Foresight Project

Astronomy and Astrophysics Sector Strategy

Submitted to the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology

31st October 1998

New Zealand Astronomy and Astrophysics in the first decade of the new millennium

Executive Summary

New Zealand has a remarkable record in astronomy and astrophysics research given its small population base and limited research resources. However, compared to similar population-sized OECD countries, the New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics research budget and number of researchers are, at best , a factor of 3 lower than OECD averages. There is a need for enhanced investment in the sector to ensure a continuation of this record.

Astronomy and astrophysics offers much to New Zealand as we enter the 21st century. The sector is involved in fundamental research, science training, technical innovation, knowledge transfer and is a vital tool in improving the public perception of science and technology. In addition, this sector offers an opportunity to impact on the careers of our future scientists, a vital component in leading economies, by making use of the high profile astronomical activities of other countries and, for modest investment, linking them to the New Zealand situation.

The astronomy and astrophysics community have combined to produce this sector strategy. Improved competencies in our sector along with recommendations for Industry and Government involvement are suggested. The main recommendations are:

• Participation in the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) project

• Improved funding opportunities for Mt John University Observatory (MJUO) as the national observing facility

• An increase, by at least a factor of 2, in the number of astronomy and astrophysics researchers

• An improved national structure of New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics

• Increased international collaboration

• Improved public promotion and outreach

Introduction:

New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics research is currently faced with exciting new opportunities, both locally and internationally, that can build upon the existing research and knowledge base and, importantly, expand into new areas of astrophysically important research. These new areas also combine possibilities of advancing existing, and promoting new, technologies in optical system design and fabrication.

Historically, astronomy and astrophysics has played an important role in driving improvements and promoting the use of new technology instrumentation, imaging systems, detectors, computing systems, information and data retrieval and transfer. A robust and healthy astronomy and astrophysics sector has important flow-on effects to private industry and to New Zealand education at all levels. New Zealand has an excellent record in the training of astronomers and many New Zealand astronomers have successful careers at observatories, institutions and universities around the world. Astronomy and astrophysics research deals with the "Big Questions", including the search for extra-terrestrial life and Earth-like planets, understanding stellar and galaxy evolution and discovering the origins and predicting the future of the Universe. These are questions that the public finds the most interesting and valid for research.

A light curve of a star near the Galactic centre showing the dramatic brightening and fading over a 50 day period due to "microlensing" by the passage of a "dark" object between us and the star. This event was named MACHO Alert 95-30 (Alcock et al. 1997) and the New Zealand Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) project contributed vital data to this "dark matter" study.

The Best Newspaper Feature awarded at the 1998 Qantas Media Awards entitled "Seeking the Strong and Silent Type" (Cassie 1997) described the ongoing New Zealand based MOA project that is attempting to determine the origin of Dark Matter, one of astronomy's greatest puzzles. Such research is also acceptable to the general public since it is "non-destructive" or "non-invasive". Astronomy and astrophysics also has strong links with other sciences and humanities such as philosophy and history. A recently produced video, "Ko Tipu te Ao" from Carter Observatory that describes the origin of the Universe from a Maori perspective, highlights this strong link.

The advent and spread of the WWW has also given astronomy and astrophysics, possibly the most publically "marketable" and "understandable" science, a powerful tool in the promotion and communication of science and technology to the general public and in education. The earthly explorers of yesterday, such as Magellan, Cook, Admundsen and Hillary that captured the imagination of all, have now been joined by earthbound astronomers exploring the cosmos using telescopes like the Australia Telescope Compact Array, Keck I and II, Hubble Space Telescope and COBE and machines such as the Pioneer and Voyager space probes and the Mars Pathfinder. The popularity of WWW sites such as those hosted by the Space Telescope Science Institute (showing Hubble Space Telescope images) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (that showed live-time Mars Pathfinder images) reflect the public's fascination.

Whilst tools now exist to better promote the level of understanding of science to the public, recent studies indicate that although the public has an intense interest in science, they do not have a firm grasp of the concepts, benefits and results of such research. A 1998 report by the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) ("Research for developing a public information campaign" 1998) was undertaken to determine the attitudes to science and technology of the general public. The key findings of this report included 1) that many people could not articulate what it is that science and technology contributes to New Zealand, 2) the public were unable to identify tangible examples of people putting science and technology to work in the world around them, and 3) a poor image of science in the public mind had contributed to science's lack of appeal as a career option.

