The value of research data to the nation

Executive Director’s report Ross Wilkinson, ANDS How can Australia address the challenge of living in bushfire prone city fringes? How can Australia most effectively farm and preserve our precious soil? How can Australia understand the Great Barrier Reef? No single discipline can answer these questions, but to address these challenges data is needed from a range of sources and disciplines. Research data that is well organised and available allows research to make substantial contributions vital to Australia’s future. For example, by drawing upon data that is able to be used by soil scientists, geneticists, plant scientists, climate analysts, and others, it is possible to conduct the multidisciplinary investigations necessary to tackle truly difficult and important challenges. The data might be provided by a Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network OzFluz tower, insect observations recorded by a citizen through the Atlas of Living Australia, genetic sequencing of insects through a Bioplatforms Australia facility, weather observations by the Bureau of Meteorology, or historical data generated by CSIRO over many decades. Each will provide a part of the jigsaw, but the pieces must be able to be put together. This requires careful collection and organisation, which together deliver enormous value to the country. However, nationally significant problems are often tackled by international cooperation, so Australia’s data assets enable Australian researchers to work with the best in the world, solving problems of both national and international significance. Australia’s data assets and research data infrastructure provide Australian researchers with an excellent platform for international collaboration. Australia has world-leading research data infrastructure: our ability to store, compute, discover, explore, analyse and publish is the best in the world. The ability to capture data through a wide range of capabilities, from the Australian Synchrotron to Integrated Marine Observation System [IMOS: imos.org.au] ocean gliders, the combination of national storage and computation through RDSI, NCI and Pawsey initiatives, the ability to publish and discover data through ANDS, the ability to analyse and explore data through Nectar, and state and local eResearch capabilities, highlights just some of the capabilities that Australian researchers are able to access. Importantly, their international partners are able to work with them using many of these resources. As well, Australian research organisations are assembling many resources to support their research. These include policies, procedures, practical infrastructure, and very importantly – people! The eResearch team and the data librarians are always keen to help. This issue of Share highlights how the data resources of Australia are providing a very substantial national benefit, and how that benefit is being realised

Improving Transit Predictions of Known Exoplanets with TERMS

Transiting planet discoveries have largely been restricted to the short-period or low-periastron distance regimes due to the bias inherent in the geometric transit probability. Through the refinement of planetary orbital parameters, and hence reducing the size of transit windows, long-period planets become feasible targets for photometric follow-up. Here we describe the TERMS project that is monitoring these host stars at predicted transit times.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, to be published in ASP Conf. Proceedings: "Detection and dynamics of transiting exoplanets" 2010, OHP, France (eds.: F. Bouchy, R.F. D{\i}az, C. Moutou

System Geometries and Transit / Eclipse Probabilities

Transiting exoplanets provide access to data to study the mass-radius relation and internal structure of extrasolar planets. Long-period transiting planets allow insight into planetary environments similar to the Solar System where, in contrast to hot Jupiters, planets are not constantly exposed to the intense radiation of their parent stars. Observations of secondary eclipses additionally permit studies of exoplanet temperatures and large-scale exo-atmospheric properties. We show how transit and eclipse probabilities are related to planet-star system geometries, particularly for long-period, eccentric orbits. The resulting target selection and observational strategies represent the principal ingredients of our photometric survey of known radial-velocity planets with the aim of detecting transit signatures (TERMS).Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. Comments: To appear in the ASP Conference Proceedings: Detection and Dynamics of Transiting Exoplanets; Proceedings of Haute Provence Observatory Colloquium (23-27 August 2010); Edited by F. Bouchy, R. F. Diaz, and C. Mouto

Exoplanet Detection Techniques

We are still in the early days of exoplanet discovery. Astronomers are beginning to model the atmospheres and interiors of exoplanets and have developed a deeper understanding of processes of planet formation and evolution. However, we have yet to map out the full complexity of multi-planet architectures or to detect Earth analogues around nearby stars. Reaching these ambitious goals will require further improvements in instrumentation and new analysis tools. In this chapter, we provide an overview of five observational techniques that are currently employed in the detection of exoplanets: optical and IR Doppler measurements, transit photometry, direct imaging, microlensing, and astrometry. We provide a basic description of how each of these techniques works and discuss forefront developments that will result in new discoveries. We also highlight the observational limitations and synergies of each method and their connections to future space missions.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figures, PPVI proceedings. Appears as 2014, Protostars and Planets VI, Henrik Beuther, Ralf S. Klessen, Cornelis P. Dullemond, and Thomas Henning (eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 914 pp., p.715-73

The Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey: A Saturn-Mass Planet in the Habitable Zone of the Nearby M4V Star HIP 57050

Precision radial velocities from Keck/HIRES reveal a Saturn-mass planet orbiting the nearby M4V star HIP 57050. The planet has a minimum mass of 0.3 Jupiter-mass, an orbital period of 41.4 days, and an orbital eccentricity of 0.31. V-band photometry reveals a clear stellar rotation signature of the host star with a period of 98 days, well separated from the period of the radial velocity variations and reinforcing a Keplerian origin for the observed velocity variations. The orbital period of this planet corresponds to an orbit in the habitable zone of HIP 57050, with an expected planetary temperature of approximately 230 K. The star has a metallicity of [Fe/H] = 0.32+/-0.06 dex, of order twice solar and among the highest metallicity stars in the immediate solar neighborhood. This newly discovered planet provides further support that the well-known planet-metallicity correlation for F, G, and K stars also extends down into the M-dwarf regime. The a priori geometric probability for transits of this planet is only about 1%. However, the expected eclipse depth is ~7%, considerably larger than that yet observed for any transiting planet. Though long on the odds, such a transit is worth pursuing as it would allow for high quality studies of the atmosphere via transmission spectroscopy with HST. At the expected planetary effective temperature, the atmosphere may contain water clouds.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, to appear in the May 20 issue of ApJ

Beyond the Rhetoric: Foundation Strategy

How do foundations maximize their impact? What is the role of strategy? Is your foundation strategic? Are you? This groundbreaking research examines the current state of decision making at large, private, U.S. foundations. Through in-depth interviews with CEOs and program officers, the study examines foundation leaders' view and use of strategy in making decisions. Analysis of their responses reveals four categories of decision makers ranging from nonstrategic to strategic. Beyond the Rhetoric sets the stage for future CEP research on the role of strategy in creating foundation impact, and highlights practical implications for CEOs, trustees, and program staff