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AR Scorpii (AR Sco), the only-known radio-pulsing white dwarf binary, shows unusual pulsating emission at the radio, infrared, optical and ultraviolet bands. To determine its astrometric parameters at the radio band independently, we conducted multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) phase-referencing observations with the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 5 GHz and the Chinese VLBI Network (CVN) plus the Warkworth 30-metre telescope (New Zealand) at 8.6 GHz. By using the differential VLBI astrometry, we provide high-precision astrometric measurements on the parallax ($\pi=8.52_{-0.07}^{+0.04}$ mas), and proper motion ($\mu_{\alpha}=9.48_{-0.07}^{+0.04}$ mas yr$^{-1}$, $\mu_{\delta}=-51.32_{-0.38}^{+0.22}$ mas yr$^{-1}$). The new VLBI results agree with the optical Gaia astrometry. Our kinematic analysis reveals that the Galactic space velocities of AR Sco are quite consistent with that of both intermediate polars (IPs) and polars. Combined with the previous tightest VLBI constraint on the size, our parallax distance suggests that the radio emission of AR Sco should be located within the light cylinder of its white dwarf., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

PKS B1322-110 is a radio quasar that is located only 8.5' in angular separation from the bright B star Spica. It exhibits intra-day variability in its flux density at GHz frequencies attributed to scintillations from plasma inhomogeneities. We have tracked the rate of scintillation of this source for over a year with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, recording a strong annual cycle that includes a near-standstill in August and another in December. The cycle is consistent with scattering by highly anisotropic plasma microstructure, and we fit our data to that model in order to determine the kinematic parameters of the plasma. Because of the low ecliptic latitude of PKS B1322-110, the orientation of the plasma microstructure is poorly constrained. Nonetheless at each possible orientation our data single out a narrow range of the corresponding velocity component, leading to a one-dimensional constraint in a two-dimensional parameter space. The constrained region is consistent with a published model in which the scattering material is associated with Spica and consists of filaments that are radially oriented around the star. This result has a 1% probability of arising by chance., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Following our study of the radio and high-energy properties of $\gamma$-ray-emitting radio galaxies, here we investigate the kinematic and spectral properties of the parsec-scale jets of radio galaxies that have not yet been detected by Fermi-LAT. We take advantage of the regular VLBI observations provided by the TANAMI monitoring program, and explore the kinematic properties of six $\gamma$-ray-faint radio galaxies. We include publicly available VLBI kinematics of $\gamma$-ray-quiet radio galaxies monitored by the MOJAVE program and perform a Fermi-LAT analysis, deriving upper limits. We combine these results with those from our previous paper to construct the largest sample of radio galaxies with combined VLBI and $\gamma$-ray measurements to date. We find superluminal motion up to $\beta_\mathrm{app}=3.6$ in the jet of PKS 2153$-$69. We find a clear trend of higher apparent speed as a function of distance from the jet core on scales of $\sim10^5\,R_s$, corresponding to the end of the collimation and acceleration zone in nearby radio galaxies. We find evidence of subluminal apparent motion in the jets of PKS 1258$-$321 and IC 4296, and no measurable motion for PKS 1549$-$79, PKS 1733$-$565 and PKS 2027$-$308. We compare the VLBI properties of $\gamma$-ray-detected and undetected radio galaxies, and find significantly different distributions of median core flux density, and, possibly, of median core brightness temperature. We find a significant correlation between median core flux density and $\gamma$-ray flux, but no correlation with typical Doppler boosting indicators such as median core brightness temperature and core dominance. Our study suggests that high-energy emission from radio galaxies is related to parsec-scale radio emission from the inner jet, but is not driven by Doppler boosting effects, in contrast to the situation in their blazar counterparts., Comment: Main text: 15 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables. Appendix: 14 pages, 20 figures, 13 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Cross-identifying complex radio sources with optical or infra red (IR) counterparts in surveys such as the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) has traditionally been performed manually. However, with new surveys from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) detecting many tens of million of radio sources such an approach is no longer feasible. This paper presents new software (LRPY - Likelihood Ratio in PYthon) to automate the process of cross-identifying radio sources with catalogues at other wavelengths. LRPY implements the Likelihood Ratio (LR) technique with a modification to account for two galaxies contributing to a sole measured radio component. We demonstrate LRPY by applying it to ATLAS DR3 and a {\it Spitzer}-based multi-wavelength fusion catalogue, identifying 3,848 matched sources via our LR-based selection criteria. A subset of 1987 sources have flux density values for all IRAC bands which allow us to use criteria to distinguish between active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star-forming galaxies (SFG). We find that 936 radio sources ($\approx47\,\%$) meet both of the Lacy and Stern AGN selection criteria. Of the matched sources, 295 have spectroscopic redshifts and we examine the radio to IR flux ratio vs redshift, proposing an AGN selection criterion below the Elvis radio-loud (RL) AGN limit for this dataset. Taking the union of all three AGN selection criteria we identify 956 as AGN ($\approx48\,\%$). From this dataset, we find a decreasing fraction of AGN with lower radio flux densities consistent with other results in the literature., Comment: 32 pages, 14 Figures, 9 Tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

