Author Archives: ecasseditor

By Eric Steinbring (Canadian Gemini Office, National Research Council Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics)

Gemini Phase II support from CGO

You can expect the same friendly CGO support as always, if recently awarded time in Semester 2025B. As is usual, PIs have until 18 July to upload their Phase II program of observations via the Observing Tool (OT); CGO staff are always happy to help answer questions, review and check the instrument settings, and provide advice on use of sky conditions, viability of guidestars, timing windows, etc., etc., etc. And, yes, sometimes just passing a keen eye over a program can spot something amiss, especially when the process is new to the PI. We know it’s a steep learning curve to become proficient with the OT: I’ll come back to that later in this article.

Additionally, beginning this month CGO will be extending that same support for Fast Turnound programs too, which are folded into the regular queue, but were previously just supported by Observatory staff. As always, please don’t delay, and start on the process (both regular semester and if awarded an FT program) as early as possible. Your program is important to us, but it isn’t our only one, so please always include the program number (e.g. GN-2025B-Q-123) in every e-mail subject-line. This helps keep the status of all the programs straight, while we work to respond at each major iteration (i.e. checking all “For Review” –> “For Activation”) in a timely way.

And potentially further along in the coming year

This extra support is a response to CGO trying to help with current staffing pressures at Gemini. Broader funding uncertainty for the National Science Foundation (NSF), under which NOIRLab and Gemini operate, is significant and is playing out within the US budgeting process this year. That, along with proposed drastic budget-cuts for NASA were, of course, a topic of discussion in many contexts at the recent (and awesome!) CASCA 2025 meeting Halifax. The CGO shares all Users’ concerns regarding the international scientific-funding landscape at the moment, and is following the situation closely.

Gemini South schedule and instrumentation news

The Gemini South Telescope Shutdown has been moved up to 7 July to 1 August in order to accomodate the pressure of a surplus of August-timeframe targets awarded at the ITAC (International Time-Allocation Committee) meeting. Lately, one instrumental “star” of Gemini-South has been GHOST (Gemini High-Resolution Optical Spectrograph). It was used by Gemini Fellow Emily Deibert to characterize the “puffy” atmosphere of HAT-P-70 (See: https://noirlab.edu/public/blog/ghost-spies-jupiter/). Emily gets a special Canuck shout-out as she recently also published a childrens’s book about hockey (https://www.emilydeibert.com/books). And although there have lately been no Canadian-led programs using it: the GeMS adaptive-optics system, and its sole imaging instrument (GSAOI) has had several, essentially weathered-out runs in the last year; retirement of this decade-old instrument is a consideration, as occured for the North’s NIFS (Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph) a few semesters ago.

And new software: DRAGONS and GPP

The DRAGONS 4.0 version was recently released, which now includes long-slit NIR spectroscopy, along with automatic reductions of all imaging and optical-spectroscopy modes for Gemini. There is only a few special modes that remain as “standalone” tasks for IRAF. A heads-up that IRAF will be unsupported once those modes are added to DRAGONS.

Something else hopeful to look forward to in the coming year or so is the introduction of the Gemini Program Platform (GPP). It will be the one-stop software for all steps in the process of taking data with Gemini: starting with investigating which instrument to choose (Phase 0) and the proposal process (Phase I). The GPP will prompt the User to select a target, wavelength-range, and signal-to-noise requirements for, say, the detection of a galaxy-emission line or to reach a particular photometric accuracy in stellar-pointsource imaging. This will do away with selection of sky-condition bands, and instead directly generate a skeleton observation, already at Phase I. And as I promised above, for most cases, this automation should actually avoid the need for human Phase II checking; having encapsulated that knowledge into the code.

