Canadian Astronomy 2016–2020 Report of the Mid-Term Review 2015 Panel “The Stars Belong to Everyone.” Helen Sawyer Hogg

Unveiling the Cosmos Canadian Astronomy 2016–2020 Report of the Mid-Term Review 2015 Panel “The stars belong to everyone.” Helen Sawyer Hogg

Unveiling the Cosmos Canadian Astronomy 2016–2020 Report of the Mid-Term Review 2015 Panel © 2015 Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) ISBN 978-0-9730881-5-1 Downloadable PDF available at www.casca.ca Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum — J.C. Cuillandre and G. Anselmi Aussi disponible en français. A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

Table of Contents 1 Introduction and Executive Summary 1 6 Space-based missions 43 1.1 Introduction...... 1 6.1 General comments on strategic planning 1.2 Executive Summary...... 1 for space astronomy...... 43 6.2 Wide field Optical/IR Surveys from Space. . . .43 2 Overview of the MTR Process 7 6.2.1 WFIRST...... 44 2.1 Terms of Reference...... 7 6.2.2 CASTOR ...... 45 2.2 MTR process...... 8 6.3 Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization Missions...... 46 3 Science Progress 2010–15 11 6.4 Athena...... 48 3.1 Are we alone?...... 11 6.5 SPICA...... 49 3.2 How does it all work?...... 12 6.6 Small payload and balloon-borne missions. . . 50 3.3 Where did it all come from?...... 13 6.7 Current and near-term space missions. . . . . 51 3.4 How did it all form?...... 13 6.7.1 JWST...... 51 3.5 Summary ...... 14 6.7.2 Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope on Astrosat. 53 4 Astronomy and Society 15 6.7.3 ASTRO-H (Hitomi)...... 54 4.1 Astronomy and Canada's Strategic Plan 7 Computing, networks and data 55 for Science and Technology ...... 15 7.1 Overview...... 55 4.2 Industry and Economic Impacts ...... 17 7.2 Compute and storage resources ...... 55 4.3 Institutes and Laboratories ...... 19 7.3 Evolution of the Management of Digital 4.4 Education and Public Outreach ...... 21 Research Infrastructure in Canada...... 57 5 Ground-based Facilities 25 7.4 CADC and CANFAR...... 57 5.1 World Observatories...... 25 8 Governance, Funding and Budgets 59 5.1.1 TMT...... 25 8.1 The complexity of the ground-based 5.1.2 SKA...... 27 astronomy governance landscape...... 59 5.1.3 ALMA ...... 31 8.2 Funding ...... 60 5.2 International and National Facilities...... 32 8.2.1 Overall funding...... 60 5.2.1 CFHT and MSE ...... 32 8.2.2 Update on astronomy funding since 2010. 61 5.2.2 Gemini ...... 35 5.2.3 JVLA and other NRAO facilities. . . . . 37 9 Demographics 63 9.1 Introduction and Trends ...... 63 5.2.4 CHIME...... 38 9.2 Career flow...... 64 5.2.5 Single-dish submillimetre facilities. . . . 39 9.3 Broader subject area comparisons ...... 65 5.2.6 LSST ...... 42 9.4 Participation of women and minorities 5.2.7 Arctic...... 42 in astronomy...... 65

i Unveiling the Cosmos

10 Discussion and summary comments 67 11 Appendices 75 10.1 Project phasing of the TMT and SKA...... 67 11.1 Appendix A: Acronyms, Abbreviations 10.2 The need for involvement in a dark and Context ...... 75 energy mission...... 67 11.2 Appendix B: Table of LRP2010 10.3 Mid-scale facilities/projects...... 67 recommendations...... 79 10.4 Budget justification and projections 2020–25. . 68 11.3 Appendix C: CSA Budgets 2005–15...... 82 10.5 List of MTR2015 Recommendations...... 71 11.4 Appendix D: Table of Mid-term Review panellists ...... 82 10.6 Concluding remarks...... 73

ii Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum — J.C. Cuillandre and G. Anselmi Astronomy is uncovering new and startling insights about the Cosmos at a faster pace than ever before.

Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum — J.C. Cuillandre and G. Anselmi A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

1 Introduction and Executive Summary 1.1 Introduction notoriously difficult to quantify, the re- tions that deliver spectacular new insights turns are higher. Neither do these metrics into our Cosmos, while simultaneously Astronomy is uncovering new and star- consider the social good inherent in new benefitting our society in multiple ways tling insights about the Cosmos at a faster discovery, and the role it plays in inspir- (See Chapter 4 Astronomy and Society). pace than ever before. Extrasolar planets ing young minds to consider careers in Almost 860 scientists are now involved in are now known to be commonplace, and science and engineering. government funded astronomy research the possibility of detecting signs of life, in Canada. Normalized citation metrics biomarkers, occupies the thoughts of Within Canada, the independent Sci- place Canadian astronomy either at, or many researchers. Such measurements ence, Technology and Innovation Council close to, number one in the world. This may be possible with the next genera- (STIC) has authored a series of reports excellence is enabled, in part, by the tion of large aperture optical telescopes. focusing on the role and current status infrastructure the federal government and Looking back to the Big Bang, we are now of science and innovation in Canadian other public and private agencies have on the verge of measuring the impact of society. Heavily based upon these reports, made available through direct investment gravitational waves generated by quantum government funding strategies have been or other vehicles. effects during the Inflationary epoch, developed that focus on the environment, an era when the Universe expanded at health sciences, natural resources, infor- This Midterm Review (MTR2015) works unprecedented rates. Aside from generat- mation and communication technologies, within the wider framework laid out by ing important new knowledge, modern as- and recently, advanced manufacturing. the 2010 Long Range Plan (LRP2010) tronomy both utilizes and creates techno- Astronomy, perhaps surprisingly, has “Unveiling the Cosmos” which developed logical breakthroughs, such as the research influenced the development of all these a compelling and exciting decadal vision that brought us Wi-Fi. When all astron- priority areas. Arguably the most influence for Canadian astronomy. In the five years omy’s influence is considered, it reaches has been on information and communica- since LRP2010 significant changes have from changing everyday life through new tion technologies where the fundamental occurred in the research landscape; it is technologies to giving human civilizations nature of astronomy as a sensing science the charge of the MTR Panel (MTRP) to a profound philosophical context. continues to spur new developments evaluate those changes against the priori- therein. But the enhancement of tech- ties established by LRP2010. Driven first Yet, for the grandness of accomplishments nologies within astronomy, the charge- and foremost by priorities of scientific to date, there remain equally important coupled device being a notable example, excellence, and maintaining Canadian as- fundamental questions about the formation has influenced environmental science and tronomy’s competitiveness in internation- and evolution of black holes, stars, planets, natural resources through the delivery of al astronomy, the planning process pays galaxies, and the Universe as a whole that detailed satellite imagery and analysis. Both careful attention to priorities outlined remain to be solved. For many of these laser eye surgery and X-ray imaging rely within the Canadian government’s science questions, the observations required push upon techniques initially developed within and technology strategy. The overall plan the development of new facilities and astronomy. The development of new and is highly coordinated, covering a breadth technologies, across a range of wavelengths. increasingly sophisticated astronomy facili- of science areas, funding of facilities on ties also promises steps forward in manu- various scales, and maximizing science These technology developments inevitably facturing processes. Thus despite com- and technological return on investment. require close collaboration between the monly expressed prejudices that astronomy Withdrawals from older facilities, as new NRC, CSA, universities, and technology has little influence beyond the philosophi- ones begin operation, are also advocated companies. Indeed, by far the majority of cal, its influence on society is remarkably within the LRP process. It is also under- the funding involved in the construction pervasive and inherently practical. stood that revisions of recommendations of new astronomy facilities goes to indus- may be necessary on short time-scales due try. Analysis by independent consultants,1 to unanticipated events or developments. in government commissioned reports, 1.2 Executive Summary Established in 2010, the Long Range Plan suggests the measurable return on invest- Implementation Committee (LRPIC) is the body responsible for such oversight ment in astronomy is one-to-one. When Canadian astronomy and technology and it should continue its mission. indirect returns are considered, which are have repeatedly driven scientific revolu- 1 Hickling, Arthurs, Low, “Astronomy in Canada” 2011 1 Unveiling the Cosmos