A number of countries have identified redundant large telecommunications antennas (TA) and indicated their intention to convert them into radio telescopes (RT). As the efficiency of a parabolic dish radio telescope depends on its surface quality and optical alignment, a careful assessment of these properties should be undertaken before conversion. Here, as a case study, we describe a laser scanning (LS) procedure we developed and used for the Warkworth 30[Formula: see text]m Cassegrain antenna. To investigate gravity-induced mechanical deformation of the antenna surfaces and structure, we conducted measurements at elevation angles ranging from 6 to 90 degrees. The ability of a laser scanner to survey its nominal [Formula: see text] steradian surroundings allows for simultaneous study of the main and subreflectors, readily permitting a dynamic investigation of variation of the telescope optics as elevation changes occur. In particular, the method we present here allows determination of the surface quality of both main and subreflectors, the displacement between centers of the reflectors, their relative rotations and focal length variation as a function of elevation angle. We discuss details of settings, measurements, data processing and analysis focusing on possible difficulties and pitfalls. In our case study, no significant elevation-dependent surface deformation of the reflectors was observed, with the overall standard deviation of the postfit residuals varying between 1.0 and 1.7[Formula: see text]mm as elevation angle changes from 90∘ to 6∘, respectively. We, therefore, conclude that in our case both the main reflector and the subreflector, as well as the telescope optics, remain unaffected by gravitational deformation within the accuracy of the measurements, a conclusion that can possibly be extended to the similar class of TA currently considered for conversion.

We report the results of a successful 24 hr 6.7 GHz VLBI experiment using the 30-m radio telescope wark30m near Warkworth, New Zealand, recently converted from a radio telecommunications antenna, and two radio telescopes located in Australia: Hobart 26-m and Ceduna 30-m. The geocentric position of wark30m is determined with a 100 mm uncertainty for the vertical component and 10 mm for the horizontal components. We report correlated flux densities at 6.7 GHz of 175 radio sources associated with Fermi γ-ray sources. A parsec-scale emission from the radio source 1031-837 is detected, and its association with the γ-ray object 2FGL J1032.9-8401 is established with a high likelihood ratio. We conclude that the new Pacific area radio telescope wark30m is ready to operate for scientific projects.

An innovative way to nest a new X-band feed system inside an existing C-band feed system is proposed.

To enhance and extend the absolute gravity (AG) measurements in New Zealand, we conducted new measurements using a FG5 (#210 of Kyoto University) in January and March 2016. The measurements in the North Island were made at two existing points (the Warkworth Radio Astronomical Observatory and Wellington A) and at one newly established point at the Wairakei Research Centre, Taupo. The gravity measurements in the South Island were made at five existing AG points; Godley Head, Mt John, the University of Otago, Helipad and Bealey Hotel. At each point more than 4,000 drops were made and AG values were determined with measurement uncertainties better than 3 μGal (mostly better than 2 μGal) at 130 cm instrument height. The values are compared with those of the 2015 campaigns. Although the differences of about 10 μGal were observed at Wellington A and Godley Head, those at the other points were within 5 μGal. At points in the Southern Alps we combined AG with relative gravity measurements and achieved good agreement with the 2015 results. Definite values for long-term gravity trends at the points in Southern Alps and Christchurch could not be obtained from the survey, but the results are consistent with those of the previous studies. Further measurements are planned to accurately determine these gravity changes.