A similar survey ("Science and Technology Interest, Understanding and Attitudes in the New Zealand Community" 1998) targeted school-leavers, and parents and teachers of children 9-11 years old. The key findings of this report include 1) a high level of public interest in science and technology exists (New Zealanders showed the highest levels of interest compared with 13 other OECD countries), although only one in ten respondents view themselves as sufficiently informed to effectively participate in scientific and technological debates, and 2) somewhat disturbingly, 6th and 7th form students scored better than primary school teachers in their knowledge of science vocabulary. The results of these surveys should send a message of concern to all. Clearly, simple, effective communication of the results and benefits of science and technology to the general public is needed. We believe astronomy and astrophysics can carry this message most effectively.

The New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics sector (see Appendix A) has combined to produce this Foresight Project strategy that outlines its preferred position in the year 2010. This sector strategy concentrates on professional astronomy and astrophysics research, but includes recommendations on public outreach, education and industry opportunities and science and technology promotion. A brief report on the knowledge base of New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics (Orchiston 1997) has already been published by MoRST, which can be contrasted and compared with the reviews and predictions of Cottrell (1991, 1994).

The significance and status of astronomy and astrophysics research in New Zealand in 2010.

In 2010, New Zealand has become a highly productive astronomy and astrophysics research nation. New Zealand astronomers have had access to the Southern African Large Telescope after becoming a founding member of the consortium in 2000. A narrow window of opportunity existed for New Zealand to join SALT in the 1998-1999 time period and this was exploited. This new venture has enabled new research areas to be explored by New Zealand astronomers and fostered international collaborations. New Zealand joined the SALT project by building a High Resolution Spectrograph, one of three primary instruments for the telescope.

Mount John University Observatory has continued to build on its geographical strengths and provide key observational support for its international collaborations which require longitude coverage. Its observations of the Magellanic Clouds continue to provide unique year- round data on key objects in these external galaxies. The facilities at MJUO are focussed on small- to medium-sized telescopes, with high throughput spectrographs and state-of-the-art detectors. There is also a telescope dedicated to gamma ray burst alerts and microlensing alerts, particularly in the Magellanic Clouds, for which MJUO's latitude provides a significant advantage over other observatories.

The Hercules spectrograph for high resolution stellar spectroscopy was installed at MJUO in 2001 and is currently one of the most powerful instruments in the world. It uses CCD detectors to record faint spectral images and these detectors have been upgraded every few years to keep pace with rapidly changing technology in digital image recording.

Two spectra of a highly variable star, known as V854 Centauri, showing changes in the spectral lines of sodium in the yellow part of the electromagnetic spectrum. These two spectra are separated in time by several weeks and were obtained using the echelle spectrograph on the 1m telescope at MJUO.

An expansion in research institutions and departments since the late 1990s has meant that New Zealand has now reached a broad-based research level. This research achievement has been due to a successful and improved partnership between government, private industry and the astronomy and astrophysics sector over the last decade.

As well, the successful flow-on of information and research results available to the general public and schools has been achieved by research departments and institutes actively disseminating their findings via the WWW. This information flow-on has produced a society in the year 2010 that is one of the best informed about astronomical and general sciences, the utilisation and promotion of new technologies, and their contributions to the New Zealand and international knowledge base. Over the decade 2000 to 2010 the public perception of science has dramatically improved and the number of students choosing science and science-related careers has greatly increased from the numbers reported in the late 1990's.

Astronomy and astrophysics is one of the most accessible sciences to all people and thus has had a major influence in promoting science and technology throughout the 2000-2010 decade to both the New Zealand general public and students.

Major priorities, directions and outcomes that made our 2010 position possible

The strong position of New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics in 2010 was due to the astronomical sector setting goals in the late 1990's that ensured both the continuing strength of local research and an involvement in international, collaborative astronomy and astrophysics projects (both on-shore and off-shore) that broadened the existing research, knowledge and technology base.

We announce our sector's priorities, directions and outcomes and then reflect on the late 1990s status of astronomical research in New Zealand, recent reviews and reports on New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics directions, and summarise recent United States of America, Australian and OECD astronomy and astrophysics reviews.

Priorities and Directions to be taken in New Zealand:

The future of New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics depends critically on

• guaranteed access to national and international facilities of the highest rank

• a quality supply of graduate students

• a stable and "critical mass" number of astronomers and astrophysicists

• improved optical instrumentation design and construction capabilities

• improved outreach of research and technology results to the public and education and industry sectors

• the existence of a group of professional astronomers to oversee the future needs of New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics

To achieve the above critical items we provide the following detail, with supporting arguments, which the astronomy and astrophysics sector must undertake.

