We present the first unbiased survey of neutral hydrogen absorption in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The survey utilises pilot neutral hydrogen observations with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope as part of the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder neutral hydrogen project whose dataset has been processed with the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder-HI absorption pipeline, also described here. This dataset provides absorption spectra towards 229 continuum sources, a 275% increase in the number of continuum sources previously published in the Small Magellanic Cloud region, as well as an improvement in the quality of absorption spectra over previous surveys of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Our unbiased view, combined with the closely matched beam size between emission and absorption, reveals a lower cold gas faction (11%) than the 2019 ATCA survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud and is more representative of the Small Magellanic Cloud as a whole. We also find that the optical depth varies greatly between the Small Magellanic Cloud’s bar and wing regions. In the bar we find that the optical depth is generally low (correction factor to the optically thin column density assumption of $\mathcal{R}_{\mathrm{HI}} \sim 1.04$ ) but increases linearly with column density. In the wing however, there is a wide scatter in optical depth despite a tighter range of column densities.

We present the most sensitive and detailed view of the neutral hydrogen ( ${\rm H\small I}$ ) emission associated with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), through the combination of data from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and Parkes (Murriyang), as part of the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (GASKAP) pilot survey. These GASKAP-HI pilot observations, for the first time, reveal ${\rm H\small I}$ in the SMC on similar physical scales as other important tracers of the interstellar medium, such as molecular gas and dust. The resultant image cube possesses an rms noise level of 1.1 K ( $1.6\,\mathrm{mJy\ beam}^{-1}$ ) $\mathrm{per}\ 0.98\,\mathrm{km\ s}^{-1}$ spectral channel with an angular resolution of $30^{\prime\prime}$ ( ${\sim}10\,\mathrm{pc}$ ). We discuss the calibration scheme and the custom imaging pipeline that utilises a joint deconvolution approach, efficiently distributed across a computing cluster, to accurately recover the emission extending across the entire ${\sim}25\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ field-of-view. We provide an overview of the data products and characterise several aspects including the noise properties as a function of angular resolution and the represented spatial scales by deriving the global transfer function over the full spectral range. A preliminary spatial power spectrum analysis on individual spectral channels reveals that the power law nature of the density distribution extends down to scales of 10 pc. We highlight the scientific potential of these data by comparing the properties of an outflowing high-velocity cloud with previous ASKAP+Parkes ${\rm H\small I}$ test observations.

We describe 14 yr of public data from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA), an ongoing project that is producing precise measurements of pulse times of arrival from 26 millisecond pulsars using the 64-m Parkes radio telescope with a cadence of approximately 3 weeks in three observing bands. A comprehensive description of the pulsar observing systems employed at the telescope since 2004 is provided, including the calibration methodology and an analysis of the stability of system components. We attempt to provide full accounting of the reduction from the raw measured Stokes parameters to pulse times of arrival to aid third parties in reproducing our results. This conversion is encapsulated in a processing pipeline designed to track provenance. Our data products include pulse times of arrival for each of the pulsars along with an initial set of pulsar parameters and noise models. The calibrated pulse profiles and timing template profiles are also available. These data represent almost 21 000 h of recorded data spanning over 14 yr. After accounting for processes that induce time-correlated noise, 22 of the pulsars have weighted root-mean-square timing residuals of $<\!\!1\,\mu\text{s}$ in at least one radio band. The data should allow end users to quickly undertake their own gravitational wave analyses, for example, without having to understand the intricacies of pulsar polarisation calibration or attain a mastery of radio frequency interference mitigation as is required when analysing raw data files.

We describe an ultra-wide-bandwidth, low-frequency receiver recently installed on the Parkes radio telescope. The receiver system provides continuous frequency coverage from 704 to 4032 MHz. For much of the band ( ${\sim}60\%$ ), the system temperature is approximately 22 K and the receiver system remains in a linear regime even in the presence of strong mobile phone transmissions. We discuss the scientific and technical aspects of the new receiver, including its astronomical objectives, as well as the feed, receiver, digitiser, and signal processor design. We describe the pipeline routines that form the archive-ready data products and how those data files can be accessed from the archives. The system performance is quantified, including the system noise and linearity, beam shape, antenna efficiency, polarisation calibration, and timing stability.

Dynamic ocean-induced loading of ice has recently prompted interest in the fatigue strength of ice and, consequently, aspects of the fracture testing of ice need to be examined. One aspect in fracture testing, the effects of notch acuity on the apparent fracture toughness (KQ) of saline ice, was investigated in this study using four groups of single-edge notched-bend specimens with different crack-(or notch-) root radii, fabricated by four different methods; namely, drilling a small hole of two different radii at the crack tip, cutting a crack with a band saw and using a hand-held razor blade to scribe a sharp crack. For this study, tests were performed on saline ice using one crack length and orientation, constant thickness and constant temperature (−25°C). The mean values and the standard deviations of the apparent fracture toughness of the specimens with blunt notches were higher than those with sharp cracks. The results presented in a plot of fracture toughness versus where ρ is the crack-tip radius, provide a preliminary estimate of the required notch acuity for fracture-toughness testing of saline ice.