The International Celestial Reference Frame suffers from significantly less observations in the southern hemisphere compared to the northern one. One reason for this is the historically low number of very long baseline interferometry radio telescopes in the south. The AuScope very long baseline interferometry array with three new telescopes on the Australian continent and an identical antenna in New Zealand were built to address this issue. While the overall number of observations in the south has greatly improved since then, a closer look reveals that this improvement is only true for strong radio sources (source flux densities >0.6 Jy). The new array of small very long baseline interferometry antennas has a relatively low baseline sensitivity so that only strong sources can be observed within a short integration time. A new observing strategy, the star scheduling mode, was developed to enable efficient observations of weak sources during geodetic sessions, through the addition of a single more sensitive antenna to the network. This scheduling mode was implemented in the Vienna very long baseline interferometry Software and applied in four 24-h sessions in 2016. These observations provide updated positions and source flux densities for 42 weak southern radio sources and significantly reduce the formal uncertainties for these sources. The star scheduling mode now allows the AuScope very long baseline interferometry array to undertake greater responsibility in monitoring sources in the southern sky, without significantly weakening the session for geodetic purposes.

TANAMI is a multiwavelength program monitoring active galactic nuclei (AGN) south of -30deg declination including high-resolution Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) imaging, radio, optical/UV, X-ray and gamma-ray studies. We have previously published first-epoch 8.4GHz VLBI images of the parsec-scale structure of the initial sample. In this paper, we present images of 39 additional sources. The full sample comprises most of the radio- and gamma-ray brightest AGN in the southern quarter of the sky, overlapping with the region from which high-energy (>100TeV) neutrino events have been found. We characterize the parsec-scale radio properties of the jets and compare with the quasi-simultaneous Fermi/LAT gamma-ray data. Furthermore, we study the jet properties of sources which are in positional coincidence with high-energy neutrino events as compared to the full sample. We test the positional agreement of high-energy neutrino events with various AGN samples. Our observations yield the first images of many jets below -30deg declination at milliarcsecond resolution. We find that gamma-ray loud TANAMI sources tend to be more compact on parsec-scales and have higher core brightness temperatures than gamma-ray faint jets, indicating higher Doppler factors. No significant structural difference is found between sources in positional coincidence with high-energy neutrino events and other TANAMI jets. The 22 gamma-ray brightest AGN in the TANAMI sky show only a weak positional agreement with high-energy neutrinos demonstrating that the >100TeV IceCube signal is not simply dominated by a small number of the $��$-ray brightest blazars. Instead, a larger number of sources have to contribute to the signal with each individual source having only a small Poisson probability for producing an event in multi-year integrations of current neutrino detectors., A&A accepted (edited version), 21 pages, 13 figures

The closest ever fly-by of the Martian moon Phobos, performed by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, gives a unique opportunity to sharpen and test the Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiments (PRIDE) technique in the interest of studying planet - satellite systems. The aim of this work is to demonstrate a technique of providing high precision positional and Doppler measurements of planetary spacecraft using the Mars Express spacecraft. The technique will be used in the framework of Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiments in various planetary missions, in particular in fly-by mode. We advanced a novel approach to spacecraft data processing using the techniques of Doppler and phase-referenced very long baseline interferometry spacecraft tracking. We achieved, on average, mHz precision (30 {\mu}m/s at a 10 seconds integration time) for radial three-way Doppler estimates and sub-nanoradian precision for lateral position measurements, which in a linear measure (at a distance of 1.4 AU) corresponds to ~50 m., Comment: 9 pages, 14 figures. Astronomy and Astrophysics, accepted on 2016/05/31

