Category Archives: News and Announcements

By/par Bryan Gaensler, Canadian SKA Science Director
(Cassiopeia – Spring/printemps 2018)

For more information on the SKA, subscribe to the Canadian SKA email list by sending a blank email to all+subscribe@skacanada.groups.io, and visit the Canadian SKA WWW site.

International SKA Update

Canada is one of 10 member countries of the SKA Organisation, and is represented on the SKA Board of Directors by Greg Fahlman (NRC) and Bryan Gaensler (University of Toronto). The SKA Board met most recently in October 2017 via videoconference, and in November 2017 in Bologna. The SKA Board’s Executive Committee (of which Bryan Gaensler is a member) meets monthly.

Notable outcomes from these meetings have included:

• Appointment of Dr Catherine Cesarky (former Director General of ESO) as the new chair of the SKA Board.
• Assessment of the “Deployment Baseline” for SKA1, which corresponds to the telescopes currently deliverable at a funding level of €674M (2016 euros). The SKA Board has expressed confidence that the current Deployment Baseline will provide transformational science capabilities. Furthermore, re-instatement of the omitted capabilities, up to the full restoration of the Design Baseline, is planned, either during or after the construction phase, should additional funding become available. Ongoing cost oversight will take place within the SKA Office’s regular activities. The Board now looks to the science community, and particularly to the SKA Science and Engineering Advisory Committee (SEAC) to regularly review the Deployment Baseline and to confirm its ability to deliver transformational science. Prof Kristine Spekkens from the Royal Military College of Canada is a member of the SEAC.
• Review of the upcoming suite of critical design reviews (CDRs) and subsequent CDR closures, which will take place from April 2018 to March 2019.
• Reports on site activity in South Africa and Australia. In South Africa, a major milestone has been reached with the completion of land acquisition in the SKA core in the Karoo. The MeerKAT project remains on track to have a 64-antenna array ready to commence large survey project science at the beginning of April 2018. In Australia, the Heritage Agreement with the Wajarri Yamatji traditional owners, which will allow land surveys and low impact activities to proceed, is expected to be signed soon. The Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory’s solar/battery power station is now operational.
• Discussion of planning for SKA Science Processing Centres and science archives.
• The issuance of a non-binding “request for information” (RfI), distributed to parties interested in participating in SKA procurement.
• Planning for transition of the SKA Organisation into an Intergovernmental Organisation (IGO), including plans to establish a Transition Oversight Committee, to co-ordinate transition activities between the Board and the Convention Preparatory Task Force (CPTF). The CPTF will be formally established after the signing of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory Convention and will represent the interests of the IGO until the SKA Observatory Council is formed. Currently, the Convention is expected to be signed in September 2018.
• Discussion on plans for SKA1 construction.
• Ongoing updates from France, Germany, Portugal, Japan, Korea, Spain and Switzerland on their SKA-related activities and on their potential interest in participating in the SKA project.
• Discussion with NRAO on the relationship between the SKA and planning for future US Radio Astronomy facilities.
• Approval of an SKA Code of Ethics and Whistleblowing Policy.
• Ongoing discussion of finances, engineering reports, business development, communications, governance, operations, and construction of the new SKA Headquarters at Jodrell Bank.

Upcoming SKA Board meetings will be in April 2018 (Sweden), July 2018 (South Africa) and November 2018 (United Kingdom). Meetings of the SKA Members (i.e., the funding agencies; currently Greg Fahlman represents NRC) will take place immediately preceding each of these Board meetings.

For further information on international SKA activities, see the latest SKA Newsletter and the bi-monthly SKA Organisation Bulletin.

Canadian Initiative for Radio Astronomy

The Canada Foundation for Innovation has awarded $9.4M (including provincial and other matches) to the project “Unlocking the Radio Sky with Next-Generation Survey Astronomy”, led by Bryan Gaensler. This has led to the creation of the Canadian Initiative for Radio Astronomy Data Analysis (CIRADA), a program to develop the tools and infrastructure needed to support a Canadian SKA Data Centre, with direct application to the VLA, CHIME and ASKAP. Technical staff are already being appointed to CIRADA, and the project will formally commence in April 2018.