Join the SALT consortium

The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is a spectroscopic 10m telescope that is to be built at Sutherland, South Africa. It is being funded at the 50% level by the South African Government, with the remaining funds coming from a consortium of astronomy institutes and departments in the U.S.A., Germany and Poland. SALT is a copy of the existing Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET; Ramsey et al. 1998) in Texas, U.S.A. SALT is specially designed to minimize construction costs, and is the cheapest 10m-class telescope in the world, costing ~20% of a regular telescope of that size.

New Zealand astronomers have been invited to join the SALT consortium. SALT would provide access to science not possible with current or future New Zealand telescopes and SALT research prospects are natural extensions of present New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics research. Active contact between New Zealand astronomers (including students) and other SALT astronomers would increase the skills base of astronomy and astrophysics in New Zealand. This is the single most important opportunity for New Zealand scientists to be involved in a major international collaborative project for more than 30 years.

Membership of the SALT consortium could bring with it important on-shore projects involving optical instrumention design and construction. New Zealand astronomers have an excellent record in high resolution spectroscopy, that includes the design, manufacture and commissioning of spectrographs (see Appendix B1). One of the three primary instruments for SALT will be a high resolution spectrograph (HRS). The timeframe of completion of such an instrument would be approximately 2005, in time for regular observing with SALT.

With its queue-scheduling arrangements, travel to South Africa will not be required to observe with SALT and the observations for an approved New Zealand scientific programme will be acquired by an observing team at the telescope and then transferred to the New Zealand scientists once they have been obtained. This will mean a saving of travel time and money.

New Zealand researchers would gain access to new technologies and the most advanced data and computer systems. SALT provides research capabilities that will never exist in New Zealand and exposes New Zealand astronomers to '10m'-class research capabilities that are now the international 'norm'.

In addition, SALT membership would provide access to other South African telescopes, with apertures up to 1.9m, providing further opportunities for collaboration with South African and other international researchers.

The development and continued support of Mount John University Observatory facilities, instruments and staff.

Mount John offers considerable advantages in certain areas of observational astrophysics, based on its geographical position. Both its latitude and longitude provide opportunities to be involved in unique programmes for which continuous observations of a particular object are required over several days, using telescopes at various longitudes (eg. the Whole Earth Telescope consortium, see below). The latitude advantage enables our nearest substantial galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, to be observed year-round and at a significantly higher altitude that at other southern hemisphere observatories.

The Whole Earth Telescope (WET) is a very successfull international collaboration of astronomers that undertakes coordinated high-speed photometry (over many days) of multi-periodic pulsating stars, with the aim of deducing fundamental information about the structure of the objects. The detailed study of a number of pulsating white dwarfs has been a particular success story for WET. The effectiveness of the WET operation has resulted from a number of factors such as uniformity of high-quality instrumentation and interactive control and feeback during an observing run. The WET has been in existence for a decade, using MJUO facilities, and a New Zealand astronomer (Dr D.J. Sullivan, VUW) has been an active member since 1992.

The Extreme Phenomena Explorer (EPEX) satellite has been proposed as a NASA MIDEX project by a group of United States astronomers. EPEX will observe approximately 1000 gamma-ray bursts and X-ray transients over a 3 year period beginning in late 2002. New Zealand has been invited to join the EPEX program and provide optical follow-up observations of the transient phenomena. Observations from MJUO are of major importance due to the lack of southern telescopes at our longitude.

As well as a unique research facility, MJUO provides an excellent facility for the training of graduate students from all New Zealand universities which have observational research programmes. This training enhances skills in many areas: optics, computers, detectors, image processing, electronics, spectroscopy, as well as in various areas of physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Build on Trans-Tasman research links.

There are opportunities for developing and instigating new collaborative research and observing programs with Australian researchers, using Australian telescopes and infrastructure in Antarctica. This could be at optical, infrared or radio wavelengths. Discussion in the latter area should continue with respect to Very Long Baseline Interferometry as New Zealand would provide an ideal site if Australian astronomers saw the need for extending their current east-west baseline.

International groups including CARA (Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica, a United States based group) and JACARA (Joint Australian Centre for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica) have established telescopes, experiments and site testing equipment at the South Pole. The Antarctic environment, and its high altitude plateau regions (Domes A and C) in particular, provide exceptional observing capabilities especially in the near-, mid- and far-infrared and sub-millimetre regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Progress is very rapid and these endeavours have substantial financial backing. JACARA is in the process of selecting site testing areas in the plateau region. The most likely outcome is the construction of a medium-sized telescope at either Dome A or C in the early part of the next century by a multi-country consortium. New Zealand is well situated to participate in Antarctic astronomy (especially with JACARA) in the future.