Preliminary specifications for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) call for 25% of the total collecting area of the dish array to be located at distances greater than 180 km from the core, with a maximum baseline of at least 3000 km. The array will provide angular resolution θ ≲ 40–2 mas at 0.5–10 GHz with image sensitivity reaching ≲50 nJy beam−1 in an 8-hour integration with 500-MHz bandwidth. Given these specifications, the high-angular-resolution component of the SKA will be capable of detecting brightness temperatures ≲200K with milliarcsecond-scale angular resolution. The aim of this article is to bring together in one place a discussion of the broad range of new and important high-angular-resolution science that will be enabled by the SKA, and in doing so, address the merits of long baselines as part of the SKA. We highlight the fact that high angular resolution requiring baselines greater than 1000 km provides a rich science case with projects from many areas of astrophysics, including important contributions to key SKA science.

We report the results of a successful 7 hour 1.4 GHz VLBI experiment using two new stations, ASKAP-29 located in Western Australia and WARK12M located on the North Island of New Zealand. This was the first geodetic VLBI observing session with the participation of these new stations. We have determined the positions of ASKAP-29 and WARK12M. Random errors on position estimates are 150-200 mm for the vertical component and 40-50 mm for the horizontal component. Systematic errors caused by the unmodeled ionosphere path delay may reach 1.3 m for the vertical component., 11 pages, 6 flgures, 4 tables

The discovery of extraterrestrial very-high-energy neutrinos by the IceCube collaboration has launched a quest for the identification of their astrophysical sources. Gamma-ray blazars have been predicted to yield a cumulative neutrino signal exceeding the atmospheric background above energies of 100 TeV, assuming that both the neutrinos and the gamma-ray photons are produced by accelerated protons in relativistic jets. Since the background spectrum falls steeply with increasing energy, the individual events with the clearest signature of being of an extraterrestrial origin are those at PeV energies. Inside the large positional-uncertainty fields of the first two PeV neutrinos detected by IceCube, the integrated emission of the blazar population has a sufficiently high electromagnetic flux to explain the detected IceCube events, but fluences of individual objects are too low to make an unambiguous source association. Here, we report that a major outburst of the blazar PKS B1424-418 occurred in temporal and positional coincidence with the third PeV-energy neutrino event (IC35) detected by IceCube. Based on an analysis of the full sample of gamma-ray blazars in the IC35 field and assuming a photo-hadronic emission model, we show that the long-term average gamma-ray emission of blazars as a class is in agreement with both the measured all-sky flux of PeV neutrinos and the spectral slope of the IceCube signal. The outburst of PKS B1424-418 has provided an energy output high enough to explain the observed PeV event, indicative of a direct physical association., Accepted for publication in Nature Physics on Mar 3rd, 2016 (arXiv version is the original submitted manuscript as per NatPhys regulations), 38 pages (including 10 pages of supplementary material), 3 figures

We thank the referee for helpful comments. We thank S. Cutini for her useful comments. We thank S. Markoff for helpful discussions. We thank J. Perkins, L. Baldini, and S. Digel for carefully reading the manuscript. We thank M. Buxton for her help with the SMARTS data. We acknowledge support and partial funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant WI 1860-10/1 (TANAMI) and GRK 1147, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt grants 50 OR 1311 and 50 OR 1103, and the Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (HAP). This research was funded in part by NASA through Fermi Guest Investigator grants NNH09ZDA001N, NH10ZDA001N, NNH12ZDA001N, and NNH13ZDA001N-FERMI. This research was supported by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the Goddard Space Flight Center, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities through a contract with NASA. E.R. was partially supported by the Spanish MINECO project AYA2012-38491-C02-01 and by the Generalitat Valenciana project PROMETEO II/2014/057. We thank J. E. Davis for the development of the slxfig module that was used to prepare the figures in this work. We thank T. Johnson for the Fermi/LAT SED scripts, which were used to calculate the Fermi/LAT spectra. This research has made use of a collection of ISIS scripts provided by the Dr. Karl Remeis-Observatory, Bamberg, Germany at http://www.sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de/isis/. The Long Baseline Array and Australia Telescope Compact Array are part of the Australia Telescope National Facility, which is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO. This paper has made use of up-to-date SMARTS optical/near-infrared light curves that are available at www.astro.yale.edu/smarts/glast/home.php. The Fermi LAT Collaboration acknowledges generous ongoing support from a number of agencies and institutes that have supported both the development and the operation of the LAT as well as scientific data analysis. These include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy in the United States, the Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / Institut National de Physique Nucleaire et de Physique des Particules in France, the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Italy, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Japan, and the K.A. Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish National Space Board in Sweden. Additional support for science analysis during the operations phase is gratefully acknowledged from the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Italy and the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales in France