In the interests of brevity, this executive (SKA1) is the top priority for new funds The 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii summary does not repeat all recommen- for ground-based astronomy (page 29). Telescope (CFHT) continues to enable dations in detail. For clarity, a reference to The SKA has evolved considerably since impressive new science. While the Mega- the exact recommendation wording in the 2010. Firstly, the cost cap on the first Cam imager is now only class-leading report body is provided. A complete table phase (SKA1, approximately 10% of full in one waveband, the facility continues of recommendations is provided in Section capability) has been set at €650M, and a to offer exceptional image quality and 10.5 List of MTR2015 Recommendations. 2018 construction start is now planned. the potential for contributing imaging Secondly, the ten countries involved are in support of a number of upcoming now moving toward the development of surveys. At the same time, exciting new World Observatories a treaty governing the construction and instrumentation, including the SITELLE Since LRP2010 was authored, construc- operation. Canada, particularly through imaging Fourier transform spectrometer tion of the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub- the NRC, has already developed innova- and the SPIRou high resolution spectro- millimeter Array (ALMA) has been com- tive new technologies (see Section 5.1.2 polarimeter will open up new fields pleted and the telescope is now yielding SKA) for the SKA and can partner with of discovery. remarkable new results on systems from Canadian industry to deliver these tech- protoplanetary disks through to distant nologies at a cost of $60M. The scientific The “next generation” CFHT project has young galaxies. Canadian scientists are promise and the potential for industrial evolved into the Maunakea Spectroscopic making excellent use of the facility, while involvement in the facility lead the MTRP Explorer (MSE) and the telescope design the Canadian construction contribution, to reiterate the importance of the project is now mature. A number of countries the “Band 3” receivers, is a key enabler of to the Canadian community. In support are participating in both science working many of these science breakthroughs. of this prior recommendation the MTRP groups and telescope engineering. Being strongly recommends that Canada enter an 11 m facility dedicated to multi-object In the same period, the Canadian Gov- into negotiations to join the intergovern- spectroscopy, it has the potential to open ernment pledged $243.5M that will allow mental organization (page 31) that will up new realms of discovery across many Canadian industry, in collaboration with oversee SKA1 construction. fields, from stellar astronomy through to the NRC and universities, to design, the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The MTRP thus strongly recommends develop and build a major contribution Ground-based Astronomy to the world’s premier optical facil- that Canada continue to lead the devel- ity, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Since 2010 the Gemini Observatory has opment of the MSE project (page 35). This major investment will give optical installed a number of world-leading new Further, while the MTRP fully supports astronomers in Canada access to the instruments, including the Gemini Planet the SPIRou project and planned surveys, world’s premier observatory, quite literally Imager. The operating partnership has it notes that any schedule slippage should bringing new worlds to Canadians. Cur- changed following the withdrawal of the not delay redevelopment opportunities and rently a collaboration between Caltech, UK, and Australia’s announcement that priorities (page 33). University of California, Canada, Japan, it could not continue as a partner beyond China, and India, the Canadian share of 2015, although the Korean Astronomy and Highlighted in LRP2010 as a superb approximately 15% is lower than antici- Space Science Institute will hopefully take example of Canadian leadership, the pated in LRP2010, but should still ensure over the Australian share in 2017. It is now CHIME telescope, funded by the CFI and that Canadians have a significant voice clear that participation in the observatories provincial agencies, and located at the in the operation of the facility provided beyond 2021 is necessary, and the MTRP DRAO in Penticton, will begin opera- that we continue to contribute to new recommends that Canada’s participation in tion in 2016. Built with a primary goal of instrumentation projects. Motivated by Gemini continue to be supported beyond the placing constraints on dark energy, once this concern, the MTRP therefore strongly end of the 2016–21 International Agree- operating it will be the largest single radio endorses ongoing development of second- ment. The nature and level of that participa- telescope facility (by collection area) in generation instrument concepts for the tion must be considered within the context North America. Unanticipated in 2010, it TMT and encourages the various teams to of a coordinated plan for funding the opera- will also incorporate a new analysis back- pursue funding (page 27). tion of our ground-based facilities, together end to search for radio transients such as with any opportunities for broader access “fast radio bursts”. The MTRP is excited Looking forward to the 2016–20 period, to the landscape of 8–10 metre optical/IR to see first science results, and commends access to the capabilities provided by the telescopes (page 37). the working relationship between the first phase of the Square Kilometre Array NRC and universities on CHIME.

2 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

Following LRP recommendations, Canada testing of innovative science ideas (tran- missions have distinctly different optical withdrew from the sub-mm James Clerk sient science being a current example), technologies making the science cases Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in September provide a platform for building and testing highly synergistic. Unfortunately, at the 2014. The facility has transitioned to oper- instrumentation prototypes, and can also time of writing, CASTOR has not been ation by the East Asian Observatory with a provide supplementary observations to given sufficient resources to fully cost its collaboration of six Canadian universities large facilities. The analogy of a pyramid design, precluding a competitive evalua- working together to provide funding and of infrastructure is apt in this case and the tion of return on investment. some access for the entire Canadian com- MTRP reaffirms the importance of facili- munity for 2015–16. Progress on funding ties across the spectrum of scales, including The MTRP sees the broad science case the next generation Cerro Chajnantor Ata- lower cost PI instruments (page 20). of the WFIRST mission as exciting, but cama Telescope (CCAT), one of the rec- notes that establishing sufficient Cana- ommended midscale facilities in LRP2010, dian participation remains a concern. has not proceeded as expected, although Space Astronomy The MTRP thus reaffirms the exciting the facility continues to offer exceptional Observations from the ground with the opportunity presented by WFIRST and its promise, including mapping speeds tens TMT, SKA, and other instruments are broad appeal to the Canadian community. of thousands of times faster than ALMA. complemented by space observatories. In order to fulfil the LRPP recommenda- The MTRP reaffirms the importance of next The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), for tion we recommend that Canada begin generation single-dish sub-mm facilities, example, has changed our view of the Cos- negotiations to secure a significant (~5%) and recommends that Canadian astrono- mos and become the most well-known sci- level of participation, at the earliest oppor- mers continue to pursue participation in entific instrument in the public conscious- tunity, so as to match NASA’s accelerated CCAT, subject to the project meeting its ness. The launch of its successor, the James schedule. This should include contributions original science goals (page 41). Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in 2018, to critical instrumentation that, preferen- is eagerly anticipated by the world-wide tially, is synergistic with Canadian science The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope astronomy community. With its 5% share interests, and funded participation on (LSST), the US astronomical commu- of the telescope, Canada is well-placed to Science Investigation Teams for a repre- nity’s top ranked ground-based project in reap immense scientific returns and JWST sentative number of Canadian scientists their last decadal plan, is moving toward remains the single largest investment in (page 45). At the same time, the MTRP completion. While interest in Canadian Canadian space astronomy. While par- strongly recommends that the CSA launch participation in 2010 was nascent, as of ticipation in JWST marks a high point in a Phase 0 study for CASTOR, with study 2016 there is now a partnership of Ca- Canada’s commitment to space exploration results required within 12 months, so that nadian universities, spearheaded by the and astronomy, there are significant areas this compelling project can be developed, Dunlap Institute at the University of To- of concerns about involvement in future presented, and competed in the interna- ronto, which will allow the participation of missions. In the 2000–10 decade the Ca- tional community. The LRPIC and Joint ten Canadian faculty, and their associated nadian Space Agency (CSA) committed to Committee on Space Astronomy (JCSA) highly qualified personnel, in LSST. While participating in seven missions, including should review the outcome of that study the MTRP welcomes this development, and ASTROSAT and JWST. In the five years and make further recommendations as notes that LSST has considerable comple- since LRP2010, the only new large space appropriate, well in advance of LRP2020 mentarity to MSE, there does not appear mission which Canada has committed to is (page 46). to be a straightforward route to broader the Japan-led ASTRO-H X-ray telescope. Canadian participation at this time. A highly topical science area, in which LRP2010’s top recommendation for Canada has significant hardware and space astronomy was involvement in a theoretical expertise, is measurement of Instrumentation and Principal the polarization of the Cosmic Micro- Investigator (PI) Facilities survey mission that can shed new light on the mystery of dark energy. Driven by wave Background (CMB). Measuring the A healthy research portfolio requires access discovery potential and key technologies, `B-mode’ polarization provides a direct to facilities at vastly different cost-scales. the MTRP reaffirms this recommenda- constraint on the fraction of gravitational While by far the majority of ground- tion. Two missions present themselves at waves produced in the inflationary epoch breaking results are made on world- this time, the US-led WFIRST mission, of the Big Bang. This field has moved leading facilities, actively-used support- the top priority in the US decadal plan, forward rapidly since LRP2010 and one ing facilities also play an important role which is now moving ahead rapidly, and or more upcoming missions are likely beyond training alone. They enable rapid the Canadian-led CASTOR. The two to fly in the early 2020s: PIXIE (US-led) and LITEBird (Japan-led, with NASA 3 Unveiling the Cosmos