By Patrick Côté (NRC-Herzberg), Tyrone Woods (University of Manitoba)

• Mission Overview Paper. A detailed overview of the CASTOR project is now available through SPIE as a contribution to an upcoming special issue of JATIS (Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments and Systems). This paper represents a snapshot of the scientific, technical and programmatic development of the mission up to February 2025, including the ongoing development activities and a discussion of CASTOR’s expected place in the international astronomical landscape during the 2030s and 2040s.
• Technology Development. Technology development for the mission continues in collaboration with international partners. A recent meeting of the CASTOR technical team (June 18-19) was held at the University of Calgary. This productive meeting focused on science planning tools (see below) and two main technology development activities:
  • Detector Testing and Characterization of engineering-grade detectors for the mission is proceeding at NRC-HAA in Victoria; the newly refurbished Vacuum UV Calibration Facility at the University of Calgary; and the Centre for Electronic Imaging at the Open University in the UK. Cryogenic, in-vacuum characterization of the detectors and electronics will continue throughout this calendar year as well build our understanding of the properties and performance of these large-format, UV-enhanced CMOS detectors.
  • UVMOS Proto-typing. A three-year international program to build and test a prototype of a UV multi-object spectrograph (UVMOS) for the CASTOR mission is underway. The current schedule aims for the delivery of the prototype instrument to the test facility in Calgary in early 2027. This work, which is being carried out in collaboration with researchers in France, Colorado, Spain, Calgary and Manitoba, is advancing the technology readiness level of convex gratings, DMDs and CMOS detectors for operation at UV wavelengths. In July, an update on this project will be presented at the “Towards the Habitable Worlds Observatory: Visionary Science and Transformational Technology” conference in Washington.
• Town Hall at 2025 CASCA AGM.  The recent CASCA AGM featured a CASTOR Town Hall as part of the ACURA Lunch on Wednesday June 4. The event featured updates from members of the CASTOR science and technology team, as well as perspectives on mission development and approval from Luc Simard (HAA Director General), Martin Bergeron (CSA Director of Space Exploration Development), Fred Grandmont (ABB Ltd), Alan Scott (Honeywell Aerospace), and Erik Rosolowsky (Coalition for Canadian Astronomy).
• Science Planning Tools: Work has accelerated on the required software suite to support science development for the CASTOR mission through the FORECASTOR initiative (Finding Optics Requirements and Exposure times for CASTOR). A total of 14 students and early career scientists across Canada, as well as international partners, are now working on advancing the development of exposure time calculators (ETCs) and survey planning tools, as well as supporting, representative science cases. A particular focus of these efforts is on expanding the functionality of the UVMOS ETC (funded in part by the ongoing NRC Small Teams Program), as well as AGN, exoplanet, evolved stellar population, and solar system science cases utilizing the proposed UVMOS instrument. These efforts will support the development of an updated science traceability matrix for evaluating the requirements on a CASTOR spectroscopic instrument during the upcoming Phase A+ study.
• Phase A+ Study. Recent discussions between NRC, CSA and industry have defined the essential next step for CASTOR development: a “Phase A+” study to begin as soon as possible (ideally this calendar year). Candidate work packages include: the telescope system; the FSM pointing servo loop; the spacecraft bus design; cameras, detectors and electronics; and mission systems engineering. This 2-year study would cover all mission elements traditionally covered in Phase A studies (mission and technology development, trade studies, system definition, etc) but with more extensive breadboarding and prototyping.
• The Coalition for Canadian Astronomy:  The Coalition for Canadian Astronomy — which brings together representatives from the astronomical community (CASCA), the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA) and industry — is working to secure federal funding for the CASTOR mission as the top priority for very large investments in space astronomy, as endorsed by the LRP. The Coalition is continuing its vigorous efforts in support of CASTOR, communicating with the PMO, as well as relevant government ministries and standing committees; the immediate request is for $20 million to be provided to the NRC to lead a Phase A+ study. These efforts have particularly highlighted the CASTOR mission’s contributions to Canadian leadership and sovereign capacity-building within the aerospace sector.

For more information on the mission, see https://www.castormission.org

Erik Rosolowsky (U Alberta) & Joan Wrobel (NRAO)

ngVLA Webinar

On May 29, representatives from NRC and NRAO hosted an online webinar prior to the annual CASCA meeting. At that meeting, Eric Murphy (NRAO), the ngVLA project scientist, presented an update on project status. Brenda Matthews (NRC), co-chair of the ngVLA Science Advisory Council, presented scientific planning update and outlined the different avenues for Canadian participation. While still under development, the webinar presented a notional framework for Canadian contributions. The ngVLA will operate under a reciprocal open skies framework where PIs from different countries can use the ngVLA up to a proportion of time equal to US access to that country’s national astronomical facilities. With no additional contribution to the ngVLA, Canadians and all other SKA countries would be limited to a combined ~5% of ngVLA time. Canada could secure a larger share of access through contributions to construction or operations. There are several opportunities for construction contributions given Canadian expertise in build correlators and receivers. You can get access to the recording of the webinar by sending an email request to Brenda.Matthews[at]nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.

