CCAT update

March 22, 2026

By/par Mike Fich (Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, fich@uwaterloo.ca) and the Canadian CCAT team

The primary mirror of the Fred Young Submillimeter telescope (FYST) was lifted into place on March 19!  The project is on schedule to have telescope assembly completed in time for the formal “Ribbon Cutting” event on site on April 9, 2026.  Telescope commissioning has begun with movement testing and mirror alignment.  The telescope remains on track for “First Light” to occur in the next few weeks.  The team maintains a public webpage showing the progress.

FYST is a 6-meter diameter submillimeter survey telescope and is located at the best submillimetre site that has been identified anywhere in the world.  The CCAT partnership is led by Cornell University with German, Canadian, and Chilean partners. The Canadian participation is channeled through the Canadian Atacama Telescope Consortium (CATC) and includes researchers at ten Canadian universities. The CCAT team is very much open to new members. We are especially encouraging new science ideas that we can explore with the amazing survey datasets we will create with FYST. If you have an interest in participating in the technology development (we have begun the development of the second generation instruments!) or in any of the Key Projects please contact Norm Murray (a CCAT Director), or a Key Project leader.