participation). Given Canada's significant sociated with large-scale orbital platforms. (UFA) program is regrettable in that ap- scientific and technological expertise in The MTRP recommends that Canada proximately 40% of female astronomy fac- the field, the MTRP strongly recommends continue to support small-scale exploratory ulty in Canada have been supported by it, that the CSA engage in discussions with its satellite projects and balloon-borne missions or the earlier WFA program. Alternatives sister agencies to establish a hardware and through regular calls for proposals (page to funding faculty positions include career science role in a new CMB polarization 51). Competitive funding processes, ad- interruption support, changes in assess- mission (page 47). Moreover, the com- vertised at regular intervals, will continue ment of productivity, and also offering paratively rapid development of these two to spur innovation in this sector. awards to institutions that take steps to missions means that significant funding support the participation of women and is potentially needed within a one to two minorities in astronomy. The MTRP thus year time frame. Funding recommends that CASCA’s newly formed Funding in support of astronomy from Diversity and Inclusivity committee should LRP2010 selected the International X-ray NSERC has fallen from $11.8M in 2010 to restart CASCA’s equity survey process, Observatory (IXO) and SPICA for sup- $11.0M. If inflationary rises are included extending it to capture data on minority port at the mid-range level. IXO evolved the envelope should now be $12.8M. In ad- participation. From the data derived, policy in a descoped form into the Athena dition the loss of the Special Research Op- recommendations should be formulated mission, led by ESA, and will fly in 2028. portunities program and Major Resources that either the LRPIC or LRP2020 can While having exceptional promise, and Support program continues to have a directly build upon (page 66). with a capability that is arguably that of a great impact. Across the board, funding in “world observatory” for X-ray astronomy, support of astronomy science delivery, as Scientific Computing a route to Canadian participation is un- opposed to hardware, is down since 2010. sure at this time. The MTRP therefore rec- Consequently, the MTRP recommends rein- Increasing visibility of data analytics, more ommends that Canada continue to explore stating funding to support laboratories (page commonly called “Big Data,” has renewed the possibility of contributing to the science 20) and post-doctoral programs (page interest in funding computational and instrumentation on Athena, as well as 64), that will largely return NSERC fund- storage infrastructure. Through a series of the cost and the access to the mission that ing levels to previous values. At the same newly announced CFI investments, Com- would be gained from such a contribution time, the MTRP reiterates that the creation pute Canada (CC) will spend at an average (page 49).The SPICA mission has also of a network of post-doctoral researchers is of $50 million per year in 2015–20, the undergone a descope and is now looking critical to maximizing the significant invest- value recommended in LRP2010. The ser- at a 2029–30 launch, with an exact deter- ment that has been made in the JWST facil- vice requirements of distributed comput- mination of the launch window antici- ity (page 64) and other space astronomy ing platforms are growing and the MTRP pated in 2016. Unfortunately, the descope investments. Equally importantly, in sup- recommends that CC move to provide ser- removed one potential primary Canadian port of these observational developments, vices such as authentication/authorization, technology contribution although others the MTRP reaffirms recommendations for and efficient distributed storage platforms remain. The MTRP recommends that a moderate increase to the funding of the that encompass both archiving and user Canada explore the possibility of contribut- Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophys- spaces in a scalable way (page 57). ing elements of the Fabry-Perot instrument ics (CITA) to augment the National Fellows to SPICA, as well as the cost and the access program (page 21), and the value of a The NRC’s Canadian Astronomy Data to the mission that would be gained from further funding cycle of the Canadian Insti- Centre (CADC) continues to serve data such a contribution (page 50).The long tute for Advanced Research’s Cosmology and to the astronomy community and is a lead time to launch for both these mis- Gravity program (page 52). major driver behind the innovative Cana- sions means that sizeable investment will dian Advanced Network for Astronomical not be necessary until the 2020s. Research (CANFAR) project. CANFAR Diversity in Astronomy has evolved significantly in the last five Canadians have continued to make sig- Women and minorities continue to be years, and now sits at a transition point in nificant use of nanosatellites and balloon underrepresented in Canadian astronomy, terms of its hardware platform and gov- missions. The BRITE constellation and with female participation within the facul- ernance. A serious concern exists over its Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (BIT) ty ranks now at 18%, although an accurate future funding due to CADC staff being projects are key examples in each respec- breakdown by rank is not possible with- ineligible for support in university-NRC tive category. For both categories, innova- out a complete survey. The cancellation collaborative proposals to CFI, and the tive science continues to be accessible at of the NSERC University Faculty Awards MTRP recommends the Agency Committee launch costs considerably lower than as- 4 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020 on Canadian Astronomy meet to discuss Funding for New Astronomy Facilities/Missions/ this significant issue (page 58). personnel 2016–20

Astronomy Outreach The budget presented here is an update of LRP2010 for the remaining four years of the 2010–20 decade. See Chapter 10 Discussion and summary comments for a detailed Uncertainties remain in terms of national description, including its relation to LRP2010 figures and projections for 2020–25. coordination of outreach efforts, and the TMT construction funding, committed in 2015, is not included. The figures given are MTRP recommends that CASCA draft a subject to variances due to collaborative agreements and exchange rates. mission statement on its EPO activities and goals (page 22). The MTRP also recom- Project/Theme 2016–20 Amount mends that social media be considered Ground SKA Phase 1 $60M a key part of any outreach strategy, with appropriate resources, specifically funds, Midscale innovation* $40M talent, energy and time, allocated (page Sub total $100M 23). The MTRP also supports augmen- Space Dark energy and surveys $100M tation of the NSERC PromoScience budget and that NRC Herzberg return to funding CMB Polarization $20M outreach at previous levels (page 23). Small payloads $5M Sub total $125M Astronomy Governance People/Infrastructure Postdoctoral funding $7.6M Laboratories $4M NRC Herzberg (formerly Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics) continues to Total $236.6M operate the observatories of the Govern- Outreach PromoScience and NRC $1.2M ment of Canada, and serves as the de facto national astronomy laboratory. However, *Midscale innovation includes CCAT, costs for developing facilities/instruments that the overall mission of the NRC has moved will have primary construction in the 2020–25 decade, including MSE and second- toward supporting industrial innovation generation instrumentation for the TMT, and new projects that may appear. It is making NRC Herzberg somewhat unusual anticipated that these funds will come largely from existing competitive programs. within the entire NRC portfolio. In recognition of the close collaboration between NRC Herzberg and the university research community, that is essential to the success Notes of thanks and caution of Canadian astronomy, the MTRP recom- On behalf of the entire Canadian as- A cautionary note on time sensitivity: the mends the re-establishment of an Advisory tronomy community, the MTRP expresses information presented in this document Board, drawn from university researchers immense thanks to the NRC, NSERC, is current as of February 2016. Aside and industry, to advise on the portfolio and CSA, CFI, CIFAR, and all the provincial from future changes to mission timelines, programs of NRC Herzberg (page 60). agencies, for supporting the exceptional which can move both slower and faster, research that has been produced over the Maunakea has become a focus of concerns over future development, and TMT Conclusion past five years. We also expressly thank the NRC, NSERC, ACURA and St Mary’s has recently been forced to reapply for a The future of Canadian astronomy is University for providing monetary support construction permit. The TMT situation truly exciting. New instrumentation and that enabled the meetings about, writing is highly complex, and not one that the upcoming facilities will propel Canadian and preparation of this report. Last, and by MTRP is qualified to comment on. The astronomy forward to another five years no means least, the MTRP is exceptionally path forward will ultimately be deter- of new discoveries. It is worth remem- grateful to all the members of the Cana- mined by a resolution of the regulatory bering, as much as facilities are planned dian astronomy community who partici- issues facing the project and, ultimately, to address science questions, the obser- pated in the formulation of the MTRP by the will of the people of Hawaii. vational nature of astronomy leads to through white papers, presentations, unanticipated discoveries that are often as participation in meetings, and via email. revolutionary as they are surprising. 5 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

2 Overview of the MTR Process 2.1 Terms of Reference II. Statement of Task 1.3. Assessment of proposed new Na- tional and International facilities or The MTR is not anticipated to be as wide- As for LRP2010, CASCA commissioned programs, including space missions, ranging and detailed as the decadal plan and their relevance to the Canadian the MTR within a predetermined set of outlined in the LRP2010. The key parts of terms of reference: astronomical community. New the review are an assessment of the status facilities are on the drawing-board of the LRP2010 projects, and an analysis that were unanticipated or at least I. Context of new opportunities. The series of priori- insufficiently mature during the ties that result are anticipated to be rel- writing of LRP2010. Development Building on the success of the original evant on a five-year timeline and are not of the MTR requires that we review Long Range Plan (LRP), the 2010 Long to include major revisions or expansions these facilities/missions and assess Range Plan (LRP2010) made a series of LRP2010 that are inconsistent with the their potential impact and possible of recommendations to support world- original goals of the plan. The resulting benefits to the Canadian astronomi- leading astronomical research in Canada review will serve as a single unified vision cal community. Given that Canadian out to the 2020 time frame. At a time of to reaffirm the LRP2010 process over the researchers are increasingly collabo- growing international collaboration on second-half of the 2010–20 decade. rating with international partners “World Observatories”, such as the Thirty and many future facilities are likely Meter Telescope (TMT) and Square III. Scope to be built by international consortia, Kilometre Array (SKA), many of the whether any distinction is drawn recommended projects are necessarily Formulation of the MTR is a two-step between National and International international in scope and present unique process, namely a review followed by a opportunities is at the discretion of opportunities for Canada to play a role on prioritization exercise. It is anticipated that the panel. the world stage. the MTR will address the following issues: 1.4. Re-affirmation of a prioritized list While many major facilities now take a 1.1. Assessment of the state of astronomy of facilities and programs that is es- decade or more to develop, new opportu- and astrophysics in Canada in the sential to the success of the Canadian nities and initiatives present themselves context of the priorities and goals astronomical community. Building on a shorter time scale. Funding cycles outlined in LRP2010. A key aspect upon LRP2010, the list of priorities also tend to have five-year horizons. of this review is the identification of will only include those considered Combined with the fact that Canadian any systemic implementation gaps essential to the success of the com- participation has not yet been established and hazards that have emerged in the munity. This will unavoidably entail in a number of the recommended proj- time period since LRP2010 was re- comparative and qualitative assess- ects, there is an important need to review leased, and the risks presented to the ments, as during the review process the recommendations on the 2010 LRP, Canadian astronomical community. different sub-disciplines or facilities via a Mid-Term Review (MTR). will be compared with one another. 1.2. Identification of potential new While the decision on priorities will As for LRP2010, the MTR will be a collab- research directions or areas of lie solely in the hands of the panel, it orative process initiated by the Canadian opportunity and the types of facili- will take place following wide consul- Astronomical Society (CASCA) with the ties and support that are needed to tation with the community. support of all Canadian national agencies pursue them. This assessment will be and organizations that fund or administer science driven (first) and program 1.5. Outline of the proposed budgets. The astronomical research. The review will be driven (second) rather than facility review will also take into account undertaken by an Author Panel (here- oriented. This review is anticipated that funding within the Canadian after “the panel”), led by a Chairperson. to primarily fill any gaps that have community comes from multiple Community input will proceed via white opened in the coverage of LRP2010. agencies and ranges in size from papers, a dedicated website, the mobiliza- The possibilities for new facilities will small individual grants to large com- tion of CASCA committees, and a series be assessed separately. munity driven projects. of consultative town halls.

