Cassiopeia Newsletter – Summer Solstice 2026
- Dennis Crabtree
- Jun 25
- 11 min read
In this issue:
SKA Update
Canadian Gemini Office News
CFHT News and Updates
PRIMA Update
ngVLA Update
Editor: Dennis Crabtree
Cassiopeia is CASCA’s quarterly Newsletter, published on or near the solstices and equinoxes (March 21, June 21, September 21 and December 21).
To submit a contribution please email cassiopeia.editors@gmail.com. All submissions must be received by the due date (usually 2 weeks in advance of publication) to be published in the next edition. I accept plain text and Word documents. Note that the formatting of your document will not be preserved. Please include any images as attachments in your email, not embedded in the text. Please include URLs in parentheses next to the word or phrase that you wish to act as link anchors.
SKA Update
Kristine Spekkens, Alice Curtin, Alex Hill, Greg Sivakoff
Introduction
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the largest and most powerful radio telescope in the world, with one of the broadest science cases of any observatory. The SKA Observatory(SKAO) consists of two telescopes that are currently under construction: SKA-Low (30-350 MHz) in Western Australia, and SKA-Mid (350 MHz – 15+ GHz) in South Africa. In 2024 Canada joined the SKAO as a full member, with the aim of securing a 6% use-share, as recommended by LRP2020, by providing construction and operations funding, in-kind hardware to SKA-Mid, a Canadian SKA Regional Data Centre (can|SRC), and associated user support.
All of these aspects of Canada and the SKA have progressed significantly in the last year, with the start of science commissioning on SKA-Low and the first interferometric observations from SKA-Mid, progress towards building the requisite capacity and functionality for can|SRC and the international SRC Network, and new SKA-focused hires within NRC through the Canadian SKA Scientist Program. National and international SKA activities will continue to ramp up in 2027, with the availability of the first SKA Science Verification data. A community call for observing ideas is expected in early 2027, with the public release of science data products and calibrated data for community and SKAO-selected targets anticipated by the end of next year.
This SKA update focuses on highlighting recent community events organised in Canada and by the SKAO for its global community that provide detailed information on the state of the project and how astronomers can get involved.
The first Canadian SKA Community Day
The first Canadian SKA Community Day took place on 28 May 2026, with an afternoon of remote talks and in-person watch parties organized at McGill University, the University of Toronto, the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, and the University of British Columbia. Presentations focused on an introduction to the project, a summary of Canadian SKA contributions, the status of the Canadian SKA Regional Data Centre, the SKA in the broader Canadian radio astronomy context, early science observations with the SKA, and a moderated question and answer period. Slides and video recordings (modulo some minor technical glitches) from the Community Day are accessible from the CASCA ACACS webpage.
The first Canadian Radio Astronomy Summer School
The first annual Canadian Radio Astronomy Summer Institute and Extended School (CRASIES) took place from 25-28 May 2026 at McGill University, as part of the Radio Astronomy-Driven Education and Training Excellence program (NSERC CREATE-funded with PI Adrian Liu). With just under 40 early-career researchers (primarily MSc and PhD students), the school focused on the fundamentals of radiation and radio instrumentation at >cm wavelengths, with significant time spent discussing applications of these techniques for different science interests as well as hands-on experience building and taking data with a wok telescope. The school was primarily organized by SKA Scientist Dr. Alice Curtin, with lectures taught by a mixture of faculty and postdoctoral scholars. Lecture materials are accessible from the CASCA ACACS webpage.
SKAO webinars, newsletters and science working groups
The SKAO has started a regular webinar series and accompanying newsletter for the global scientific community that provides project updates and details on how astronomers can get involved. Each set of webinar presentations is given twice to ensure that a global audience can listen live, with presentations and recordings made publicly available. The next webinars will be held on 15 July 2026, for which registration is open now. Astronomers who are interested in engaging more deeply in SKA science are encouraged to join one of 13 SKA Science Working Groups, which are open to all researchers.
Image credit: Anabel Q. Tan
Canadian Gemini Office News
By Eric Steinbring (Canadian Gemini Office, National Research Council Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics)
A Record Year for Canadian Gemini Users
As tallied by the Observatory Archive, last year produced the most-ever Canadian Gemini publications. There were a total of 70 refereed science publications with at least one co-author based at a Canadian institution, which was about a quarter of all Gemini publications in 2025 (so, hitting above our nominal 18% weight by partner share). Figure 1 plots those by year since the beginning of science operations. It’s a good trend, and if continued, we can expect to reach a milestone of 1000 total Canadian-co-authored refereed publications this year. Well done!
And that continued trend is also a good bet, as this year also saw a bumper crop of proposals; both 2026A and 2026B had 41 proposals apiece requesting time from Canada. Figure 2 shows recent submissions to the Canadian Time Allocation Committee (CanTAC), including joint-partner requests, Target of Opportunity (ToO), James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and Subaru exchange time. That’s a higher number than usual, going back many semesters.