Regular astronomical meetings between the Trans-Tasman neighbours would provide opportunities to enhance New Zealand's research profile. In 1993, New Zealand hosted the First Joint Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) and the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) and an invitation to RASNZ will mean that the Second Joint Meeting will be held in Sydney in 1999.

Attract additional quality staff and students into astronomy and astrophysics programmes at key universities and research institutes.

A strategy needs to be developed to promote the increase in astronomy and astrophysics staff levels and in the number of graduate level students. This could include a summer school for prospective physics, chemistry and mathematics graduates that targets third and fourth year BSc students. Opportunities should be pursued which, until additional permanent funding can be obtained, brings high profile researchers into New Zealand to work with existing staff and students to develop more collaborative research programmes, further enhancing the profile of New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics.

Improve the long-term capability of optical instrument design and fabrication.

Over the last 30 years there has been excellent support for optical design and fabrication in New Zealand. However, there is a significant fraction of very experienced personnel in optical design and fabrication who are near to retiring and there is an urgent need to find and/or train replacement personnel with equivalent capabilities. This could include personnel in universities, Crown Research Institutes and other research organisations, as well as in the commercial sector.

Establish a group of professional astronomers.

This group is required to encompass all New Zealand's professional astronomers (those who endeavour to derive their livelihood from research astronomy and astrophysics) who would be involved in evolving strategies for the current and future needs in professional astronomical research. They can then deliver these recommendations to appropriate Government Ministries.

Once established this group could build a New Zealand national astronomy WWW site for the professional community, providing access to all those interested in research astronomy and astrophysics in New Zealand. There would also be links to the Royal Society of New Zealand's Standing Committee on Astronomical Sciences, a group with a much broader astronomical focus. In addition, there would be links to national astronomy documents or reviews, (e.g. this document), information for prospective astronomers, (e.g. courses and requirements), a description of a career in astronomy and astrophysics, job vacancies in astronomy and astrophysics, current funding information and published research by New Zealand-based astronomers and astrophysicists, as well as links to astronomers overseas who recognise their New Zealand roots.

A New Zealand-wide strategy for public press releases (e.g. Marsden funded programs/Research News/International collaborations) through this new professional group should be adopted and these releases should be mirrored on the New Zealand national astronomy WWW site.

Improved astronomical education and public outreach.

Closer links between the professional astronomy sector and New Zealand astronomy educators should be encouraged. This should be maintained through the Royal Society of New Zealand's Standing Committee on Astronomical Sciences, where there is a broader focus for dissemination of astronomical information through various astronomy education organisations, e.g. Carter Observatory and Auckland Observatory.

Attract international astronomical conferences/meetings to New Zealand.

There are a number of opportunities to host meetings in New Zealand.

A SALT Interim Board Meeting could be held in New Zealand in early 1999 as these are being held in institutions/countries which are seeking membership in the consortium. Following the meeting in Cape Town, South Africa in March 1998, there have been meetings at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Poland.

Pacific Region International Astronomical Union meetings are a continuing possibility as astronomers in this region are always seeking sites for these meetings. The last meeting of this type to be held in New Zealand was in 1978.

More specialist meetings could be considered, aligning with the expertise of the New Zealand researchers. A real opportunity to organise a meeting of this type exists in 2003, when the General Assembly (a meeting expected to attract ~2000 attendees) of the International Astronomical Union will be held in Sydney. Satellite meetings could either be held in New Zealand or more likely be organised by New Zealand researchers and held in Sydney.

Future joint RASNZ/ASA meetings should be considered, following the initial two: 1993 in Christchurch and 1999 in Sydney.

New Zealand Outcomes from these new Directions

• Significant international collaboration through research and technical involvement in SALT, Trans-Tasman projects, space-based observational programmes, theoretical collaborations, MOA, PLANET and WET.

• Enhanced telescope, instrument and detector capabilities at Mount John University Observatory.

• A significantly higher profile for New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics in the New Zealand and international research communities.

• Improved optical instrumentation design and construction capability.

• Better informed public and better perception of science, research and new technologies.