Prototype Antenna Handover

On 25 April, mtex antenna technology GmbH officially handed over the prototype antenna for the proposed ngVLA to the NSF NRAO. The handover ceremony occured at the NSF Very Large Array site on the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico. Attendees included colleagues from Mexico and Germany, New Mexico state representatives, contractors from mtex, NRAO and ngVLA project staff, and members of the ngVLA Science and Technical Councils. The handover marks a significant step forward in the proposed ngVLA project, setting the stage for further testing and development in New Mexico. Photos from the ceremony are available here.

New Partnerships with U.S. Universities

On 19 May, NSF NRAO and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) announced a new partnership  that leverages on JHU’s strengths in data science, artificial intelligence, and astrophysics. By combining the NSF NRAO’s expertise in radio astronomy with JHU’s cutting-edge computational resources in Maryland, the collaboration will tackle the immense data processing and analysis challenges posed by the ngVLA and future astronomical surveys.

On 25 April, NSF NRAO and the University of Florida announced a new partnership to advance science education and public outreach at a future ngVLA Long site in Florida. This partnership brings together world-class scientific expertise and educational leadership to create unique opportunities for students, educators, and the public across Florida.

Astrochemistry in the Broadband Era

The ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade and the ngVLA will deliver unprecedented spectral bandwidths while maintaining exquisite spectral resolution and sensitivity. The data quality in this broadband era will transform astrochemistry, but will also require entirely new approaches to data analysis. This workshop aims to identify high-priority science and develop a roadmap for achieving it. The workshop will be held 20-24 October in Portland, Maine. Abstract submission for posters is still open, and cost-saving Early-Bird Registration runs through 1 July. Further details are available here.

By Nadine Manset (Director of Science Operations, on behalf of the CFHT ‘ohana)

Recently
Every three years, CFHT organizes a meeting for all past, present, and potential future users. This year,
the 3-day meeting was held May 26 – 28 at Lac-à-L’Eau-Claire, in Québec. A little over 80 on-site
participants enjoyed the quiet location. Surrounded by nature, they shared all meals together and
rekindled friendships around a bonfire at the end of the first day. The thirteen sessions of the program
ranged from CFHT and Maunakea updates and science talks to sessions about future opportunities with
CFHT, Community Astronomy, and CFHT’s Community Survey. We were delighted to be joined at all
times by 20-30 online attendees. To accommodate all 90 or so abstracts submitted, the Science
Advisory Committee balanced the length of the talks among the different sessions, offering longer
presentations for most science results talks and short talks to Early Career Scientists. The program also
included posters on-site and available on Slack.

Of note was the inspiring presentation entitled ‘What the Land teaches the Sky’ by Benjamin Kucher,
Chair of the Canadian Archaeological Association’s Indigenous Issues Committee, who reflected on his
experience as a Métis archaeologist and descendant of the Michel First Nation working at the University
of Alberta. The lessons learned from the two case studies he presented contain useful advice for
astronomers.

CFHT users also shared and discussed a dozen ideas of ambitious projects that could be carried out as
part of the planned Community Survey, using MegaCam, Wenaokeao (the co-mount of the
spectropolarimeters SPIRou and ESPaDOnS), and even WIRCam. Thoughtful exchanges during the
discussion period will guide the process and the following steps.

The Local Organizing Committee will put the slides and recordings of most presentations on the
Schedule page https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/UM2025/scheduleprogram.php

… and Shortly After

CFHT was also at CASCA2025 in Halifax! In addition to a poster and part of a lunch talk, CFHT staff
members chatted with participants at our booth.

Soon
After the Users’ Meeting, the CFHT Scientific Advisory Council met and started to define the steps that
will lead to the anticipated Community Survey, starting with the formation of a Community Survey
Working Group. This will be followed by a Call for proposals in the fall of 2025, an external peer review
process, and the final design of two surveys that will be nominally carried out on MegaCam and
Wenaokeao from 2027B (at the earliest) to 2032B. The exact share of time reserved for PI programs
remains to be determined.