Notice that more often than not, the proposal is for a thesis, and increasingly the student is the Primary Investigator (PI) themselves. Figure 3 shows the fraction of CanTAC proposals with a Canadian PI, for a thesis, and those with a graduate-student PI: now, typically, one in three. That reality of Gemini as a training tool is not too surprising; a recent tally suggests that by this year about 100 MSc and PhD theses making use of Gemini data will have been granted at Canadian institutions. Another solid milestone for Canadian participation in Gemini.
And What is the Future of Canadian Use of Gemini?
Notably, in the last year, every available Gemini Facility and Visitor Instrument was requested. The most-requested was GHOST (Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph); in fact, over half of requested Gemini-South time in 2026A was for it. And encouragingly, there were also obvious strong upticks in requests when MAROON-X and IGRINS-2 became available; and both are still obviously very popular for the science that Canadians are doing. Does that science involve the time-domain and rapid target-of-opportunities for you? Check out the “Once in a Rubin Gem” initiative, which will make use of Director’s Discretionary time for unexpected events not caught by existing surveys: https://www.gemini.edu/observing/phase-i-proposing-time/dd-initiatives.
Something else coming as soon as next year is the Gemini Program Platform (GPP), which will be the new user interface to replace the Phase I Tool (PIT) and the Observing Tool (OT). (It will also replace all the nightly queue-scheduling software too, but users don’t typically see that.) GPP’s signal-to-noise-based approach also automates calibrations, and could essentially eliminate the drudgery of Phase II setup and checking (thank goodness!). You can already check out a beta-test GPP and give it a try at: https://explore.gemini.edu/. Help make it better by recording your feedback.
There is currently some uncertainty about timelines for the next suite of Gemini instruments coming online: GPI-2 (upgrade of the Gemini Planet Imager for the North) is now being pursued as a Visitor Instrument; SCORPIO has shipped to Gemini South, but was damaged in doing so, and is delayed about a year in the start of commissioning; and the continued development of GIRMOS (Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph) is not certain. Clearly, these developments are in flux, as was reported by Director Scott Dahm at the recent Townhall meeting at CASCA 2026 in Montreal. That this was followed (the next day) with the poll-results regarding VLOT (30-m-class optical/NIR) access, and encouragement by the community to pursue full ESO membership, is necessarily relevant for Gemini users. The CGO is paying close attention to all of this, and as always, is focused on supporting Canadian needs for both 8-m and 30-m telescope access to do your great science.
CFHT News and Updates
By Kara Dumaguin (Director of Community Relations) and Nadine Manset (Director of Science Operations) on behalf of the CFHT ‘ohana
I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope. — The future is found in the past.
Recently
The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope is one component of a large ecosystem on Maunakea that includes many observatories. Those observatories are independent facilities that exist in an even broader ecosystem set in a landscape that includes culture, the environment, a local economy, and a diverse society.
As part of the CFHT Town Hall at the 2026 CASCA Annual Meeting, CFHT staff members invited participants to reflect on the impact of astronomy activities on science, discoveries, society, the economy, education, and more. Using the online platform Mentimeter, attendees shared their thoughts on a series of questions exploring responsibility, stewardship, relationships, and the future of astronomy.
One question asked: “beyond scientific discovery, what responsibility does astronomy have to the communities that host their facilities?” The responses revealed a clear theme. Respect emerged as the most common response by a wide margin, followed by reciprocity, education, consent, gratitude, and partnership.
The prominence of these responses suggests that participants view astronomy’s responsibilities as extending beyond research and discovery alone. Rather than focusing solely on economic benefits or scientific outcomes, many responses emphasized the importance of building meaningful relationships with host communities through listening, collaboration, mutual learning, and long-term engagement. Additional responses highlighted concepts such as outreach, sustainability, dialogue, cultural exchange, trust, and reconciliation. Together, these themes reflect a growing recognition that astronomy operates within broader social, cultural, and environmental contexts. The responses suggest that many members of the astronomy community see respect and reciprocity not as separate from scientific excellence, but as important components of it.
While the specific words varied, the overall message was consistent: astronomy’s long-term success depends not only on what is discovered, but also on how institutions engage with and contribute to the communities that make this work possible.
Soon
Wenaokeao, an optomechanical interface that will allow installing SPIRou and ESPaDOnS at the Cassegrain focus of the telescope at the same time, is now scheduled to arrive in September. Integration will be performed in steps during the following months.
Later
The deadline for Community Survey (CS) proposals was April 30, 2026. The Community Survey Working Group will assess and rank the 3 proposals, each containing two or more work packages, at the end of the summer. A reconciliation phase led by CSWG in collaboration with survey teams will rationalize the outcome of the process with observatory/community constraints to ensure efficient and scientifically productive use of CFHT observing time. The final approval by the Board is expected in April 2027, for a start in semester 2027B. Additional information on the CS and the Call is available. For further information or inquiries, please reach out to the CSWG by email.
PRIMA Update
by Locke Spencer, Doug Johnstone, David Naylor
There has been a lot of PRIMA activity since the March 2026 update.