The Parkes pulsar data archive currently provides access to 144044 data files obtained from observations carried out at the Parkes observatory since the year 1991. Around 105 files are from surveys of the sky, the remainder are observations of 775 individual pulsars and their corresponding calibration signals. Survey observations are included from the Parkes 70 cm and the Swinburne Intermediate Latitude surveys. Individual pulsar observations are included from young pulsar timing projects, the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array and from the PULSE@Parkes outreach program. The data files and access methods are compatible with Virtual Observatory protocols. This paper describes the data currently stored in the archive and presents ways in which these data can be searched and downloaded.

Here we describe the evolution through winter of a layer of in situ supercooled water beneath the sea ice at a site close to the McMurdo Ice Shelf. From early winter (May), the temperature of the upper water column was below its surface freezing point, implying contact with an ice shelf at depth. By late winter the supercooled layer was c. 40 m deep with a maximum supercooling of c. 25 mK located 1–2 m below the sea ice-water interface. Transitory in situ supercooling events were also observed, one lasting c. 17 hours and reaching a depth of 70 m. In spite of these very low temperatures the isotopic composition of the water was relatively heavy, suggesting little glacial melt. Further, the water's temperature-salinity signature indicates contributions to water mass properties from High Salinity Shelf Water produced in areas of high sea ice production to the north of McMurdo Sound. Our measurements imply the existence of a heat sink beneath the supercooled layer that extracts heat from the ocean to thicken and cool this layer and contributes to the thickness of the sea ice cover. This sink is linked to the circulation pattern of the McMurdo Sound.

Pulsed-laser ablation was used to deposit YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) films on LaAlO3 and metallic substrates in an effort to understand and develop the processing of coated conductors with enhanced properties. Doping of YBCO films with Nd was utilized as an approach for increasing their flux pinning properties. Separate targets of Nd2O3 and YBCO were used instead of a pre-mixed Nd2O3-YBCO target. The critical current density (Jc) of the films was measured by whole body dc transport measurements and the transition temperature (Tc) by ac susceptibility. The composition vs. depth profiles of the films were obtained by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry. The critical current of a 5000 Å thick Nd-doped YBCO film on a LaAlO3 substrate was measured at 77 K and found to be 57 A (Jc = 1.1×106 A/cm2).

Yba2Cu3OT7−x (Y123) and NdBa2Cu3O7−x (Nd123) thin films were deposited by PLD using a 248 nm wavelength KrF excimer laser. The emission spectra PLD process control techniques developed to grow reproducibly high quality Y123 thin films were also applied to the Nd123 depositions. The time-resolved spectral components of plumes generated from Y123 and Nd123 targets at the same deposition conditions were compared. When the two targets were mounted at the same distance from the substrate heater, the spectral emissions at 327 ± 5 nm (Cu*) were essentially identical for similar laser pulse energies and other deposition conditions (150 mTorr oxygen pressure, 760°C substrate heater temperatures, etc.). High quality Nd 123 films (Tc ˜93 K, Jc > 2x 106 A/cm2) are considerably more difficult to produce than those of Y123. Deposition conditions associated with PLD of high quality Y123 films produce very poor Nd 123 films. This observation is consistent with the belief that the nucleation and growth of Nd 123 are significantly different than that of Y 123.

The pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) technique utilizes one of the most energetic beams available to form thin films of the superconducting oxide YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO). IN this study we examine the growth of YBCO at very high laser fluences (25 to 40 J/cm2); a more typical fluence for PLD would be nearer to 3 J/cm2. the use of high fluences leads to unique film microstructures which, in some cases, appear to be related to the correspondingly higher moveabilities of the adatoms. Films grown on vicinal substrates, using high laser fluences, exhibited well-defined elongated granular morphologies (with excellent transition temperature, Tc, and critical current density, Jc). Films grown on vicinal substrates using off-axis magnetron sputtering, plasma-enhanced metal organic chemical vapor deposition (PE-MOCVD), or PLD at more typical laser fluences showed some similar morphologies, but less well-defined. Under certain growth conditions, using high laser fluences with (001) oriented substrates, the YBCO films can exhibit a mixture of a- and c-axis growth where both crystallographic orientations nucleate on the substrate surface at the same time, and grow in concert. the ratio of a-axis oriented to c-axis oriented grains is strongly affected by the pulse repetition rate of the laser.

Speed distributions were determined for the ions, ground state and electronically-excited neutrals ejected from a graphite target by 248 nm laser ablation. Mass distributions were measured for the laser-ejected ions. The measurements were carried out normal to the graphite target as well as at an angle of 45°. Significant differences were observed in both the speed and mass distributions at the two angles.

Speed distributions were determined for the ions, ground state and electronicallyexcited neutrals ejected from a graphite target by 248 nm laser ablation. Mass distributions were measured for the laser-ejected ions. The measurements were carried out normal to the graphite target as well as at an angle of 45°. Significant differences were observed in both the speed and mass distributions at the two angles.