SKA Science and Science Engagement

The meeting “Canadian Radio Astronomy: Surveying the Present and Shaping the Future” was held in Montreal in September 2017. See here for copies of presentations from the meeting, and here for a summary of the meeting published in Nature Astronomy.

Canadian astronomers continue to participate in almost all SKA science working groups. The working groups on transients, pulsars, the Milky Way and the cradle of life are all currently chaired by Canadians (Michael Rupen, Ingrid Stairs, Erik Rosolowsky and Doug Johnstone, respectively). An SKA lunch event will be held on May 24, 2018 at the CASCA annual meeting in Victoria. The next SKA General Science Meeting and Key Science Project Workshop will take place at the new SKA Headquarters at Jodrell Bank over September 3–7, 2018.

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is the precursor of SKA-Low and is a powerful science facility in its own right (see MWA for details). MWA phase 2, which improves the sensitivity of the array by an order of magnitude, is now operating. Canada, through the University of Toronto, is a full member of the MWA project, with representation on the MWA Board. Any Canadian astronomers wishing to join the MWA Consortium and to consequently gain access to MWA data, software tools and science collaborations should contact Bryan Gaensler.

The SKA project maintains 11 international science working groups and another 2 focus groups. Membership of science working groups and focus groups is open to all qualified astronomers. If you are interested in joining one of these groups, please contact Bryan Gaensler.

ACURA Advisory Council on the SKA

The Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA) coordinates activities and discussion on the SKA through the ACURA Advisory Council on the SKA (AACS); see here for a listing of AACS membership. AACS meets several times per year, with its next meeting on April 26, 2018. For further information or to propose AACS agenda items, please contact the AACS Chair, Bryan Gaensler.

SKA Technology Development

NRC Herzberg continues to be a major participant in pre-construction efforts for the SKA, principally through NRC leadership of the Central Signal Processing consortium and their contractor MDA, and also through NRC participation in the DISH and Telescope Manager design work.

A new frequency slice architecture has also been developed for the Mid-Frequency Correlator/Beamformer (MID.CBF). This has now been formally accepted as the MID.CBF reference design, and has resulted in €20M in cost reductions. The overall CSP design is highly scalable, with a plan for a technology refresh and addition of enhanced capabilities within the first 5-10 years of operations. Detailed design documents have now been submitted for review, and preparations are now taking place for the CSP critical design review. The five sub-elements of the CSP program are now undergoing critical design reviews, and the element review for the overall CSP program will occur in June 2018. Discussion has commended on plans for beyond CDR, including a bridging plan and then construction.

From/de John Hutchings
(Cassiopeia – Spring/printemps 2018)

The LRPIC continues to confer regularly, and follow new developments. Some of these are reported separately in this issue. Of particular interest in the federal budget, we noted the increased funding to discovery-based research is very welcome and an important element of our LRP. However, like many, we are disappointed in the lack of mention of CSA and its lack of a viable space science budget. We have sent a memo to the Space Advisory Board urging that they continue to press this issue. We also note the Globe and Mail article that reflects this well.

The issue of the future of WFIRST and possible Canadian participation remains in flux, and we are working to see that the best interests of Canadian astronomers are served.

From/de Gerald Schieven
(Cassiopeia – Spring/printemps 2018)

Cycle 6 Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals for ALMA Cycle 6 (Oct 2018 through Sept 2019) was issued on 20 March. The deadline for proposals will be 15:00UT on Thursday 19 April. A few new capabilities include circular polarization, stand-alone projects using the Norita ALMA Compact Array (ACA) at Bands 3 through 8, and more time available for science. See the Proposer’s Guide on the ALMA science portal for a full list of the Cycle 6 capabilities. The Millimetre Astronomy Group at NRC Herzberg, which acts as the Canadian node of the North American Regional Center, is available to provide assistance with proposing as well as data reduction. Contact Gerald Schieven for more information.

By/par Gregg Wade, Canadian PI for BRITE
(Cassiopeia – Spring/printemps 2018)

BRITE-Constellation is an international space astronomy mission consisting of a fleet of 20x20x20 cm nanosatellites dedicated to precision optical photometry of bright stars in two photometric colours. The mission continues in full science operations, with 22 data releases to BRITE target PIs having already taken place, and many datasets available in the public domain from the BRITE public archive.

The BRITE mission is a collaboration between Canadian, Austrian and Polish astronomers and space scientists. The Canadian partners represent University of Toronto, Université de Montréal, Bishop’s University, and Royal Military College of Canada. The mission was built, and the Canadian satellites operated by, the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies Space Flight Lab (UTIAS-SFL). The Canadian Space Agency funded the construction of the Canadian satellites. Recent approval of continued operations funding of BRITE-Toronto by CSA will ensure the Canadian mission until at least January 2019.

Operations

There are five operating BRITE satellites in the Constellation, collecting data on various sky fields in a coordinated programme to obtain well-sampled, longterm continuous (~6 months) light curves in both red and blue bandpasses.

As this issue of Cassiopeia went to press, here was the status of the sky assignments for the BRITE cubesats:

• BRITE Toronto (Canada): Toronto observes with a red filter. It is currently observing the Carina II field. As implied by the numeral ‘II’, the current campaign on Carina represents a revisit of a previously-observed field.
• BRITE Lem (Poland): Lem observes with a blue filter. It is observing the Centaurus II field.
• BRITE Heweliusz (Poland): Heweliusz observes with a red filter. This satellite is observing Vela/Pictoris III field.
• BRITE Austria (Austria): BRITE Austria observes with a blue filter. It is observing the Vela/Puppis IV and the Centaurus II fields, switching between the two fields each orbit.
• UniBRITE (Austria): UniBRITE observes with a red filter. This satellite is also currently observing the Vela/Puppis IV and the Centaurus II fields.

The BRITE Constellation observing programme from early 2017 through early 2019 has been planned by the BRITE Executive Science Team (BEST), and details are available on the BRITE photometry Wiki page.

Recent Science Results

Light curves of η Car observed by BRITE in 2016 (left) and 2017 (right). The data points are solid circles (•; BTr), plus signs (+; UBr), and open diamonds (♦; BHr) with the two-frequency fit shown in red. Each panel shows 180 d of time on the abscissa, with nearly 180 d between the two panels. A typical 2 mmag error bar (2σ) are shown in the lower left part of the panels. From Richardson et al. (2018).

“BRITE-Constellation reveals evidence for pulsations in the enigmatic binary η Carinae” (Richardson et al. 2018, MNRAS 475, 5417):
η Car is a massive, eccentric binary with a rich observational history. Richardson et al. report the first high-cadence, high-precision light curves obtained with the BRITE-Constellation nanosatellites over 6 months in 2016 and 6 months in 2017. The light curve is contaminated by several sources including the Homunculus nebula and neighbouring stars, including the eclipsing binary CPD -59°2628. However, they find two coherent oscillations in the light curve. These may represent pulsations that are not yet understood but they postulate are related to tidally excited oscillations of η Car’s primary star, and would be similar to those detected in lower mass eccentric binaries. In particular, one frequency was previously detected by van Genderen et al. and Sterken et al. through the time period of 1974-1995 via timing measurements of photometric maxima. Thus, this frequency seems to have been detected for nearly four decades, indicating that it has been stable in frequency over this time span. These pulsations could help provide the first direct constraints on the fundamental parameters of the primary star if confirmed and refined with future observations.

Conferences, Resources and Social Media

Conferences

The proceedings of the second BRITE Science Conference – held in Innsbruck, Austria in 2016 – are available in printed form and online.

Resources

The BRITE Public Data Archive, based in Warsaw, Poland, at the Nikolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, can be accessed at brite.camk.edu.pl/pub/index.html.

The mission Wiki (including information on past, current and future fields) can be accessed at brite.craq-astro.ca/.

BRITE Constellation is now on Facebook, at @briteconstellation.

The BRITE International Advisory Science Team

The BRITE International Advisory Science Team (BIAST), which consists of BRITE scientific PIs, technical authorities, amateur astronomers, and mission fans, advises the mission executive on scientific and outreach aspects of the mission. If you’re interested to join BIAST, contact Canadian BRITE PI Gregg Wade: wade-g@rmc.ca.

By/par Patrick Hall, MSE Management Group Chair
(Cassiopeia – Spring/printemps 2018)

Successful Systems Conceptual Design Review

The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer project completed a very successful Systems Conceptual Design Review in January 2018. An external review panel chaired by Michael Strauss (Princeton) delivered a report which stated, in part: “the bottom line is that this project is in very good shape, and at an appropriate level of maturity for the end of the Conceptual Design phase. We have been very impressed by the level of sophistication that the MSE project team has brought to this project, and the tremendous amount of hard work that has been carried out thus far. This level of professionalism bodes well for the project as it enters the preliminary design phase.” For more details, see this link.

Into the Preliminary Design Phase

To publicize the upcoming preliminary design phase of MSE to existing and potential new partners, the Project Office has produced a four-page MSE brochure and a twenty-page MSE Prospectus. Hardcopies are available by contacting Mary Beth Laychak.

Development is also underway on a 100-page MSE Project Book describing the detailed technical development of the MSE observatory. The Project Book is intended to be a companion of the Prospectus to provide technical information of MSE to those who want to know more regarding potential engineering contributions. The Management Group is actively discussing the distribution of preliminary design phase work packages among existing and potential new partners in the 2019-2020 time frame.

To bring MSE opportunities to the attention of potential new partners, meetings related to wide-field spectroscopy and US decadal survey planning are being attended by Project Office staff including Kei Szeto (Project Manager) and Alan McConnachie (Project Scientist), as well as by MG Chair Pat Hall.

In particular, many members of the US community present at the just-concluded SnowPAC conference ‘Big Questions, Big Surveys, Big Data: Astronomy & Cosmology in the 2020s’ expressed great interest in the science that the MSE project will enable by the late 2020s. Six talks on various aspects of the current status of the MSE project were presented at SnowPAC; they can be viewed in PDF form via the Contributed Talks button on the SnowPAC website.

Project Office staff will also be visiting China in May, and will have a strong presence at the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation meeting in Austin in June.

As the preliminary design phase ramps up, Kei Szeto is succeeding Rick Murowinski as Project Manager, allowing Rick to focus on engineering work for the Project Office. The MSE collaboration is grateful to Rick for his invaluable contributions during conceptual design.

Science Team Membership for the Design Reference Survey

As you may have seen on the CASCA E-mail exploder, a major science development phase for MSE will occur in 2018. The international MSE science team will develop the first phase of the MSE Design Reference Survey (DRS). The DRS is planned as a 2 year observing campaign that will demonstrate the science impact of MSE in a broad range of science areas and will provide an excellent dataset for community science. It will describe and simulate an executable survey plan that addresses the key science described in the Detailed Science Case. The DRS will naturally undergo several iterations between now and first light of MSE: this first phase (nicknamed DRS1) will set the foundation for its future development.

DRS1 will be supported by the Project Office and will use various simulation tools, including Integration Time Calculators, fiber-assigning software, and a telescope scheduler. It is anticipated that a future iteration of the DRS will become the first observing program on MSE come first light of the facility, and the DRS will be used by the Project Office going forward to understand the consequences for science for all decisions relating to the engineering and operational development of MSE.

To join the Science Team, please contact your MSE Science Advisory Group representatives, Kim Venn or Sarah Gallagher. More information about the development of the DRS and how to participate will be circulated to the members of the MSE Science Team in April/May 2018.

CASCA 2018

There will be an informal face-to-face MSE gathering at CASCA in Victoria in May; details to follow. Hope to see you there!

The MSE website is mse.cfht.hawaii.edu. Questions or comments about MSE governance can be directed to your MSE Management Group Members, Greg Fahlman and Pat Hall. Scientific questions or comments can be directed to your MSE Science Advisory Group Members, Sarah Gallagher and Kim Venn.

By/par Stéphanie Côté and Eric Steinbring (CGO, NRC Herzberg / OGC, CNRC Herzberg)
(Cassiopeia – Spring/printemps 2018)

La version française suit

New Lasers for Gemini GeMS and Altair

Figure 1: Close-up view of the propagation of the laser guide-star system from behind the secondary mirror of the Gemini-South Telescope (Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA)

Upgrades to the Gemini facility adaptive optics (AO) systems in both the North and South will provide improved operation. Chief among these changes is the replacement of older, previous-generation laser systems. The replacements are the same TOPTICA models used on Keck and Subaru, and give robust, trouble-free performance. Returned power in the laser spots is not actually the primary reason for this; the real challenge of previous operations was laser reliability, which hurt on-sky efficiency. The improved GeMS (Gemini Multiconjugate-AO System) Laser Guide-Star Facility (LGSF) in the South was already commissioned last October, and is now offered in 2018B. In the North, the Altair LGSF is scheduled to have its new laser installed in April, and it too is offered (with shared risk) in the coming semester. Further improvements are coming to GeMS as well: expected delivery of a more sensitive natural guide-star sensor (NGS2), and testing of a replacement third deformable mirror this year. Users are encouraged to send proposals for either Gemini-North or South to take advantage of the improved AO observing performances thanks to these new lasers.

Gemini Science conference: “Science and Evolution of Gemini Observatory”

Early registration for this Gemini Science meeting is now open. Register now for the special early registration rate.

www.gemini.edu/seg2018

The Science and Evolution of Gemini Observatory 2018 conference will be held from July 22nd to July 26th, with San Francisco’s historic Fisherman’s Wharf as a backdrop. This meeting invites the Gemini community to review recent science highlights, identify needs in the context of Gemini’s evolving capabilities, and develop strategies for the future. Mark your calendar now and plan to join us for user and staff presentations featuring science highlights, instrumentation, observing modes, and informal discussions.

Early Registration: until March 31, 2018
Abstract Submission: until May 15, 2018

See you in San Francisco!

Join the thousands and thousands of Gemini Observatory followers on Facebook: @GeminiObservatory and Twitter: @GeminiObs

Nouveaux lasers pour GeMS et Altair

Figure 1: Gros plan de la propagation du système d`étoile-guide laser depuis l’arrière du miroir secondaire du télescope Gemini-Sud (Crédit: Gemini Observatory/AURA)

Les mises à niveau des systèmes d’optique adaptative (OA) de Gemini-Nord et Sud permettront d’améliorer grandement leur fonctionnement. Le principal changement est le remplacement des anciens systèmes laser de génération précédente. Les nouveaux lasers sont les mêmes modèles TOPTICA utilisés au Keck et Subaru, et donnent une performance robuste et sans problème. La puissance retournée dans les points laser n’est pas réellement la principale raison de cela; le vrai défi des opérations précédentes était la fiabilité du laser, qui nuisait à l’efficacité sur le ciel. Le système d’étoile-guide par laser (LGSF) de GeMS (Gemini Multiconjugate-AO System) amélioré dans le Sud a déjà été mis en service en octobre dernier et est maintenant offert en 2018B. Dans le Nord, le LGSF d’Altair devrait avoir son nouveau laser installé en avril, et il est également offert (en mode risque partagé) au cours du prochain semestre. D’autres améliorations seront également apportées à GeMS: livraison attendue d’un senseur d’étoile-guide naturel plus sensible (NGS2) et test d’un troisième miroir déformable de remplacement cette année.
Les usagers sont encouragés à soumettre des demandes pour Gemini-Nord et Sud afin de profiter des meilleures performances d’observation OA grâce à ces nouveaux lasers.

Conférence Gemini “Science et Évolution de l’Observatoire Gemini »

L’inscription à tarif préférentiel pour cette conférence scientifique Gemini est maintenant ouverte. Inscrivez-vous maintenant pour le tarif spécial.

www.gemini.edu/seg2018

La conférence «Science and Evolution of Gemini Observatory» 2018 se tiendra du 22 juillet au 26 juillet, avec l’historique Fisherman’s Wharf de San Francisco en toile de fond. Cette conférence invite la communauté Gemini à examiner les progrès scientifiques récents, à identifier les besoins dans le contexte des capacités évolutives de Gemini et à développer des stratégies pour l’avenir. Marquez votre calendrier maintenant et prévoyez vous joindre à nous pour des présentations d’usagers et d’employés sur leurs résultats scientifiques, les instruments, les modes d’observation et pour des discussions informelles.

Inscription à tarif préférentiel: jusqu’au 31 mars 2018
Soumission des résumés: jusqu’au 15 mai 2018

C`est un rendez-vous à San Francisco!

Rejoignez les milliers et milliers de suiveurs de l’Observatoire Gemini sur Facebook: @GeminiObservatory et Twitter: @GeminiObs.