As a result of collective efforts of an Australian–New Zealand VLBI team, the first New Zealand VLBI system was developed, and a series of test observations between New Zealand and Australia conducted. The equipment and techniques used to conduct New Zealand's first VLBI observations are discussed and results of work in Australia and New Zealand to obtain fringes and the image of the source (PKS1921-231) are presented. The road map for New Zealand radio-astronomy as well as New Zealand involvement in the SKA is discussed.

Terrestrial methods that may be used to quantify cliff erosion rates, and to qualify the real status of coastal areas currently zoned for building are described. The methods are fast, inexpensive and effective for relatively small terrains. Due to the use of modern methods and instruments, a very high (sub-centimetre) accuracy for measuring cliff recession can be reached. A computer model is derived to analyse data obtained through the measurement techniques. The model will, over time, supply data sufficient to project short to medium term volumetric changes in rock mass and will provide significant input in the development of a coastal hazards zoning protocol. A pilot study has been carried out in North Shore City (Auckland, New Zealand).

The paper describes a new type of evolving connectionist systems (ECOS) called evolving spatio-temporal data machines based on neuromorphic, brain-like information processing principles (eSTDM). These are multi-modular computer systems designed to deal with large and fast spatio/spectro temporal data using spiking neural networks (SNN) as major processing modules. ECOS and eSTDM in particular can learn incrementally from data streams, can include ‘on the fly’ new input variables, new output class labels or regression outputs, can continuously adapt their structure and functionality, can be visualised and interpreted for new knowledge discovery and for a better understanding of the data and the processes that generated it. eSTDM can be used for early event prediction due to the ability of the SNN to spike early, before whole input vectors (they were trained on) are presented. A framework for building eSTDM called NeuCube along with a design methodology for building eSTDM using this is presented. The implementation of this framework in MATLAB, Java, and PyNN (Python) is presented. The latter facilitates the use of neuromorphic hardware platforms to run the eSTDM. Selected examples are given of eSTDM for pattern recognition and early event prediction on EEG data, fMRI data, multisensory seismic data, ecological data, climate data, audio-visual data. Future directions are discussed, including extension of the NeuCube framework for building neurogenetic eSTDM and also new applications of eSTDM.

The conversion of a former 100-foot (30-m) telecommunications antenna (Earth Station) in New Zealand into a radio telescope is described. A specification of the antenna and the priorities for its actual conversion are initially presented. In describing the actual conversion, particular emphasis is given to mechanical and electrical components, as well as to the design of the telescope control system, telescope networking for VLBI operations, and telescope maintenance. Plans for RF, front- and back-end developments based upon radio astronomical priorities are outlined.

The AUSTRAL observing program is an initiative led by the Australian AuScope VLBI antennas in collaboration with radio telescopes in Warkworth, New Zealand, and Hartebeesthoek, South Africa. In 2014 the number of AUSTRAL sessions increased tremendously. Comparing recent results to the standard products achieved in global VLBI sessions regularly undertaken by the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS), better accuracies in terms of baseline length repeatabilities are found for these regional AUSTRAL sessions. The network of (almost) identical small and fast telescopes as well as the technical equipment at all stations allows for new observing modes and improved operations, as such serving as a testbed for the future VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS). Special AUST-Astro sessions are used for dedicated astrometry of sparsely observed radio sources in the southern sky, as well as for detecting new radio sources for geodesy. In 2015, the AUSTRAL program will be further increased and final steps are now being undertaken for full VGOS compatibility of the three AuScope VLBI antennas. We present the latest results of the AUSTRAL sessions and give an overview of the multiple areas of research they support.