7 Unveiling the Cosmos

IV. Approach members will be selected by the CASCA or if a prioritization process is perceived President and Panel Chair, in consultation to benefit the individual’s place of work. Projects that were approved by LRP2010 with the CASCA Board. If a conflict of interest arises, it must be that are partly funded or underway need declared so that the Chair may take ap- not be reassessed in detail. However, the propriate action. Panel members are also impact of these facilities or programs and VII. Structure of Review: Work- advised to provide early notification of their relevance to astronomy and astro- ing Groups the possibility of such conflicts occurring. physics out to 2020 should be incorpo- rated within the MTR. Throughout the To provide reports to the author panel, process of reviewing progress on facilities the MTR will rely upon CASCA com- XI. Confidentiality and research priorities, the panel will mittees, and incorporate the community The review is expected to be an account- necessarily have to make judgments on feedback provided through white papers, able and open process. Submissions to the the feasibility, technical readiness, and town hall meetings, and open discussions. project will be made public, although pro- risks involved in supporting a particular prietary information may be so-indicated facility or program. The panel is expected VIII. Deliverables and will be kept confidential. However, to maintain independence in this process prior to mutually agreed upon release (see X. Conflicts of Interest section), and The author panel will deliver the final ver- dates, all panel members are to agree will consult with independent authorities sion of the MTR (in English) and associ- that they will not disclose or give to any when necessary. It is critical to the overall ated recommendations to the President of person any information or documents success of the MTR that the assessment of CASCA and the CASCA Board of Direc- relating to the MTR. science capability and budgetary demands tors. The MTR will then be simultaneous- is seen as a fair and rigorous process. ly released, in both official languages, to the Canadian astronomical Community and all relevant parties including NSERC, 2.2 MTR process V. Selection of the Chair of the the NRC, CFI, CSA, and relevant Minis- Author Panel tries of the Government of Canada. MTR panelists were selected in the spring The selection of the Chair is a critical of 2014 through a collaborative process issue since the MTR process must be IX. Schedule between the CASCA Board and the viewed to be open and without bias. MTR Chair. The review process began A Chair that is viewed favourably by The review process will begin upon ap- at CASCA 2014, with a day devoted to the entire community will thus bring pointment of the Chair of the author pan- discussing upcoming projects/facilities goodwill toward the planning process. el, which is anticipated to be announced and the statuses of current ones. A call for As a consequence of the sensitive nature in January 2014. Discipline working follow-up white papers was announced of the choice of the Chair, the selection groups are anticipated to begin their tasks in the fall of 2014, and most papers were process will involve the Board of Direc- as soon as they are appointed. The process delivered before the end of 2015. A total tors of CASCA. is anticipated to take no longer than 18 of 22 white papers were received by the months, with the public release of the panel, including reports from all the CAS- MTR in fall 2015. CA sub-committees. By soliciting white VI. Selection of the Author papers first, the review process provided Panel ample background for CASCA members X. Conflicts of Interest ahead of the town hall meetings. As for Once the Chair of the author panel has All panel members will ensure that all LRP2010, three separate and lively town been appointed, the selection of the hall meetings were held, in Montreal, remaining panel members will begin. The work conducted under their auspices is conducted in a manner free of con- Toronto, and Victoria on March 24, 25 additional panel members to be appoint- and 26 respectively. The town halls were ed will include a vice-Chair and between flicts of interest. Any persons associated with the panel are also bound to similar also streamed via the internet for those five and seven panelists. Since the panel interested in participating remotely. will be required at certain points to make conduct. For the purposes of this review, comparative assessments of the relative a conflict of interest is defined to be a situation where any panel member or his/ Following the town hall meetings the merits of different subject fields and pro- panel began a process of deliberation both grams, it is necessary that the panel have her family is able to benefit financially from involvement in the review process, via telecon and face to face meetings. It significant breadth in expertise. The panel is worth mentioning that the funding of 8 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

TMT was announced on April 6, 2015, after the town hall meetings, but before any preliminary announcements of report recommendations. One face-to-face meeting was held in Toronto on April 20, 2015 where preliminary conclusions were discussed in detail. This served as a platform for discussions ahead of CASCA 2015 at McMaster on May 26, 2015 where preliminary conclusions were delivered to the community. Following feedback, the panel met again in July in Montreal as well as visiting the CSA two-days later to discuss space-based astronomy projects.

Detailed report writing began in the fall of 2015, with drafts of the bulk of document written by the end of November. Final col- lation, editing and reviewing, by a small group of senior community representatives occurred in January 2016. Com- munity feedback was solicited following the release of the draft report in February 2016. Final typesetting and translation were completed in Spring 2016.

9 MTR 2015 carries forward LRP 2010's 10-year plan for Canadian Astronomy that will yield major breakthroughs in the following fundamental questions:

What are the origins of the Universe? How do its components, the planets, stars, and galaxies form and evolve? What are the laws that govern this evolution? Are we alone?

Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum — J.C. Cuillandre and G. Anselmi A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

3 Science Progress 2010–15 Astronomy continues to lead the world in 3.1 Are we alone? can probe the chemical and dynamical new, inspiring discoveries and Canadian nature of protoplanetary disks, ultimately astronomers continue to be major players Some of the most newsworthy discover- helping to reveal how planetary systems in most of these, thanks to the facilities ies of the past five years include several form. Many more results are in progress. and instruments identified as priorities in from ALMA, one of the new facilities As detailed in the ALMA section (5.1.3 previous LRPs. Progress is steadily being highlighted in previous long range plans. ALMA), Canadian astronomers have made on aspects of the “Big Questions” ALMA is now fully constructed and seized the opportunity, and are making highlighted in LRP2010, but they still beginning full science operations. The excellent use of it. remain the fundamental science drivers: Canadian-built Band 3 receivers are performing extremely well and figure promi- Results from the Gemini Planet Im- 1. Where did it all come from? The Hot nently in virtually all of the new discov- ager (GPI), an “extreme adaptive optics Big Bang and Cosmology; the Nature eries. Perhaps the most noteworthy of system,” on the Gemini South telescope of our Physical Universe; Dark Mat- these is the spectacular image of HL Tau are also starting to appear. Engineers ter and Dark Energy (Figure 1) that demonstrates how ALMA and scientists at the UdeM and NRC

2. How did it all form? The Grand Architecture of the Universe; Forma- tion, Evolution, and Structure of Galaxies, Stars, and Planets

3. How does it all work? The Laws of Physics, Extreme Physical Environ- ments

4. Are we alone? Extra-Solar Planets and the Quest for Life in the Universe

The MTR panel heard that answers to these questions continue to preoccupy the Canadian astronomical community and consequently continue to drive the priorities for access to new or improved instrumentation and facilities. Virtually all of the major scientific capabilities highlighted in LRP2010 and this report e.g., TMT, SKA, MSE, WFIRST, CASTOR, etc. can be used to shed insight on aspects of all the above questions, i.e., most of these facilities are quite versatile. Furthermore, it is subsequently recognized that telescopes can be utilized in novel ways to explore areas not even contemplated during their initial design. The CHIME project provides an excellent example: initially it was designed to map the structure of neutral hydrogen in a large volume of the Universe but it is Figure 1. ALMA image of the young star HL Tau and its protoplanetary disk. This best now being adapted to also investigate the image ever of planet formation reveals multiple rings and gaps that herald the presence of origin of the as yet unexplained Fast Radio emerging planets as they sweep their orbits clear of gas and dust. Credit: ALMA (NRAO/ Bursts, and to study pulsars. ESO/NAO); C. Brogan, B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF) 11 Unveiling the Cosmos

Herzberg played very major roles in this those around HR 8799 and protoplan- This system provides a sensitive labora- instrument and Canadian scientists are etary disks like HL Tau is certain to be tory of a previously untested strong-field already reaping the rewards. One of the transformative in our understanding of gravity regime. Thus far, the observed most exciting discoveries so far is a planet the origin and evolution of planetary orbital decay agrees well with the predic- that appears to be very similar to Jupiter systems and, indeed of earth-like planets. tions of Einstein’s Theory of General Rela- orbiting the star 51 Eridani about 100 ly Observations with ALMA, JWST and tivity (GR), supporting its validity even away. Stellar age estimates suggest that 51 TMT will be of paramount importance in for the extreme conditions present in the Eridani is only around 20 million years this quest. As an example of the synergy, system. Since many physically motivated old; making this is a young planetary ALMA can study the outer, colder regions extensions to GR predict significant system that can help shed light on planet of protoplanetary disks while TMT will deviations in the properties of spacetime formation processes. Theoretical models provide a direct look at the inner (less surrounding massive neutron stars these suggest the gas in giant planets can be than a few astronomical units), warmer results are very significant – and will accreted in ways that lead to a “hot start,” regions where terrestrial and giant planets continue to be improved through ongoing in which gravitational energy is trapped form. ALMA will also reveal the tidal observations of this unique system. making the infant planet hot, or a “cold gaps created by protoplanets, and TMT start” in which accreting gas is shock will image these protoplanets themselves The discovery that neutrinos can change heated allowing it to radiate away a lot of through high-contrast imaging. In the identities and have mass is a huge step the energy. Almost all observations to this mid-infrared (MIR) the sensitivity of forward that has major impacts for both point had been too bright to be consid- TMT/MIRES to an un-resolved spec- fundamental physics and the evolution ered cold start candidates. Intriguingly, tral line is comparable to JWST/MIRI of structure within the universe. On the planet, denoted 51 Eridani b, has but with spectral resolution sufficient October 6, 2015, the Nobel Prize com- the strongest methane signature of any to understand the underlying physics. mittee awarded3 the 2015 Physics prize extrasolar planet and is also of sufficiently Spectra of gaseous lines with TMT will jointly to T. Kajita of Japan and Arthur B. low luminosity to possibly be a cold start provide critical velocity information to McDonald of Queen’s University, Canada. candidate. The observed luminosity sug- understand the radial location of the gas, Observations at the Sudbury Neutrino gests the mass of the planet is between and how the dynamical/chemical/physi- Observatory (SNO) were central to the two to twelve Jupiter masses in cold start cal structure of these disks will evolve determination of the properties of neutri- scenarios. Alternatively, if a hot start is with time. nos, a facility that was largely created by assumed, the mass is around two Jupiter funding from NRC and NSERC almost masses. The discovery garnered a lot of It isn’t surprising that these areas of three decades ago4 and SNO has enjoyed attention in the press2 and was outlined in research are amongst the fastest growing NSERC support for the university-led col- an important article in Science magazine. areas of astronomy, and Canada is playing laboration ever since. As the press release in leading role in their development. states “the discovery has changed our un- These are precisely the type of results that derstanding of the innermost workings of were hoped for when the GPI project matter and can prove crucial to our view was initiated. of the universe.” On November 8, 2015, 3.2 How does it all work? it was further announced that Arthur Mc- Canadian astronomers also used the GPI Donald and the SNO group shared in the Canadian astronomers at the universities and Keck telescopes to study the chemical 2015 Breakthrough Prize for Fundamen- of McGill, Toronto and British Colum- composition and atmospheric structure of tal Physics. These prizes are the highest bia, were part of an international team two of the planets surrounding HR 8799, recognitions of the roles that Canadians that discovered and carried out extensive one of the discoveries highlighted in play in trying to solve the mysteries of the observations of an extremely high mass LRP2010. The ability to perform detailed Universe. These give a tremendous boost (twice the mass of the Sun) pulsar in a studies of other extra-solar planets like to our science. very compact orbit around a white dwarf.