A PRIMA phase A mission review site visit was held in Pasadena, California at NASA/JPL on 13 May 2026. Locke Spencer and Fred Grandmont attended as representatives of Canada and Canadian Industry, respectively. Canadian flight hardware was one of 5 physical demonstrations on display at JPL for the site visit, and the Canadian contribution was mentioned specifically in the PI closing remarks. As is the case for Phase A mission reviews, there was a written correspondence window of several weeks between the review panel and the PRIMA team surrounding the sight visit on a variety of matters related to the mission concept study report under review. The window for additional technical questions is now closed. There next and final step on the PRIMA selection path is an administrative debriefing at the end of July, with a NASA decision on PRIMA expected in Q4 of 2026. If selected, PRIMA phase B would start in Q1 of 2027.
Since the May JPL site visit, PRIMA featured prominently in the June AAS meeting (also in Pasadena) and it was great to speak about PRIMA with the community at CASCA 2026 in Montreal last week. A PRIMA update was presented to the JCSA just before CASCA on June 5, 2026.
Bespoke Canadian hardware has been part of the PRIMA probe instrumentation since its conception. Within Canada, while we wait on a NASA launch decision for PRIMA, we remain at a decision point where the Canadian FTS hardware may be purchased by NASA directly (with no science return to the Canadian astronomy community), or the CSA could support an official Canadian contribution (with science return to the Canadian community).
We ask for the strongest support for PRIMA from the Canadian Astronomy community and from the CSA to realize this unique opportunity. Interested CASCA and community members can find additional details at the PRIMA webpage, by checking out upcoming and archived virtual sessions from the monthly PRIMA talk series, and by joining the Canadian Far-Infrared Space Astronomy mailing list. We will look to organize a virtual event for the Canadian astronomy community in the coming months.
Canadian participation in a far-infrared space astronomy mission is one of the key recommendations in both the CASCA LRP and CSA CSEW reports. November 2025 saw the release of the PRIMA General Observer (GO) Science book volume 2 by the PRIMA science team, containing 120 unique GO science cases for the PRIMA mission. This is a follow-up to the volume 1 PRIMA GO release containing 76 cases. There was also a dedicated PRIMA issue of JATIS published in late 2025 with 38 papers, including a PRIMA Mission Concept Overview (Glenn et al. 2025). There are also many Canadian connections and collaborations within the released GO books.
ngVLA Update
Erik Rosolowsky (U Alberta), Joan Wrobel (NRAO)
First Light Achieved with ngVLA Prototype Antenna
In April, the ngVLA prototype antenna achieved first light by taking observations independently, and also in collaboration with the NSF VLA. First light marks the 18m prototype antenna’s transition from construction by the contractors to astronomical testing by staff of the NSF NRAO. Quoting the press release from NSF NRAO:
“First light from the ngVLA prototype antenna is a real world demonstration of the engineering progress required to build America’s — and the World’s — next great radio astronomy facility,” said Tony Beasley, Director of NSF NRAO and AUI Vice President for Radio Astronomy Operations. “This milestone reflects the leadership and expertise we’ve tapped into amongst NRAO staff, our contractors, and the U.S. and international scientific community.”
ALMA WSU and ngVLA Session at CASCA in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
In June, members of the NAASC and the ngVLA SAC hosted a special lunchtime CASCA session. This session included introductions to these two facilities, followed by an update on the scope, capabilities and timeline of the ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade and the ngVLA’s current status and paths to Canadian partnership. Both ALMA and ngVLA were prioritized in the 2020 Canadian Long Range Plan for Astronomy. NAASC Development Scientist Jennifer Donovan Meyer spoke about the WSU, and NAASC member and ngVLA SAC co-chair Brenda Matthews spoke about the ngVLA project.
ngVLA Exposure Calculator Tool Updated
In April, the ngVLA Exposure Calculator Tool (ECT) was updated to default to using the latest array configuration design, Revision F <https://ngvla.nrao.edu/page/array-config>. Users can now also select between configuration revisions (Revision F and Revision D are currently available) to compare exposure calculations. The user interface to the ECT was also enhanced to restrict inputs to allowed ranges based on the current reference design. The updated ECT is available and there is a way to provide feedback.
Cosmic Horizons Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
The recent revolution in AI is fundamentally changing how astronomers observe, explore, analyze, and model astronomical data. From July 14 to 16, 2026 this conference will bring together researchers who are actively developing and applying AI/ML methods in astronomy. Conference priorities include:
Recent advances at the intersection of AI and Astronomy and AI-powered progress towards understanding our cosmic origins, from cosmology to habitability.
Methodologies to increase the trustworthiness, robustness, interpretability, and efficiency of AI applications in astronomy. Preparation for the big-data challenges posed by next-generation observing facilities and approaches for analyzing high-dimensional data. Connections with industry and the parts of the private sector that are also actively researching AI for operational processes. Use of AI in proposal preparation, reviews, and paper writing. Registration will close and the final program will be released on June 29.
ngVLA International Science Conference in Sendai, Japan
As the ngVLA project advances toward its next phase of development, it is timely to consolidate and expand the international science community, refine key science drivers, and explore synergies with other major observatories and space missions. From November 10 to 13, 2026, this conference will bring together experts from a broad range of fields to share compelling science cases, identify new opportunities, and foster collaborations that will further strengthen the momentum of this next-generation facility. A conference website will soon be available.
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