As a result of the reductionist approach to science curricula in tertiary education, students are learning science in a fragmented way. With the purpose of providing students with tools for a more holistic understanding of science, an integrated approach based on the use of general systems theory (GST) and the concept of 'mapping' scientific knowledge (its relationships, connections and generalities) is developed. GST is used as the core methodology for understanding science and its complexity. By analogy with geographic maps, we introduce scales of educational 'science maps' - scales of integration. Three principal scales of integration can be distinguished in GST, which we consider necessary for GST to be effectively applied in education. They are (a) the scale of branches and fields of science, (b) the scale of hypotheses and theories, and (c) the scale of structures and hierarchies. Examples of each of these three scales are provided from the field of physical science. The role of the scientific commu...

A survey of the Milky Way disk and the Magellanic System at the wavelengths of the 21-cm atomic hydrogen (HI) line and three 18-cm lines of the OH molecule will be carried out with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. The survey will study the distribution of HI emission and absorption with unprecedented angular and velocity resolution, as well as molecular line thermal emission, absorption, and maser lines. The area to be covered includes the Galactic plane (|b|< 10deg) at all declinations south of delta = +40deg, spanning longitudes 167deg through 360deg to 79deg at b=0deg, plus the entire area of the Magellanic Stream and Clouds, a total of 13,020 square degrees. The brightness temperature sensitivity will be very good, typically sigma_T ~ 1 K at resolution 30arcsec and 1 km/s. The survey has a wide spectrum of scientific goals, from studies of galaxy evolution to star formation, with particular contributions to understanding stellar wind kinematics, the thermal phases of the interstellar medium, the interaction between gas in the disk and halo, and the dynamical and thermal states of gas at various positions along the Magellanic Stream., 45 pages, 8 figures, Pub. Astron. Soc. Australia (in press)

New approaches for data provenance and data management (DPDM) are required for mega science projects like the Square Kilometer Array, characterized by extremely large data volume and intense data rates, therefore demanding innovative and highly efficient computational paradigms. In this context, we explore a stream-computing approach with the emphasis on the use of accelerators. In particular, we make use of a new generation of high performance stream-based parallelization middleware known as InfoSphere Streams. Its viability for managing and ensuring interoperability and integrity of signal processing data pipelines is demonstrated in radio astronomy.

We report the results of observations and analyses of 41 hydrogen radio recombination lines from the Orion nebula (M42) at 5.5 to 6.5 GHz, with a spectral sensitivity (channel-to-channel standard deviation) of . Observations were conducted at the Australia Telescope Compact Array. A 1 GHz bandwidth allowed simultaneous detection of up to 11 spectral lines of equal that were stacked to enable accurate measurement of line widths. Collisional widths in the range of principal quantum numbers n from 100 to 179 are found to be consistent with predictions of electron impact Stark broadening theory. An Orion nebula model with density inhomogeneities (clumps) and gradients of temperature and density is consistent with our data. We reanalyze the data of Smirnov et al. and Bell et al. and find excellent agreement between all statistically significant measurements and theory. Our findings confirm the absence of line narrowing for n = 100...179.

The Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN) has been used to transfer large volumes of radio astronomical data between the Radio Astronomical Observatory at Warkworth, New Zealand and various international organizations involved in joint projects and VLBI observations. Here we report on the current status of connectivity and on the results of testing different data transfer protocols. We investigate new UDP protocols such as ‘tsunami’ and UDT and demonstrate that the UDT protocol is more efficient than ‘tsunami’ and ‘ftp’. We also report on tests of direct data streaming from the radio telescope receiving system to a correlation centre without intermediate buffering or recording (real-time eVLBI).

New Zealand's location and geophysical attributes carry unique opportunities for radio astronomy and VLBI: a compact cluster of 12-m and 30-m antennas at the Warkworth Radio Astronomical Observatory can provide a vital element of the global and regional VLBI networks, both astronomical and geodetic. The radio telescopes' characteristics and the observatory basic equipment specifications are outlined. Recent developments in radio astronomy, VLBI and eVLBI capabilities for astrophysics, astrometry and geodesy are presented. IRASR development towards SKA, as well as involvement in educational activities is summarized.