2 And a nice semi-popular article in Scientific American (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/astronomers-glimpse-a-young-jupiter-51-eridani-b/) 3 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2015/press.html 4 There are many parallels between the ways the funding for SNO and TMT were achieved (for SNO, see Ewan, G.T. and Davidson, W.F, Physics in Canada, Nov/Dec 2005). It appears that the process for funding big science hasn’t basically changed over the past three decades, except that NRC and NSERC were able to actively lobby for government support before SNO was eventually funded in 1990. 12 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

3.3 Where did it all come (6.3 Cosmic Microwave Background Keck telescopes. When combined with Polarization Missions), we can now also results from WMAP and other projects, from? begin to look forward to results derived the precision to which several of the fun- from precision measurements of CMB damental parameters of the universe can Canadians were important participants polarization from both balloons and be constrained is truly remarkable: the in the Planck and Herschel satellites that satellites to unlock new cosmological in- matter density of the universe to within were launched in 2009. Both of these formation and qualitatively new science. 5%, the dark energy equation of state missions were outstandingly successful The MTR panel was impressed to learn parameter, which measures the ratio of and the results, particularly in cosmol- that the unique Canadian technology and the energy’s pressure to density, to within ogy through CMB studies, continue to expertise in CMB studies will continue to 6.5%. It is worth bearing in mind that just rank among the highest impact areas in provide important clues toward solving two decades ago these numbers were not astrophysics in Canada. Canadians from some of the deepest problems in modern even known to within factors of two! both academia and industry played key physics: the nature of dark matter, dark roles in several areas, including hardware, energy, and the physics responsible for theory, algorithms, experience and exper- generating the initial fluctuations. tise. The results still pouring out of Planck 3.4 How did it all form? and Herschel demonstrate that the $21M In 2011 the Supernova Legacy Survey The results of another major survey with contributed by Canada through CSA was (SNLS) team published the results of a CFHT, the Pan-Andromeda Archaeologi- exceedingly well spent. huge imaging survey with CFHT designed cal Survey (PAndAS), revealed a substan- to detect distant supernovae, followed up tial population of dwarf satellite galaxies As detailed in the CMB satellite section with spectroscopy from Gemini, VLT and

Figure 2 The Andromeda galaxy environs imaged, in three separate colours, as part of the PAndAS survey. Structures down to exceptionally faint magnitudes extended out much further out than the disk (shown as an insert). 13 Unveiling the Cosmos around M31 as well as streams of stars matter halos, especially when combined 3.5 Summary that are obviously the results of inter- with kinematic and age determinations actions with such galaxies in the past. from massive spectroscopic surveys like During the past five years Canadian Figure 2 shows one of the results from the those planned for MSE. astronomers continue to excel in the very PAndAS survey, in which the blue, green, competitive international environment and red channels correspond to signal Among numerous results by Canadians thanks to the facilities and support em- stellar populations with progressively with ALMA on the more distant universe, bodied in LRP2010. Panel members were higher proportions of metallic elements. the discovery that many of the highly truly impressed by all the new exciting The apparently tiny images of M31 and obscured sources are actually gravitation- results discussed during the MTR process M33 that are inset demonstrate the huge ally lensed galaxies at high redshift stands and were encouraged by the progress that dimensions of the streams. A Nature out as illustrative of the tremendous gains has occurred since 2010. The announce- paper in 2013 detailed results show- brought by the improved sensitivity and ment that Canada will become a full ing, highly unexpectedly, that the dwarf spatial resolution of ALMA. As men- partner in TMT is a huge step forward satellites are located in a remarkably thin tioned above, TMT will also bring similar in achieving the aspirations of Canadian co-rotating plane. Surveys like this one of improvements in spatial resolution and astronomers. other nearby galaxies have the potential sensitivity and will have the same spatial to reveal how galaxies form from dark resolution as ALMA in the NIR.

14 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

4 Astronomy and Society 4.1 Astronomy and University- and NRC-based technology mandate of the newly created Depart- development teams in astronomy are ment of Innovation, Science and Eco- Canada's Strategic Plan for addressing the most important pillar that nomic Development (ISED). The MTRP Science and Technology fuels innovation in the private sector. applauds the recognition given to the Investment in new astronomical facilities importance of science to policy decisions, LRP2010 highlighted the importance of spurs the creation of new technologies, and as a national investment. A number Astronomy in the foundation of Canada’s particularly in optical science, high speed of the top priorities in both the mandates innovation and technology strategy. In the data networking, remote sensing, space of the Minister of ISED,6 the Hon. Mr. past five years significant further analysis technology, and large-scale computation. Navdeep Bains, and the Minister of Sci- of this sector has been undertaken. This has been confirmed in independent ence,7 the Hon. Dr. Kirsty Duncan, are analysis. The 2014 Doyletech Report on directly impacted by, or have relevance On November 27, 2015, the Science, Tech- astronomy technologies, commissioned to, astronomy. nology and Innovation Council (STIC) by the NRC, highlighted six key tech- released a detailed report entitled, “State nologies from the TMT and SKA projects Specifically, for the Minister of ISED, two of the Nation 2014,5 Canada’s Science, that provide initial entry into markets key priorities of relevance to astronomy are: Technology and Innovation System.” The estimated to have a total value of several opening executive summary paragraph hundred billion dollars, and which are “Expanding effective support for emphasizes that, “A sustainable competitive also anticipated to grow by around 8% incubators, accelerators, the emerg- advantage in ST&I is the path to success in per year. While these numbers are clearly ing national network for business estimates, the report echoed “It’s hard the global knowledge-based economy” and innovation and cluster support, and its primary five recommendations contain to translate into dollars the opportunity within them a “boost [to] higher education enhancement in the NRC-industry-univer- the Industrial Research Assistance expenditures on R&D to keep pace with sity ecosystem.” Program. These investments will tar- other countries”. The report focuses on a get key growth sectors where Canada systems approach, wherein the responsi- Astronomy’s broad popularity has also led has the ability to attract investment bility to improve Canada’s relatively poor to the public becoming directly involved or grow export-oriented companies. in scientific discovery through the process business innovation performance must be You will assist the Minister of Finance addressed by improving three pillars: of Citizen Science such as SETI@home and Galaxy Zoo. While moderately rare at to ensure tax measures are efficient i) skilled and creative talent present, important discoveries have been and encourage innovation, trade and made by citizens, the standout example the growth of Canadian businesses; ii) high-quality knowledge being “Hanny’s Voorwerp” an exceptionally and working with Regional Devel- rare configuration of gas ionization related opment Agencies to make strategic iii) an innovative private sector. to an active galactic nucleus that provides detailed constraints on changes in galac- investments that build on competitive Indeed, astronomy and its related technol- tic nucleus luminosities. With well over regional advantages. For those com- ogy development address all three of these twenty projects online as well as possibili- munities that have relied heavily on innovation pillars: i) and ii) are addressed ties for backyard discoveries of comets, new one sector in the past for economic directly, while iii) is addressed through phenomena in variable stars or low surface university/NRC/CSA partnerships, whose opportunities, investments that sup- brightness features, astronomy offers unpar- port transition and diversification may contracts with industry produce state of alleled opportunities for accessible hands- the art instruments for astronomy. The on training that leads to real discoveries. be appropriate. Communities that technology and skill sets transferred to have relied on traditional manufactur- industry are re-used in related fields such Following the election of a new Cana- ing are likely to require specific strate- as national defense, information technol- dian government on October 19, 2015, gies to support economic growth.” ogy and medical imaging. astronomy now falls broadly under the

5 http://www.stic-csti.ca/eic/site/stic-csti.nsf/eng/home 6 http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-innovation-science-and-economic-development-mandate-letter 7 http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-science-mandate-letter 15 Unveiling the Cosmos

