Ragbir Bhathal

The Northern HIPASS catalogue – data presentation, completeness and reliability measures

The Northern HIPASS catalogue (NHICAT) is the northern extension of the HIPASS catalogue, HICAT. This extension adds the sky area between the declination (Dec.) range of +2 degrees 300 km s(-1). Sources with -300 < nu(hel) < 300 km s(-1) were excluded to avoid contamination by Galactic emission. In total, the entire HIPASS survey has found 5317 galaxies identified purely by their HI content. The full galaxy catalogue is publicly available at http://hipass.aus-vo.org.

The HIPASS catalogue - II. completeness, reliability and parameter accuracy

The H I Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS) is a blind extragalactic H I 21-cm emission-line survey covering the whole southern sky from declination -90degrees to +25degrees. The HIPASS catalogue (HICAT), containing 4315 H I-selected galaxies from the region south of declination +2degrees, is presented in Meyer et al. (Paper I). This paper describes in detail the completeness and reliability of HICAT, which are calculated from the recovery rate of synthetic sources and follow-up observations, respectively. HICAT is found to be 99 per cent complete at a peak flux of 84 mJy and an integrated flux of 9.4 Jy km. s(-1). The overall reliability is 95 per cent, but rises to 99 per cent for sources with peak fluxes >58 mJy or integrated flux >8.2 Jy km s(-1). Expressions are derived for the uncertainties on the most important HICAT parameters: peak flux, integrated flux, velocity width and recessional velocity. The errors on HICAT parameters are dominated by the noise in the HIPASS data, rather than by the parametrization procedure.

The 1000 brightest HIPASS galaxies: newly cataloged galaxies

The H I Parkes All-Sky Survey (HIPASS) is a blind 21 cm survey for extragalactic neutral hydrogen, covering the whole southern sky. The HIPASS Bright Galaxy Catalog (BGC) is a subset of HIPASS and contains the 1000 H I brightest (peak flux density) galaxies. Here we present the 138 HIPASS BGC galaxies that had no redshift measured prior to the Parkes multibeam H I surveys. Of the 138 galaxies, 87 are newly cataloged. Newly cataloged is defined as having no optical ( or infrared) counterpart in the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Using the Digitized Sky Survey, we identify optical counterparts for almost half of the newly cataloged galaxies, which are typically of irregular or Magellanic morphological type. Several H I sources appear to be associated with compact groups or pairs of galaxies rather than an individual galaxy. The majority ( 57) of the newly cataloged galaxies lie within 10degrees of the Galactic plane and are missing from optical surveys as a result of confusion with stars or dust extinction. This sample also includes newly cataloged galaxies first discovered by Henning et al. in the H I shallow survey of the zone of avoidance. The other 30 newly cataloged galaxies escaped detection because of their low surface brightness or optical compactness. Only one of these, HIPASS J0546-68, has no obvious optical counterpart, as it is obscured by the Large Magellanic Cloud. We find that the newly cataloged galaxies with -b->10degrees are generally lower in H I mass and narrower in velocity width compared with the total HIPASS BGC. In contrast, newly cataloged galaxies behind the Milky Way are found to be statistically similar to the entire HIPASS BGC. In addition to these galaxies, the HIPASS BGC contains four previously unknown H I clouds.

Educational analysis of a first year engineering physics experiment on standing waves: based on the ACELL approach

This paper describes an educational analysis of a first year physics experiment on standing waves for engineering students. The educational analysis is based on the ACELL (Advancing Chemistry by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory) approach which includes a statement of educational objectives and an analysis of student learning experiences. The experiment is likely to be found in many physics departments, hence is appropriate to illustrate the ACELL approach in physics. The concepts associated with standing waves are difficult; however, they are underpinned by mathematical formulation which lend themselves to be visualized in experiments. The challenge is to strike a balance between these two for the particular student cohort. In this study, this balance is achieved by using simple equipment and providing appropriate scaffolds for students to associate abstract concepts with concrete visuals. In essence the experiment is designed to adequately manage cognitive resources. Students work in pairs and are questioned and assisted by demonstrators and academic staff during a 2 h practical class. Students were surveyed using the ACELL instrument. Analysis of the data showed that by completing the practical students felt that their understanding of physics had increased. Furthermore, students could see the relevance of this experiment to their engineering studies and that it provided them with an opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning. Overall they had a positive learning experience. In short there is a lot of dividend from a small outlay of resources.

Retrospective perceptions and views of engineering students about physics and engineering practicals

Hands-on practical work in physics and engineering has a long and well-established tradition in Australian universities. Recently, however, the question of whether hands-on physics and engineering practicals are useful for engineering students and whether they could be deleted or whether these could be replaced with computer simulations has been raised, mainly due to cost-cutting exercises. In order to ascertain the usefulness of hands-on engineering practicals and first year practical physics classes to their engineering degree, a retrospective survey was carried out with third year engineering students. The general picture that emerges from the survey indicates that the majority of the students found hands-on physics and engineering practicals preferable to simulations on a computer and that practical work is useful not only for linking theory to practicals but also for gaining technical skills.

Optical SETI in Australia

This paper discusses and describes one of the new optical search strategies that have come on-line in the last few years. Armed with a

Improving the scientific literacy of Aboriginal students through astronomy

DLR250,000 optical SETI observatory built mainly through private sector funds and other off- campus telescopes the OZ OSETI Project is searching for very fast optical pulses beamed at planet Earth by Extraterrestrial Intelligence civilizations which have surpassed the radio threshold. The search has initially concentrated on southern circumpolar stars and globular clusters.

A SETI Course at University of Western Sydney Macarthur.

Seventy per cent of Aboriginal students drop out of school before the end of their secondary school years and very few go on to do science at the Higher School Certificate level. As a result of this statistics reveal that only 0.003% of the 9000 university science graduates in 2005 in Australia were of Aboriginal origin. This paper discusses an astronomy project which seeks to improve the scientific literacy of Aboriginal students so as to motivate them to take up careers in science and engineering.

An appraisal of an online tutorial system for the teaching and learning of engineering physics in conjunction with contextual physics and mathematics, and relevant mathematics

A popular new course in Sydney is based on the scientific approach to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Beginning with the famous Drake equation the course explores the biological and technological aspects of the search and the social implications of possible contact.

Formal and nonformal SETI education programs

ABSTRACT The number of students entering engineering schools in Australian universities has increased tremendously over the last few years because of the Australian Federal Governments policy of increasing the participation rates of Higher School Certificate students and students from low social economic status backgrounds in the tertiary sector. They now come with a diverse background of skills, motivations and prior knowledge. It is imperative that new methods of teaching and learning be developed. This paper describes an online tutorial system used in conjunction with contextual physics and mathematics, and the revision of the relevant mathematical knowledge at the appropriate time before a new topic is introduced in the teaching and learning of engineering physics. Taken as a whole, this study shows that students not only improved their final examination results but there was also an increase in the retention rate of first-year engineering students which has financial implications for the university.