The status of astronomical research in New Zealand in 1998

Research Institutes and the current staffing levels. Astronomy and astrophysics research is carried out at the Universities of Auckland, Waikato, Canterbury and at Victoria University, the Central Institute of Technology, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences and the Carter Observatory. In 1998 there are 17 researchers with Ph.D.s (listed in Appendix A) of whom 9 have positions that are tenured or permanent.

Observing Facilities. Mount John University Observatory is the only professional observing facility in New Zealand, and comprises a 1m and two 0.6m telescopes. The unique geographical properties of the site support involvement in time-series monitoring programs of variable objects and in observational programs of nearby objects in the richly populated southern sky (Magellanic Clouds, Galactic Centre, major globular clusters, numerous star formation regions, open clusters). The site's photometric qualities are average by the best world standards. Whilst absolute photometric work can be difficult to achieve (20% of nights in 1992-1997 were photometric, Hearnshaw 1998), MJUO is successfully used for differential photometry and spectroscopy of stellar objects (Stars in a Cluster 1996) and the telescopes are oversubscribed. The combination of average photometric and image qualities means that the MJUO site is limited to hosting only small- to medium-sized telescopes. MJUO is, and will remain, the best optical observing facility in New Zealand. It provides much needed research opportunities for astronomers, and training for both graduate and undergraduate students.

Instruments in use and under construction. The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Canterbury has headed MJUO instrumentation design and fabrication efforts (see detailed summaries in Appendix B1).

Existing Research: At the end of the 1990's numerous research projects were either underway or proposed (see detailed summaries in Appendix B2).

• National

  MOA (P.I.'s Assoc. Prof. P. Yock, Univ. Auckland; Dr. R. Dodd, Carter Observatory; Prof. J. Hearnshaw, Univ. Canterbury; Dr. D. J. Sullivan, Victoria Univ.).

• University of Canterbury

  PLANET (Dr. M. Albrow, Dr. K. Pollard)

  Precise stellar radial velocities (Prof. J.B.Hearnshaw)

  Active chromosphere stars (Prof J.B. Hearnshaw)

  Dynamics of solar system meteoroids (Prof. J. Baggaley)

  Cepheid variables (Assoc. Prof. P. Cottrell)

  Eclipsing binaries (Dr. W. Tobin)

  Long-term variability (Assoc. Prof. P. Cottrell)

  Moving groups of stars (Prof. J.B. Hearnshaw; Assoc. Prof. P. Cottrell)

  Beta Pictoris (Dr. W. Tobin)

• Victoria University of Wellington

  Asteroseismology of Compact Stars (Dr D.J. Sullivan)

  The Whole Earth Telescope (WET) (Dr D.J. Sullivan)

• University of Auckland

  X-ray studies of AGNs (Dr. I. Bond)

  X-ray satellite instrumentation (Dr. I. Bond)

• Carter Observatory

  Recalibration of the Vilnius photometric system (Dr. R. Dodd)

  Star cluster research (Dr. R. Dodd)

  Meteoritics (Dr. W. Orchiston)

  Cook Voyage Astronomy (Dr. W. Orchiston)

  Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Australasian Astronomy (Dr. W. Orchiston)

  Hubble Space Telescope (HST) studies of brightest cluster galaxies (Dr. G. Mackie)

  Multi-wavelength studies of galaxy evolution (Dr. G. Mackie)

Recent New Zealand reviews

A report (Davis 1993) was prepared for the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FoRST) to provide an independent assessment of New Zealand's capability for research in astronomy and to provide a critique of another review of New Zealand astronomy (Liley 1993) prepared for MoRST and FoRST. Six recommendations were made by Davis (parts of two recommendations suggested the closure of Black Birch Observatory and this has occurred) and those still relevant to New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics are:

The Mount John University Observatory should be recognized as the national optical observing facility.

Consideration be given to providing a direct annual grant to the MJUO to enable it to operate efficiently as the national optical observing facility.

Support should be given for trial VLBI experiments if a realistic proposal is forthcoming.

If not already available, access to travel funds to facilitate the use of major overseas astronomical facilities should be provided.

A watching brief should be maintained on developments for the establishment of international facilities in Antarctica with a view to possible participation by New Zealand in the future.

FoRST responded to the Davis report in its "Research Strategy for the Public Good Science Fund 1993/4 to 1997/8 - Space and Fundamental Knowledge, September 1993" (Hammond 1993) report. Annex C responds to the Davis recommendations, and it lists the following:

The importance of collaboration, particularly international collaboration, to maintaining standards of excellence in astronomical research is accepted.

