present sample, 25% of the quasars have extra galaxies. If this is caused by a gravitational lensing bias, then, allowing for incompleteness, the results imply that as many as 60% of bright quasars may be gravitationally lensed.

A nearly stationary pulsar wind is shown to be always collimating along the direction of rotation. It follows that the conventional picture of the equatorial pulsar wind can occur only in a highly time-dependent manner, which, if true, may account for the observed time variation within a single pulse. Furthermore, a mechanism, via excitation of magnetosolitons, is proposed for explaining the continuous generation of energetic electrons, which yield the observed radio emission in the Type II supernova remnants. Fully relativistic analyses will be presented to substantiate these claims.

A major requirement of modern radio astronomy is the attainment of the highest possible angular resolution. This high angular resolution should be matched by a high sensitivity and by spectral and polarization capabilities. Study and experience have shown that no form of telescope is more effective in this respect than the aperture synthesis type. The past few years have seen a growing realization amongst astronomers, both here and overseas, of the need for a new synthesis telescope able to observe the full southern sky. This realization has been stimulated by several factors:

The origin of QSO redshifts is an important problem for which there is still no definite answer (Burbidge 1979). Recent observations by Walsh et al. (1979) of what is probably a gravitational lens associated with the twin QSO’s 0957+ 561 A,B offers the possibility of testing whether the redshift of the QSO involved is cosmological in origin. In general, if a gravitational lens is responsible for splitting the image of a QSO into two or more distinct components, it is possible to calculate the redshift of the QSO provided we have enough observational data involving the lens. The calculated redshift must then be consistent with the observed redshift if it is entirely cosmological in origin. The quantities that must be observed before the redshift can be calculated are the differences in the light travel times along the different paths from the QSO to us, the redshift of the lens, the angular separation of the images, and their relative intensities.

Free-free absorption by thermal electrons attenuates low frequency radio waves and such absorption will indicate the presence of ionized hydrogen. The Gum Nebula contains bright H-alpha emission regions and therefore it is not surprising that the region appears as an area of low brightness on low frequency continuum maps.

Much of the information regarding the nature of solid particles in interstellar space has been gained through the study of the line-of-sight extinction of starlight and the polarization of starlight by these particles. Study of the optical properties of these particles can be extended through consideration of the scattering of stellar radiation in reflection nebulae. This type of approach requires the adoption of models for the star-nebula system, and the grain type to be considered. These models are then used in a theory which describes the scattering of light by an ensemble of small particles, as applied to dust nebulae. Results are thus obtained for the colour of the nebula as a function of distance from the illuminating star. These results can then be compared with the corresponding results of experimental broad-band photometry.

Since early 1974 the radioheliograph operated by the Division of Radiophysics at Culgoora, N.S.W. has been used in a 160 MHz study of ~2000 catalogued sources in the declination range -46° to +35°. In addition to measurements of flux densities and accurate positions at 160 MHz, brightness distributions are obtained for the sources that can be resolved by the 1’.9 × 1’.9 arc beams. A comparison of the brightness distributions at 160 MHz with those obtained from high-frequency measurements with similar angular resolution can yield valuable information about the energy distribution of the relativistic electrons, which are believed to be responsible for the radio emission from most nonthermal sources. Among the first objects to be examined were the strong southern radio galaxies Centaurus-A and Pictor-A.

Two recent observational surveys of the Ca II resonance lines (Zarro and Rodgers 1983; Linsky et al. 1979) illustrate the great diversity of line profile shapes found in the spectra of cool stars. This diversity reflects a corresponding wide range in the underlying chromospheric properties of the stars. There are, however, three well-marked systematic trends in the shapes of Ca II line profiles which presumably reflect systematic trends in chromospheric properties. One of these, the Wilson-Bappu effect (Wilson and Bappu 1957), describes the strong correlation betweeen the width of the emission core (see Figure 1) and the absolute visual magnitude of the star. Despite much work, it is still not clear whether this is due primarily to systematic changes of velocity fields (e.g. Hoyle and Wilson 1958) or optical depths (e.g. Jefferies and Thomas 1959) in stellar chromospheres.