We have studied the archetypal Gigahertz Peaked Spectrum radio galaxy, PKS 1934-638, using the Australian Long Baseline Array, augmented with two new telescopes that greatly improve the angular resolution of the array. These VLBI observations represent the first scientific results from a new antenna in NZ and the first antenna of the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP). A compact double radio source, PKS 1934-638, has been monitored over a period of 40 years, and the observation described here provides the latest datum, eight years after the previous observation, to aid in the study of the long-term evolution of the source structure. We take advantage of these new long baselines to probe PKS 1934-638 at the relatively low frequency of 1.4 GHz, in order to examine the effects of optical depth on the structure of the radio source. Optical depth effects, resulting in the observation of frequency dependent structure, may have previously been interpreted in terms of an expansion of the source as a function of time. Expansion and frequency dependent effects are important to disentangle in order to estimate the age of PKS 1934-638. We show that frequency dependent structure effects are likely to be important in PKS 1934-638 and present a simple two-dimensional synchrotron source model in which opacity effects due to synchrotron self-absorption are taken into account. Evidence for expansion of the radio source over 40 years is therefore weak, with consequences for the estimated age of the radio source., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ

Populations of highly-excited states of hydrogen in gaseous nebulae are calculated including effects of lowering the atomic ionization potential. Factors bn and dln bn/dn were computed for a large range of temperature and densities. Collisions only between adjacent levels (Δn = ±1) were included in the set of the statistical balance equations. Results predict the existence of a negative branch of the dln bn/dn curve. They have to be taken into account in calculating the nebulae models.

An observational program for study dynamics of planetary nebulae with the help of RRL is discussed. The expansion velocities may be found from observations of radio recombination lines in different wavelength. The method is free of the microturbulence problem inherent in standard spectroscopic methods. Set of theoretical models was computed for NGC 7027. Observations of RRL with n > 150 may allow making choice between models with high and low microturbulence.

We critically analyze the Bell et al. findings on "anomalous" widths of high-order Hydrogen radio recombination lines in the Orion Nebula at 6 GHz. We review their method of modified frequency switching and show that the way this method is used for large \Delta n is not optimal and can lead to misinterpretation of measured spectral line parameters. Using a model of the Orion Nebula, conventional broadening theory and Monte Carlo simulation, we determine a transition-zone n = 224, ..., 241 (\Delta n = 11, ..., 14), where measurement errors grow quickly with n and become comparable with the measurement values themselves. When system noise and spectrum channelization are accounted for, our simulation predicts "processed" line narrowing in the transition-zone similar to that reported by Bell et al. We find good agreement between our simulation results and their findings, both in line temperatures and widths. We conclude, therefore, that Bell et al.'s findings do not indicate a need to revise Stark broadening theory., Comment: 6 pages and figures

Les populations des niveaux Rydberg des atomes sont determinees en incluant les effets de diminution du potentiel de ionisation atomique. Les resultats sont utilises pour interpreter les observations des raies decametriques de carbone

The AUSTRAL observing program was started in 2011, performing geodetic and astrometric very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) sessions using the new Australian AuScope VLBI antennas at Hobart, Katherine, and Yarragadee, with contribution from the Warkworth (New Zealand) 12 m and Hartebeesthoek (South Africa) 15 m antennas to make a southern hemisphere array of telescopes with similar design and capability. Designed in the style of the next-generation VLBI system, these small and fast antennas allow for a new way of observing, comprising higher data rates and more observations than the standard observing sessions coordinated by the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS). In this contribution, the continuous development of the AUSTRAL sessions is described, leading to an improvement of the results in terms of baseline length repeatabilities by a factor of two since the start of this program. The focus is on the scheduling strategy and increased number of observations, aspects of automated operation, and data logistics, as well as results of the 151 AUSTRAL sessions performed so far. The high number of the AUSTRAL sessions makes them an important contributor to VLBI end-products, such as the terrestrial and celestial reference frames and Earth orientation parameters. We compare AUSTRAL results with other IVS sessions and discuss their suitability for the determination of baselines, station coordinates, source coordinates, and Earth orientation parameters.