The recommendation for direct annual grants to support a national facility is not accepted by the Foundation.

Funds for international travel to facilitate use of major overseas facilities can be factored into research programs submitted to the PGSF.

Response from the New Zealand sector:

In the 5 years since these New Zealand reviews, funding opportunities for astronomy and astrophysics have changed dramatically. The Marsden Fund is now the sole national funding source available for research in astronomy and astrophysics. However, the Marsden Fund does not provide funding for capital expenditure, severely limiting the scope of proposals.

Following the Davis report recommendations the New Zealand sector will continue to monitor developments in Antarctic astronomy, and will encourage new approaches to the Australian VLBI community.

Comparison with international directions

New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics research aspirations should recognize and, where appropriate, be aligned with other countries' research visions and directions. We summarize recent United States of America (Appendix C1), Australian (Appendix C2) and OECD (Appendix C3) astronomy and astrophysics reviews, although many of the recommendations also apply to the United Kingdom, South African, Japanese and European astronomy community directions due to their instigation or membership of large telescope projects (eg. Gemini, ESO-VLT, SALT, Subaru), new technology instrumentation programs, strengthening of graduate programs and improved public outreach programs.

Response from the New Zealand sector to the United States review:

Whilst New Zealand does not have the capability to instigate large scale astronomical observatories, such facilities (eg. Gemini, Hubble Space Telescope, Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility) are and will be available to New Zealand astronomers and their collaborators via an international peer review process.

Response from the New Zealand sector to the Australian review:

The New Zealand sector is proposing many similar initiatives to those of the Australian astronomical community. These include a proposal to join the SALT project, the instigation of a Summer School for graduates, and improved public outreach.

Response from the New Zealand sector to the OECD review:

Based on the OECD research budget comparisons, the past excellent academic record of New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics is even more remarkable. However, these statistics highlight the present untenably low number of researchers and poor funding situation that exists in New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics.

New and improved competencies that enabled astronomy and astrophysics to reach these outcomes.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Sector:

- An improved national structure

MJUO has been supported at a level that enables it to continue as a world-class observatory. Adequate funding for operations, maintenance, staff and instrumentation was of prime importance. In the past MJUO was funded by the University of Canterbury. Supplementary funding to the Observatory came via successful Marsden Fund proposals. Instrument upgrades (eg. Focal reducer for the Echelle spectrograph) and new instrumentation (eg. High Resolution Canterbury University Large Echelle Spectrograph, HERCULES) were financed by various funds at the University of Canterbury.

The sector debated the formation of a New Zealand professional astronomy group. It was generally felt that the sector needed this group to act as the "voice" of professional astronomy. Its focus is on matters relating to astronomy and astrophysics research and the group is the avenue of communication between the sector and government.

It was also realised that the sector needed to improve communication of its activities to the general public, government, ministries, funding bodies, industry and education sectors. This was achieved via several methods under the jurisdiction of the new professional group. These include adopting a process for press releases of significant news; advocating public lectures by our own sector members and distinguished visiting astronomers and the creation of a New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics WWW site.

Finally, the national standing of this sector has been significantly improved with staffing levels increased to the level of similarly developed and similar population countries.

- An improved international status

Astronomy and astrophysics has increasingly become more international and collaborative. Excellence in research requires access to the best research tools or facilities. Many of these facilities (ie. large telescopes) are expensive to build or operate and are also only feasible to place at the best sites around the world. Many large telescopes have been built, usually by a consortium of institutions and/or countries. However, small countries like New Zealand can join such international projects and buy a percentage of time to do such research on facilities that would be impossible or impractical to build locally or solely.

Our participation in SALT has been facilitated by the construction of a principal instrument (High Resolution Spectrograph, HRS). This has allowed local companies to develop optical instrumentation design and fabrication capabilities that have enabled them to bid for the next generation of large telescope instrumentation. Further, our sector has kept in contact with local companies that are producing astronomical-related imaging products that have international markets. One such example is "KiwiStar", a fast f-ratio, imaging camera that has been developed by Dr David Beach (Imaging and Sensing Team, Industrial Research Limited, Auckland) and was subsequently marketed and sold overseas.

The geographical vicinity and social compatibility of Australia is advantageous for New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics. Australia has many large optical (the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope, AAT; ANU 2.3m) and radio telescopes (Australia Telescope Compact Array, ATCA; Parkes 64m). New Zealand research has benefited from long-term Trans-Tasman collaborative observational projects that involved the use of unique facilities such as the AAT and ATCA. Such projects have been encouraged and joint observing projects have been initiated that include the use of MJUO telescopes, taking advantage of Mount John's longitude and latitude.

