_                   
                                                         |_|                  
      V   V   SSSS   OOO   PPPP                 \__      |_|      __/         
      V   V  S      O   O  P   P                   --____/ \____--            
      V   V   SSS   O   O  PPPP                    _ _ _ --- _ _ _            
       V V       S  O   O  P                      |_|_|_|  @|_|_|_|           
        V    SSSS    OOO   P                             o-o                  
                                                          /                   
      ***  N    E    W    S  ***                        <)                    
                                                                              

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Research positions are available at ISAS and Mitaka (the National Astronomical Observatory) for the fiscal year starting April 1, 1998. The successful applicants must take up the position within the next fiscal year, with the positions being available for anywhere between three months to 1 year. The deadline for this round of applications is December 19, 1997. Details are available from Prof. Hirabayashi (hirax@vsop.isas.ac.jp) and Prof. Inoue (inoue@nao.ac.jp) for the positions at ISAS and Mitaka respectively.

HALCA AMPLITUDE CALIBRATION

HALCA system temperature files appropriate for use in AIPS are now being made available for each experiment. These files (along with a helpful plot and a `halca_gains.key' file) can be obtained from the `HALCA Calibration' page of the VSOP WWW site. Documentation describing in detail how to best use the amplitude calibration data is being prepared. The data now in hand show that the system temperature depends principally on the angle between the pointing direction and the earth, with most of the variation near perigee (where this angle changes rapidly and tends to be smaller), with weaker dependencies on other spacecraft parameters (sun-angle, time-since-maneuver, etc.). As the system temperature database grows, these dependencies will be fully characterized and the results made available to PIs.

VSOP WWW PAGES

The VSOP WWW site has recently undergone a major overhaul. Of particular note is a new section for observers, including information on schedules, data calibration and reduction. Hopefully the information observers want will be easier to find than before. If you have any comments or questions about the new web pages please send them to vsopwww@vsop.isas.ac.jp

NAGOYA COSPAR

A reminder that January 9th is the deadline for Abstracts for next July's COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Nagoya (see VSOP news no. 74 for more details). As mentioned in the last issue, all proposers will be contacted in early January regarding the observations they had proposed. Those who find their observations are scheduled in the early months of the year may wish to consider presenting their results at the COSPAR meeting. (Although in principle late abstract submissions will not be accepted, we hear a blind eye may be turned to to late abstracts for Symposium E1.3 on `VSOP Results and the Future of Space VLBI'.) Besides the obvious attractions of the meeting, it is worth noting that the meeting coincides with a sumo tournament in Nagoya, and that the two month climbing season for Mt Fuji will have just opened at the time! Further details are available from http://www.copernicus.org/COSPAR/COSPAR.html

 
                Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi