The Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) announces the launch of its 
renewed strategic planning process, the Long Range Plan (LRP) 2010.

Following, and updating, the immensely successful previous planning 
documents, LRP 2000 and its Mid-Term Review, LRP 2010 will assess
new projects and opportunities. Of interest to scientists 
and policymakers, the plan will identify and prioritize projects 
and programs critical to the success of the community.

"LRP 2010 will bring together some of the best minds in the field to
chart a course for astronomy and astrophysics research in Canada 
for the next decade and beyond." stated Professor Paul Hickson, 
CASCA President.

LRP 2010 will be guided by Professor Chris Pritchet at the University 
of Victoria, who will chair a panel of eminent scientists having
broad expertise in astronomy and astrophysics. The team will 
consult widely with Canadian and international researchers 
to ensure that the goals and needs of all Canadian astronomical 
communities are considered. The recommendations of LRP 2010 will 
provide a single unified vision of astronomy in Canada over the 
coming decade.

Canadians are deeply involved in several new major facilities, 
ranked very highly by the the previous LRP, which are now in the
design or construction phase. The James Webb Space Telescope 
(JWST) will be fifty times more sensitive than the celebrated 
Hubble Space Telescope, and will revolutionize our understanding 
of the birth of galaxies. Advanced mirror and detector technology 
will allow the JWST to capture the 13 billion year-old light emitted 
by the first galaxies that formed soon after the Big Bang.

Working in tandem with the JWST will be a new generation of giant 
ground-based optical and infrared telescopes. The Thirty Metre 
Telescope (TMT), to be located near the top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, 
will have a mirror almost ten times larger than any in existence. 
This, combined with new optical technology, will make TMT one 
hundred times more sensitive than current telescopes. This leap 
in performance will enable astronomers to search for Earth-like 
planets around other stars, and possibly find evidence for alien 
life.

Astronomers and engineers around the world are finalizing
designs for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). This ambitious project,
will simultaneously combine thousands of smaller radio telescopes 
into one coherent instrument with a total collecting area of one 
square kilometer. This vast area, coupled with new radio receiver
technology, will make the SKA one hundred times more sensitive than
current radio telescopes. The SKA will observe vast clouds of 
hydrogen gas at the earliest times of the Universe, helping us 
understand how the first stars and galaxies were created. 

The task of the LRP 2010 panel will be to survey and assess the 
state of projects underway and those being planned or discussed,
and balance opportunities against the needs of the community, and
provide a prioritized list of endeavours that will achieve the 
greatest scientific impact.  

LRP 2010 is comissioned by CASCA, and is supported by the Association of
Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), the Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the
National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and its Herzberg Institute
of Astrophysics (HIA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

For more information please see http://casca.ca/lrp2010 or contact:

Dr. Chris Pritchet (250-721-7744, pritchet@uvic.ca) - LRP Chair
Dr. Paul Hickson (604-822-3853, hickson@physics.ubc.ca) - CASCA President

web links:

CASCA www.casca.ca
LRP www.casca.ca/lrp_2010
ACURA www.universityastronomy.ca
NRC www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
HIA www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/hia.html
NSERC www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca
CSA www.asc-csa.gc.ca