As discussed in Section 4.2 Industry and many of these placements offer significant Health and related life sciences and Economic Impacts, over 200 Canadian “cross-fertilization” potential between technologies: Astrophysical research companies are or have been involved in science and engineering, giving students has found applications throughout the development and construction of a wider perspective on future careers, as medical imaging. Techniques origi- astronomy technologies and facilities. well as exposing them to a collaborative nally developed for radio astronomy Many of these companies are smaller working environment where knowledge is are used in tomographic reconstruc- start-ups that evolve out of technological broadly shared. With respect to examining tion of the human body in CAT and developments in astronomy that exhibit options in support of fundamental re- PET scans. LASIK eye surgery uses entrepreneurial potential. The majority of search, the MTRP emphasizes that the LRP techniques originally developed for these innovations open up new applica- planning mechanism is a key strategy for adaptive optics on telescopes, a Cana- tion markets and present strong growth maximizing astronomy research quality in dian research specialty. Astronomical opportunities. At the same time, as- Canada. At the same time, the LRP process instrument makers played a key role tronomy research has a broad base across considers both national and international in developing keyhole cameras for the country, and entrepreneurial develop- research landscapes, as well as innovation laparoscopic surgery. Medical X-ray ments happen across Canada. and technological issues. imaging uses techniques developed for astronomical X-ray imaging. For the Minister of Science, one of whose Astronomy fits well within the last science stated goals is “to support scientific and technology strategy to be released Information and communications research and the integration of scientific by the Government, as outlined in the technologies: The basis for Wi-Fi net- considerations in our investment and “Mobilizing Science and Technology to working technology originates in radio policy choices,” three key priorities of Canada’s Advantage” document, which astronomy. By 2014 the world market relevance to astronomy are: presented four central themes: for Wi-Fi appliances will likely be in excess of $250 billion. A 1977 paper, “Create a Chief Science Officer man- 1. Promoting world-class excellence: co-authored by Dr John O’Sullivan, dated to ensure that government sci- In the international arena, Canadian describes techniques to help improve ence is fully available to the public, astronomy and space science has the images from radio telescopes. Almost highest impact of any of the sciences. twenty years later O’Sullivan applied that scientists are able to speak freely Physics and Astronomy is listed by the the results of this earlier work to re- about their work, and that scientific Council of Canadian Academies as duce interference of radio signals used analyses are considered when the one of the six research fields where to carry computer networking and this government makes decisions. Canada excels. Canadian astronomy gave rise to a substantial part of the ranks highest in impact of any coun- 802.11 standard. This example also Support the Minister of Employment, try in the G8. shows how astronomy personnel can Workforce Development and Labour drive innovation in the private sector. 2. Focussing on priorities: a few in efforts to help employers create examples showing how astronomy Environmental science and tech- more co-op placements for students is related to each of the previously nologies: Astrophysical research in science, technology, engineering, listed S&T priorities are given below. also informs the technology used in mathematics, and business programs. These are a subset of the many exist- environmental sciences. Many of the ing examples. technological innovations behind Examine options to strengthen the Canada’s instruments on JWST trace recognition of, and support for, fun- Natural resources and energy: Astron- their origin to Canadian contribu- omy relies almost entirely on obtaining tions to the WINDII (Wind Doppler damental research to support new information through remote sensing. Imaging Interferometer) aboard the discoveries.” Image analysis techniques developed American UARS (Upper Atmosphere by astronomers are routinely used Research Satellite). At the same time, The MTRP applauds the creation of a Chief to interpret images of Earth taken some of the satellite-pointing technol- Science Officer as an important compo- from space. Most images obtained by ogy in Canada’s RADARSAT series of nent of science policy in Canada. In terms remote sensing satellites are taken us- satellites can be traced to Canadian of student opportunities, astronomy has a ing Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs), contributions to the pointing system significant history of summer studentships whose early development was also on NASA’s Far-Ultraviolet Survey and industrial placements. Additionally, driven by astronomers. Explorer, or FUSE. 16 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

3. Encouraging partnerships: Astron- Most of these involve innovative or The report calls out the particularly omy is one of the most collaborative frontier techniques, driven by the desire important role of Astronomy innovation sciences, with large facilities shared to gain better and deeper insight into the in Canada: between many nations and built origin and physics of our Universe. The through large-scale collaborations interactions and relationships among all “The impact of astronomy research between governments/universities the players, industries, NRC, CSA, uni- on technology advancement comes and local industry. Indeed, the vast versity physics, astronomy and engineer- not from the astronomy research per majority of infrastructure funding for ing departments, etc., has been steadily astronomy flows to Canadian indus- growing and improving as interests align se but rather from the pioneering trial partners that are often engaged more closely and instruments become instruments that astronomers have in delivering hardware that pushes larger and more complex. The MTR developed to conduct their ever the boundaries of their capabilities panel was encouraged to hear that there more ambitious research. With each and makes them more competitive are ongoing efforts to strengthen these new telescope, scientists and engi- for future ventures. links and that there is a mutual desire neers have pushed the technological to develop and improve, for example, 4. Enhancing accountability: The ac- technology transfer methods, intelligent frontiers in sensor design and spatial countability of astronomy to soci- procurement strategies and, in general, to resolution, allowing for major im- ety is managed primarily through forge closer links and improve dialogue. provements…” our work in education and public In most cases, the investments in the outreach, discussed in Section 4.4 projects identified as priorities for astro- Innovation, and the training of HQP to Education and Public Outreach. physics in the LRP are equally invest- initiate and advance innovative technolo- ments in the abilities and competencies gies, has been identified as crucial to the In summary, astronomy research contrib- of Canadian industries. Canadian economy and an area where utes directly to the themes that have been we fall behind other G8 partners. The identified by numerous reports as founda- The HAL report emphasizes the socio- 2015 STIC report, previously mentioned, tional to our nation’s systems-strategy for economic impact of Canadian astronomy concluded that Canada's poor business addressing Canada’s innovation gap. in five key areas: innovation performance represents the country's most profound and urgent chal- Knowledge generation lenge in science, technology and innovation. They noted that whereas in terms 4.2 Industry and Knowledge use of knowledge “Canada enjoys some real Economic Impacts `star power’ in the scientific world,” this is Development of HQP not translated to innovation in business. More than 200 Canadian companies8 are or have been involved in developing, fab- Contribution to Partnerships Our experience is that astronomy plays ricating and/or commissioning compo- an important role in attracting, inspir- nents for Canadian astronomy facilities Contribution to Innovation ing, and training our future engineers or instruments on the ground or in space. and entrepreneurs. The opportunity to work on awe inspiring projects like JWST, Technology development for astronomical instruments is a key TMT, SKA, etc. is exceedingly attractive, innovation driver in Canada and comes at effectively no net cost and is excellent resume building material. Importantly, these vast public projects to Canada. According to the Hickling, Arthurs, Low (HAL) report are not subject to secrecy like competi- on Canadian astronomy, “the expenses incurred by the Canadi- tive industrial or military projects, and an government for these two observatories [Gemini, ALMA] are foster open discussion and collabora- approximately equal to the quantifiable economic impacts for tion between students in the science and engineering communities. This sense of the country, which are in addition to the notable unquantifiable collaboration is further supported by the social benefits described above.” international astronomy community’s tra-

8 Coalition for Canadian Astronomy figures. 17 Unveiling the Cosmos

dition of openly sharing information and worked in NRC astronomy labs during mance in an efficient structure – and that techniques. Thus researchers and students 2003–9 were non-science students, i.e., has already become an icon.11 are exposed to the latest innovations they were mostly in engineering and worldwide and are able to build on those computing. Anecdotally, many of these It is anticipated that there will be sig- to develop ever more capable instruments students end up in positions in industries nificant industry involvement in the and techniques. in Canada, although no good national instrumentation for major facilities like data are available to our knowledge. TMT, ALMA, and SKA, not solely in The HAL report also investigated the the construction of the facilities them- economic impact of two recent major Most Canadian space astronomy facili- selves, but leading to significant potential astronomy projects (Gemini, ALMA) in ties and instruments are fabricated by commercialization. The 2014 Doyletech some detail and concluded: aerospace companies but now instru- study of technologies being developed at ments for large ground-based facilities are NRC Herzberg is strongly supportive of “Overall, therefore, the expenses increasingly being led by professional en- this conclusion. This analysis considered incurred by the Canadian govern- gineering teams in industry and national six key technology developments and ment for these two observatories are labs, with the involvement of professors assessed the overall size of the markets and students in both astronomy and associated with the technology. The study approximately equal to the quan- engineering. Astronomy projects very estimates obtained were: tifiable economic impacts for the often push technology to the limits. For country, which are in addition to the example, extremely low noise amplifiers Adaptive optics technologies: notable unquantifiable social benefits in the 4 – 8 GHz range were required to $325B market described above.” meet the system level goals of the ALMA Band 3 receiver project. Such a low noise Precision probe positioning: A report to NRC in 2013 by ACURA temperature, < 3.5 K at 12 K ambient $40B market entitled “The Thirty Meter Telescope and temperature, over such a wide frequency Astronomy in Canada” provides further range had never before been achieved. Phased array feeds: very new — details and testimonials on direct benefits More than 70 of these were required for awaiting direct applications to society in non-academic careers by ALMA. Engineers and technicians from astronomy graduate students, and illus- Nanowave Technologies of Etobicoke ON Cryogenic Low noise amplifiers: trates which areas benefit most (indus- worked closely with NRC engineers to $56B market try, teaching, computing and finance). learn how to transform prototypes into According to this study, about 1/5 of state-of-the-art industrial components. Aperture array digital signal process- PhD graduates entered employment via Nanowave has subsequently supplied cop- ing: $8B market a combined industry/non-PSE-teaching/ ies of these amplifiers for other projects government channel and about 1/3 of (e.g., the MeerKAT SKA precursor), and Composite reflector antennas: these transitioned directly to indus- these components are now listed as one of $4B market 9 trial positions. Teaching accounted for a their advanced products on their website. further 1/4 of this category, finance, and While these markets are obviously global general software development another As described in LRP2010, Dynamic estimates across all applications, it is clear 1/4, with the remaining occupations be- Structures Limited of Port Coquitlam, that the potential for impact is large. In ing government and medical careers. We BC, built upon their initial success addition, these studies have not consid- note, however, that this analysis refers to designing, fabricating, and installing the ered the impact of data analytics devel- science students and does not include all enclosure for CFHT on Maunakea to be- oped in astronomy. The overall market the engineering and technical students come “the premier provider of dynamic, value for “Big Data” is now estimated to that are increasingly becoming involved complex structures utilized for industry, be $125B by International Data Corpora- in sophisticated forefront instrumenta- government, academia, and entertain- tion and average spending in this sector is 10 tion. For example, 151 of the 211 students ment” in the world. They will provide anticipated to grow at 20% per year in the (predominantly co-op students) that the massive enclosure for TMT, a novel next five years. design that delivers exceptional perfor-

9 http://nanowave-technologies.blogspot.ca/ 10 http://www.empind.com/portfolio/dynamic-structures-ltd/engineered-products 11 http://www.empind.com/portfolio/thirty-meter-telescope-tmt/new-designs 18 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

Thus public investment in astronomy comparatively few students receive formal 4.3 Institutes and has the potential to create significant training in project management. opportunity, and value in markets that Laboratories are already large. Combined with the Feedback from science graduates that societal benefits inherent in discovery have transitioned to industry (see the A variety of Canadian institutes and and knowledge transfer, the overall value Naturejobs12 website for excellent com- laboratories enable the ground-breaking proposition for investment in Canadian mentary), has been positive on value of research on which the astronomical astronomy is extremely high. skills learned during degrees. The follow- community’s international reputation for up survey on astronomy entrepreneurs excellence was built. This section high- conducted by ACURA as part of a report lights these facilities, focusing on new Evolution in the education and on TMT for the NRC produced a uni- developments since LRP2010. skills discussion versal chorus of agreement that many of While the LRP process has traditionally the skills they learnt during their degree NRC Herzberg not discussed specifics of educational served them well in industry. Commen- programs, one significant change in the tary from individuals that have transi- NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astro- last five years has been the growing com- tioned into data science has also been physics (NRC Herzberg), formerly the mentary on vocational aspects of educa- useful, both in highlighting the value of Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics (HIA), tional programs, at the bachelors through interpersonal skills, but also the value of is unique within NRC in its focus on to PhD level. Much of this discussion is statistical and database techniques and enabling the advancement of astronomy in the context of concerns about the un- “standards.” Specifically, graduates able in Canada. As Canada’s de facto national certain nature of future employment and to use common programming and query astronomy laboratory, its activities are job supply, and the increasing numbers of languages in industry, e.g. Python, R, and critical to the success of the Canadian as- students in post-secondary education. SQL had a significant advantage during tronomical community on the world stage. interviews for industrial positions. Graduates of astronomy programs natu- NRC Herzberg has a mandate to adminis- rally develop key parts of the “Employ- Thus, while the central focus of teach- ter astronomical facilities on behalf of the ability Skills 2000+” list, a commonly cited ing in astronomy should always be the Government of Canada. Fulfilment of this table of skills developed by the Conference provision of skills for astronomy, and obligation is undertaken through three Board of Canada. The first category, the departments must set their own agendas, distinct research programs; astronomy tech- “Fundamental” skill set, covering com- there is clearly potential for small changes nology (AT), optical astronomy (OA) and munication through to problem solving, to graduate training that can benefit both radio astronomy (RA). Within these three are implicitly needed for success in the the academic- and industry-track careers. programs, NRC Herzberg operates Canada’s research environment. The second skill Collected testimony suggests that careful national observatories, the Canadian As- set of “Personal Management” is related to thought should be given to including the tronomy Data Centre, and carries out major attitude, handling of responsibility, ability following three factors/domains: instrumentation research projects in col- to adapt and continuously learn. While laboration with industry and universities. attitude is difficult to teach in any specific Project management skills sense, responsibility is a natural part of NRC Herzberg establishes its research pri- completing a degree as are adaptation and Statistical methodologies and ma- orities primarily from the LRP, as well as learning. The final “Teamwork” skill set chine learning through consultation with the astronomi- focuses on working and relating to others, cal community by way of organizations as well as the ability to plan and partici- Transitioning to common program- such as ACURA. As such, a significant pate in projects. Astronomy projects are ming/query languages in the teach- fraction of NRC Herzberg’s activities since increasingly collaborative, meaning that ing sphere LRP2010 have focused on supporting many students are quite naturally ex- TMT and SKA, for example through the posed to teamwork and students are often A last testament to the value of these skills design and development of the NFIRAOS actively involved in outreach. However, is that some graduate students are already instrument (see Section 5.1.1 TMT) and while it is common for students to under- taking it upon themselves to develop the SKA1-Mid correlator/beamformer take research as part of a larger project them via independent study. (see Section 5.1.2 SKA). Base budget fund- or collaboration, it has been noted that ing to NRC Herzberg in order to carry out

12 http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/ 19 Unveiling the Cosmos

these activities has been effectively con- program at NSERC was a particularly physical Observatory (DAO), as well as a stant since LRP2010, now averaging about challenging blow to the funding of labora- suite of small radio telescopes at the Do- $17.4M per annum excluding salaries. tory-based projects. However, LRP2010 minion Radio Astrophysical Observatory also noted the inherent difficulty of main- (DRAO). Oversubscription rates for these However, the re-organization that saw taining a stable core of expertise with facilities have remained unchanged since HIA transition to NRC Herzberg on April this short-term approach, and advocated LRP2010. They are also popular destina- 1, 2012, has raised serious governance is- for the creation of a renewable funding tions for visitors interested in astronomy, sues that threaten NRC Herzberg’s ability program by NSERC and the CSA. although the closure of the Centre of the to support the astronomical community Universe has stunted education and pub- consistently with its mandate. The MTRP Looking to the future, second-generation lic outreach efforts at DAO (see Section sees these governance issues as a funda- instrumentation projects for TMT will tax 4.4 Education and Public Outreach). mental challenge for NRC Herzberg and the ingenuity of instrumentation labora- the Canadian astronomical community tories and if underfunded this will further L’Observatoire du Mont Mégantic (OMM), moving forward; a detailed discussion of hamper prospects for Canadian leader- jointly operated by U. Laval and U. de these issues can be found in Chapter 8 ship. At the same time, it is worth noting Montréal, is Canada’s only university-based Governance, Funding and Budgets. that many of the technological spin-off research telescope. Over-subscription rates companies associated with astronomy for OMM are quoted as 1.6 and are es- arise out of the commercialization of sentially unchanged from LRP2010, and the University-based Laborato- laboratory developments. telescope remains an important platform ries and Principal Investigator for instrument development through the Telescopes Taken together, all these factors com- LAE. In addition, the Astrolab visitor centre pel the MTRP to reiterate the concerns in the Mont Mégantic provincial park at- Some of Canada’s most innovative instru- expressed in great detail LRP2010. A tracts tens of thousands of visitors per year. mentation projects and important training stable funding flow to university-based LRP2010 recommended continued finan- work is carried out in university-based experimental astrophysics laborato- cial support for the operation of Canada’s laboratories. As highlighted in LRP2010, ries, from both federal and provincial small telescopes, but funding for OMM at least 10 universities across the country agencies, is an absolute requirement for has been extremely uncertain, with several host active instrumentation groups, which successful participation leading-edge threats of closure. Operations are currently design tools and techniques for astronomi- astronomical facilities. supported by a federal government grant cal facilities across the electromagnetic following the latest crisis in early 2015; spectrum. The majority of these groups are more financial stability is clearly needed. relatively small in size, consisting of faculty, Recommendation: The technical staff, PDFs, and students. They are MTRP strongly reaffirms the Recommendation: The MTRP nonetheless highly productive, designing, need for stable funding of re-iterates the need for con- developing and manufacturing instruments university-based astrophysics and components for some of the world’s tinued funding of productive laboratories, both as a gener- most ambitious ground- and space-based Canadian small telescopes. projects. Indeed, the majority of Canadian ator of new instrumentation astronomy instrumentation projects over ideas as well as an important Since its inception in 2010, the Dunlap the last decade can trace their origins back complement to the larger Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics to intellectual developments that arose out (hereafter, Dunlap) has grown into a dy- of university-based laboratory research. laboratory infrastructure present at NRC Herzberg. namic facility at the University of Toronto. Its mission is to develop innovative astro- Most university-based laboratories rely nomical technologies, to train the next on a combination of federal (e.g. CFI, Canada’s smaller facilities provide critical generation of astronomers, and to foster CSA, and NSERC) and provincial (e.g. testbeds for prototyping new instruments public engagement in science. Dunlap cur- FQRNT) programs to fund their activi- and techniques developed in university- rently employs five faculty members and ties. By necessity, most of these groups based laboratories, as well as providing 13 postdoctoral fellows, eight among the maintain their vibrant, long-term key scientific observations that support latter holding prestigious Dunlap Fellow- programs by stringing together a series major initiatives on the world’s largest ships that are awarded annually following of short-term grants. In this context, the facilities. HIA operates 1.2 m and 1.8 m an open competition. Dunlap personnel loss of the Special Research Opportunity optical telescopes at the Dominion Astro- collaborate closely with the University of 20 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