Finally, in this age of increasing email use and teleconferencing, human interaction has still been vital to the health of this research sector. The sector has continued to attract both international visitors and international conferences and meetings to New Zealand. Joint Trans-Tasman RASNZ-ASA meetings now seem to be firmly established.

Industry:

Industry has played an important role in astronomy and astrophysics research, and has benefited from new instrumentation projects. Astronomy and astrophysics researchers have been liasing with optical design and construction industries to identify long-term optical instrumentation possibilities and needs. As mentioned above, a New Zealand invention, "KiwiStar" which has astronomical capabilities, has already been sold overseas. Further sales of "KiwiStar" have been generated by New Zealand using it in a high profile astrophysics project that generated international awareness.

Government:

Astronomy and astrophysics is almost entirely a pure research area with output timescales that vary from the immediate training of scientists, through to new technology instrumentation design and construction, and finally research outputs that can vary in timescale from immediate to several years. The astronomy and astrophysics sector welcomes the support that has 1) encouraged research projects that have new technology and/or local construction possibilities and that may not come under Marsden Fund "purely curiosity-driven", non-capital eligibility, and 2) fostered a research funding vision that is long-term and stable, rather than short-term and prone to external "market-place" fluctuations.

The investments needed to achieve these outcomes.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Sector:

- Research

Our sector should promote and expand into new areas of research. We need to support and develop the unique capabilities of MJUO as a national observing facility for New Zealand optical astronomy using small- to medium-sized telescopes. The expansion of the research interests of university departments and astronomical institutes will help to ensure an influx of new graduates, and attract post-doctoral researchers, that are the life-blood of continued excellence in research. Finally to secure the long-term health of our research capabilities and ensure access to the best research facilities we must join the SALT project.

- New technology/optics

We propose the creation of an instrumentation and new technology sub-group within the new professional astronomy group that will liase with industry to identify future instrumentation needs and promote New Zealand's long-term optical design and construction capability. This sub-group will also identify new technologies that are/will be used in astronomy (eg. data compression - remote observing; data analysis - large imaging arrays; theory - supercomputer use, etc) and are of mutual interest to the business sector.

- Public promotion and outreach

The sector will set up several innovative ways to inform the public, colleagues, government and industry of new research projects and results.

Industry:

Industry needs to be aware of astronomy and astrophysics as a potential partner in many new technology projects. The industry sector could identify what present and new industry capabilities the astronomy and astrophysics sector needs to reach its research requirements.

Government:

The astronomy and astrophysics sector is highly dependent on government support. Our sector requires both stable funding and flexible funding opportunities to ensure a healthy research environment. The present national funding opportunity, the Marsden Fund, has awarded funds (of 3 years duration) for astronomical research at a rate of less than 1 proposal per year (1995 - "New Zealand/Japan southern astronomy project", Univ. Auckland, Victoria University Wellington, Univ. Canterbury, Carter Observatory; 1996 - "Stellar Astrophysics", Univ. Canterbury; 1997 - no proposals awarded; 1998 - "New Zealand/Japan southern astronomy project" - re- funded) so far. Before the 1998 award the Marsden Fund contributed an average of $376K per year to astronomical research. The awarded Marsden Funds have provided much needed monies to fund graduates and appoint post-doctoral researchers.

Since there are four major research institutes (Univ. Auckland, Carter Observatory; Univ. Canterbury and Victoria University Wellington), this funding history has lead to a situation in which little continuity exists. For example, potential users of MJUO who are not from the University of Canterbury, use Marsden Funding to pay for telescope time. Lack of Marsden success means that a 2-3 year period can exist when telescope user fees cannot be obtained. To the majority of observers this will limit their opportunity to do research.

The astronomy and astrophysics sector urges the government to support basic, blue-sky research at a higher level than it has in the recent past. We recommend that the government reverse its decision (1998 Budget) not to increase the level of the Marsden Fund to 10% of the Public Good Science Fund through to 2010. Furthermore, the government must complete its goal of increasing the level of research, science & technology investment to 0.8% of GDP by 2010 (RS&T 2010, Action Agenda and Framework 1996). This level is still low by other similar countries standards.

Conclusions

The New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics sector has identified priorities and directions that the government, supporting industries and the sector itself must adopt in order for New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics to achieve a strong position in 2010.