From/de Jeremy Heyl (UBC)
(Cassiopeia – Spring/printemps 2018)

Colibri: Canadian High-Time-Resolution High-Energy-Resolution X-ray Telescope

We propose to develop a concept for a high-time-resolution, high-energy-resolution x-ray telescope using transition-edge sensors (TES) for the x-ray detectors and collector optics to direct the x-rays onto the focal plane to give a large effective area in a small satellite. The key science driver of the instrument would be to study neutron stars and accreting black holes. Our concept study will provide a preliminary costing for the mission including the definition of the science requirements and its influence on design choices such as the form of the optics and focal plane, total effective area, mirror complexity, choice of orbit, mission duration and telemetry requirements.

Please contact Jeremy Heyl if you would like to participate in this study and help with the CSA Bid due 19 April.

By/par Julie Bolduc-Duval
(Cassiopeia – Spring/printemps 2018)

The English version follows

À la découverte de l’univers continue d’offrir des formations en ligne gratuites pour enseignants et animateurs de partout au pays et même dans le monde. D’ailleurs, nos dernières formations ont été suivies par plusieurs enseignants d’Europe et d’Afrique.

Nos formations couvrent des sujets variés comme le démontrent les titres suivants :

• Webinaire : Nouvelles astronomiques et aperçu de 2018 (offert en janvier 2018)
• Formation de trois semaines pour enseignants (offert en février 2018)
• Webinaire : Mesurer la Terre avec vos élèves – Projet Ératosthène (offert en mars 2018 en collaboration avec l’initiative internationale Eratosthenes Experiment)



• Webinaire : Lumière – Messagère cosmique (à venir en avril)
• Webinaire : Voyage interstellaire vers de nouveaux mondes (à venir en mai, avec invitée Dr Marie-Eve Naud de l’Institut de recherche sur les exoplanètes)
• Formation de trois semaines pour animateurs (à venir en juin)

Visitez notre site web pour découvrir toutes nos formations et ressources gratuites.

De plus, nous préparons présentement les formations qui seront offertes durant le congrès de la CASCA à Victoria. Pour la première fois, deux formations seront offertes : l’une pour les enseignants du primaire le mercredi 23 mai ainsi qu’une pour les enseignants du secondaire le jeudi 24 mai. C’est toujours un plaisir de présenter ces journées de formation et de faire connaitre l’expertise canadienne en astronomie!

Si vous connaissez des enseignants du primaire et du secondaire qui pourraient profiter de nos formations gratuites, n’hésitez pas à leur parler d’À la découverte de l’univers. Nous désirons remercier CASCA pour leur soutien depuis les tous débuts de notre programme en 2011. À la découverte de l’univers est aussi offert par l’Institut Dunlap à Toronto et le Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec.

Discover the Universe continues to offer free online training to teachers and educators from across the country and around the world. Our last workshops were attended by several teachers from Europe and Africa.

Our workshops cover a variety of topics as shown by the following titles:

• Webinar: Astronomy News and 2018 Preview (offered in January 2018)
• 3-week Workshop for Teachers (offered in February 2018)
• Webinar: Measure the Earth with your Students – Eratosthenes Experiment (offered in March 2018 in collaboration with the international initiative Eratosthenes Experiment, see French version above for figure)
• Webinar: Light – Cosmic Messenger (coming in April)
• Webinar: Looking for Other Worlds (coming in May, with guest speaker Dr. Jason Rowe from Bishop’s University)
• 3-week Workshop for Informal Educators (coming in June)

Visit our website to discover our free workshops and resources.

In addition, we are currently working on the onsite workshops which will be offered during the CASCA meeting in Victoria. For the first time, two workshops will be offered: one for elementary school teachers on Wednesday, May 23 and one for secondary school teachers on Thursday, May 24. It is always a pleasure to present these workshops and highlight the Canadian expertise in astronomy!

If you know K-12 teachers who could benefit from our free resources and workshops, please let them know about Discover the Universe. We wish to thank CASCA for their ongoing support since the very beginning of our program in 2011. Discover the Universe is also offered by the Dunlap Institute in Toronto and the Centre for Research in Astrophysics of Quebec.