These main priorities and directions are:

• Join the SALT 10m telescope project as a founding member;

• Support and develop Mount John University Observatory as a unique New Zealand facility in optical astronomy using telescopes of small or medium size;

• Consolidate and broaden the sector academic/research staffing base;

• Build strong international linkages;

• Encourage optical engineering and fabrication capabilities in New Zealand;

• Enhance the public profile of New Zealand astronomy and astrophysics nationally and internationally;

• Increase the public understanding of science and engineering using astronomy and astrophysics as a focus.

31st October, 1998

Appendix A: New Zealand Astronomy and Astrophysics Sector.

Sector Strategy Editors:

Assoc. Prof. P.L. Cottrell, P.Cottrell@phys.canterbury.ac.nz, University of Canterbury

Dr. G. Mackie, Glen.Mackie@vuw.ac.nz, Carter Observatory, Wellington

Sector Strategy Authors:

Dr J. Adams, University of Canterbury

Dr. M. Albrow, University of Canterbury

Prof. J. Baggaley, University of Canterbury

Dr. I. Bond, University of Auckland

Dr. E. Budding, Central Institute of Technology, Wellington

Assoc. Prof. I. Craig, University of Waikato

Dr. R. Dodd, Carter Observatory, Wellington

Prof. J. Hearnshaw, University of Canterbury

Dr. G. Hill, Auckland Observatory

Dr. W. Orchiston, Carter Observatory, Wellington

Dr. K. Pollard, University of Canterbury

Dr. J. Pritchard, University of Canterbury

Dr. D. Sullivan, Victoria University Wellington

Dr. W. Tobin, University of Canterbury

Assoc. Prof. P. Yock, University of Auckland

Acknowledgements: G.M. and P.C. would like to thank Garry Nankivell for supplying background information on optical design and construction.

International Appointments:

Prof. J. Baggaley - President, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Commission 22, Meteors & Interplanetary Dust.

Assoc. Prof. P.L. Cottrell - Organising Committee of IAU Commision 27, Variable Stars and IAU Commission 29, Stellar Spectra.

Prof. J.B. Hearnshaw - President, IAU Commission 30, Radial Velocities; Member of the IAU Working Group for the World-wide development of astronomy (IAU-WGWWDA).

Dr. W. Orchiston - New Zealand National Representative on IAU Commission 46, Teaching of Astronomy; Organising Committee of IAU Commission 41, History of Astronomy.

Appendix B1: Instruments in use and under construction.

Mount John Echelle Spectrograph This instrument was built in 1975-76 and is the principal spectroscopic instrument at MJUO. A focal reducer has been built (Tobin et al. 1998) allowing greater (up to 13x more) spectral coverage than previously obtained.

Mount John Medium Resolution Spectrograph This spectrograph enables spectra of fainter objects to be obtained (compared with the echelle), but not with the same detail. It is ideal for acquiring spectra, or spectrophotometry, over both an extended wavelength interval and spatially, to gain a broad perspective of the astrophysical parameters of the objects.

CCD Imaging systems There are currently three CCD systems in operation at MJUO. One, purchased in 1988, is nearing the end of its useable life. Another CCD system with a larger area was purchased in 1995 and is the detector of choice on most of the 1-m telescope instruments. The third system is currently a mosaic of four CCDs, each with 2,000 by 4,000 detecting elements, which is used in the MOA collaboration (see below) and has been developed by Japanese collaborators.

Hercules Spectrograph The Hercules (High Efficiency and Resolution Canterbury University Large Echelle Spectrograph) spectrograph is a major quarter million dollar ($NZ) instrument now under construction at the University of Canterbury. It is designed (Hearnshaw, Rumsey and Nankivell 1998) to upgrade the capability of MJUO in high resolution stellar spectroscopy. It will take light by an optical fibre from the McLellan 1-m telescope to a spectrograph equipped with a large echelle diffraction grating and a CCD detector. Hercules will replace the existing echelle spectrograph at MJUO, and is expected to be completed in 2001.

The VUW 3-channel remote guiding photometer For over a decade, Dr D.J. Sullivan has been involved in the development and use of a 2-channel photomultiplier photometer that has been operated mostly in combination with the 1m MJUO telescope to undertake high-speed photometry work. This photometer has recently been substantially modified and improved to (a) incorporate 3 channels (target, comparison and sky), (b) allow remote guiding via a small CCD camera, and (c) make it more portable to facilitate transport to different telescopes sites. Both the original instrument and the modifications are based on developments at the University of Texas at Austin.

Appendix B2: Detailed Summaries of Research.