Toronto’s Astronomy and Astrophysics Perimeter), which is funded by a combina- Perimeter has grown substantially since Department as well as with the Canadian tion of private and public contributions. LRP 2010, and now comprises 25 faculty Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics and over 60 postdocs across nine disci- (CITA), and six faculty members and 18 A world-class, high-visibility institute, plines in foundational theoretical physics. It graduate students from these organiza- CITA comprises seven faculty and 25 post- has built considerable expertise in cosmol- tions are formally associated with Dunlap. doctoral fellows who carry out research on ogy, with a total of 10 faculty and associat- a variety topics in theoretical astrophysics ed faculty specializing in this area. Perim- A clear boon for the University of Toronto, ranging from compact objects to the early eter engages with the broader community Dunlap has also had a positive impact on universe. Co-located with the University through a broad range of opportunities the Canadian astronomical community of Toronto’s Astronomy and Astrophysics for researchers, students, teachers, and the as a whole. Most notably for research- Department as well as with Dunlap, CITA public, both through its own programming ers, Dunlap has brokered a partnership enjoys close collaborations with these insti- as well as through partnerships with a va- between the University of Toronto and the tutions in research, training and outreach riety of institutions in Canada and abroad. LSST Consortium to provide LSST access initiatives. In recent years, CITA has also Notably, Perimeter Scholars International to 10 Canadian faculty and their junior developed important collaborations with (PSI) has just graduated its fifth class of 30 researchers at a level equivalent to that of major observational facilities including students. This course in theoretical physics US and Chilean scientists (see Section 5.2.6 Planck, CHIME (see Section 5.2.4 CHIME), brings the best and brightest international LSST). Dunlap will absorb half the cost of pulsar VLBI, LIGO and CCAT (see Section talent to Perimeter for an intense 10-month those memberships, and will manage the 5.2.5 Single-dish submillimetre facilities). program while earning an MSc from the newly created Canadian LSST Consortium The CITA National Fellow PDF program University of Waterloo. Over a third of the responsible for selecting the 10 faculty remains an important link between CITA 2014 PSI class has remained in Canada to and exploring options for expanding LSST and the broader Canadian community as pursue PhD studies: PSI therefore provides access to include a larger Canadian com- well as a cost-effective, long-term source of an important new mechanism for bringing munity. Dunlap also established CASCA’s theoretical astrophysics expertise across the theoretical physics talent to Canada. Dunlap Award for Innovation in Astro- country. Despite the need for theoretical nomical Research Tools in 2013, which research growing in-step with the commis- recognizes outstanding Canadian contribu- sioning of new facilities and instruments, tions to the design, invention, or improve- the launch of JWST in 2018 stands out as a 4.4 Education and Public ment of instrumentation or software. highly significant issue in this regard, fund- Outreach ing levels for the National Fellow program Pedagogically, Dunlap has partnered with through the NSERC grant have remained LRP2010 was authored a year after the the University of Toronto’s Astronomy and unchanged since LRP 2010. Given the International Year of Astronomy, which Astrophysics Department and CITA to shared nature of costs in the National Fel- was viewed by all as a resounding success. provide summer undergraduate as well as lows program, and its potential to leverage Although the report made specific recom- graduate research opportunities. Dunlap other funding sources, the MTRP thus mendations, to be summarized shortly, also runs a successful summer school to re-iterates the LRP2010 recommendation it outlined the importance of EPO for introduce upper year undergraduates to for an increase in CITA’s NSERC support in accountability reasons: taxpayer funding astronomical instrumentation, attracting order to expand this program. of astronomy is partly related to the social participants from Canada and around good of knowledge transfer. LRP2010 also the world. It has also played a key role in Recommendation: The highlighted that EPO is a dialogue that is streamlining the outreach efforts by Uni- MTRP reaffirms the value both local and national, while simultane- versity of Toronto astronomers by launch- of increasing NSERC’s sup- ously influencing spheres from the local ing a redesigned outreach website in 2014. community through to the federal govern- port to CITA to augment the ment. In this context, it was emphasized National Fellows program, that outreach is not a “one-off” endeavour, Theoretical Astrophysics which has proven exception- and requires long-term investment of time, Canada hosts two internationally recog- ally successful in attracting effort and money. The last of these factors was contrasted to US-based approaches, nized powerhouses in theoretical astro- talented post-doctoral re- physics: the publicly funded Canadian In- where outreach funding (“broader impact” stitute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA), searchers to Canada, with in NSF terminology) is often a component and the Perimeter Institute (hereafter, four additional positions. of research funds and facility operations.

21 Unveiling the Cosmos

Many of the key reasons for outreach institutional support. Yet there is no Facebook has been a key player in con- were discussed in detail in LRP2010. true national coordination of efforts, necting families and brought most demo- Astronomy’s accessibility, appearance and the astronomycanada.ca website is graphics into the fold. The growth of easy in school curricula, and position as a undeveloped. While the aforementioned to use computing platforms like the iPad cornerstone of scientific literacy remain institutionally supported initiatives have as well as mobile access, has also spurred unchanged. Numerous active STEM blossomed, efforts by CASCA and to a cer- uptake. Facebook now estimates that 14 professionals continue to describe their tain extent individual researchers have had million Canadians use it every day, with own interest in astronomy as having been a challenging time. The problem for both a total of 18.5 million users. Putting the a gateway to further study in STEM fields. individual researchers and CASCA is fi- numbers in perspective; over half the Indeed, in many funding discussions, the nancial. Calls for monetary support of out- Canadian population is now estimated to “gateway” viewpoint is considered one of reach via individual NSERC grants have have a Facebook account. Facebook ad- the key factors in funding new astronomy gone unheeded for 15 years now, while vertisements can be specifically targeted research. The amateur community regis- CASCA does not have sufficient revenues to interests and geographic locations — tered within the RASC and FAAQ alone, to support full-time personnel. As a result, they are extremely effective at reaching is upwards of 6,000, dwarfing the profes- CASCA is now supporting initiatives by desired audiences. sional community by at least ten to one spending-down revenue on endowment and regularly contributing in a number funds that had accumulated over the A number of projects have connected of science areas such as comet discovery past decade, something that is clearly not with the public in innovative ways. Lead- and variable stars. Readership of SkyNews sustainable in the long term. Also, while ing the vanguard in this area was arguably is even estimated to be as large as 80,000. fundraising is frequently discussed at a Chris Hadfield, who in the space of five But beyond such considerations, astrono- local level, and successful campaigns have months built up over a million twitter my remains a unique point of commonal- been a driver behind new initiatives, it is followers and generated enormous media ity across cultures, with sky lore, myth, challenging at the national level. Clarifying interest. The ESA Rosetta mission also and modern research knowledge being CASCA’s goals for EPO would thus bring crafted a carefully orchestrated campaign pathways to begin conversations on dif- clarity to community expectations of what of cartoons and messages that caught the ferences and similarities between peoples. role CASCA should play. public imagination. Equally impressive was the approach used by the New Hori- Despite the significant outreach efforts Recommendation: CASCA zons team, who intelligently relied upon made by astronomers in 2009, at that time draft a mission statement on the public's view of Pluto as an “under- it was clear that astronomy did not feature its EPO activities and goals. dog” to craft a clever and engaging social significantly in Canadian news reporting media strategy. Their tweets and posts as compared to the BBC. A simple analy- often drew on popular culture references sis showed that 1/5th as many astronomy Before reviewing changes in the EPO to widen the audience. With social media stories appeared on CTV and CBC, as landscape, the MTRP would like to com- interest often leading mainstream stories, compared to the BBC. Although social mend all volunteers and staff for their all these projects featured heavily in the media was growing in popularity at that activities and efforts in making astronomy mainstream media. However, these three time, it was not the universal force that it outreach in Canada successful! The legacy examples show that a good social media is in 2015. of IYA continues. strategy requires content and talent.

Given these contexts, the LRP2010 In the Canadian astronomy community, recommendations were (1) that graduate Communications in 2015 individual and institutional uptake has programs consider including elements The growth of social media has pre- been noticeable. There are at least two, of outreach to their programs, (2) the cipitated an overwhelming change in the and likely more, astronomers with thou- development of an astronomycanada. communication landscape since 2010. sands of followers, as compared to the ca website and (3) the potential value of Social media has driven political revolu- CASCA twitter account (@AstroCanada) investing 1.5% of research grants into out- tions, activism, and frequently reshaped which at the time of writing has 800. For reach activities, a similar amount to that mass media coverage of topics. As well as comparison, l'Observatoire du Mont- recommended in US NSF grants. the positives, there have also been nega- Mégantic has over 1,200 followers and the tive consequences, such as the spread of Dunlap Institute twitter account has close As of 2015, outreach is arguably in a disinformation and a disturbing rise in to 1,000 followers. Local Facebook pages somewhat better situation than it was five online bullying and harassment. have also garnered significant participa- years ago primarily because of increased tion, for example the Astronomy Nova 22 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

Scotia page has almost 800 likes, and of the Dominion Astrophysical Obser- resources. Through its commitment to Facebook arguably remains the best way vatory Society. At the time of writing, a bilingualism and quality of presentations, to reach a large audience because of the series of fundraising events, including the program has attracted funding and wide usage. an internet crowdfunding project are promotion from the IAU, to reach a total underway. Whether new government of over 900 educators in Canada and Recommendation: Social policy and funding will redress this very across the globe. media should be considered significant loss of a key outreach facility remains to be seen. Unfortunately, as of 2016 NSERC Promo- a key component of orga- Science has declined to continue funding nizational outreach strate- Returning to the positives, many, if the DU project and the Dunlap Institute gies. Appropriate resources, not all, of the new institutes devoted to has stepped in to keep the project funded specifically funds, talent, astronomy or space science have incor- in the short term. However, this high- porated outreach into their mandates. lights a key difficulty with outreach initia- energy, and time, should be Funding for individuals responsible for tives: If seed funding is provided, while allocated. outreach has thus been enabled, with the content and operations require continued Dunlap Institute, the Centre for Planetary staffing, the withdrawal of funding will Science and Space Exploration at Western inevitably lead to closure. To be truly ef- In the national and local media the University, and the McGill Space Science fective, outreach efforts require continued coverage of astronomy is significantly Institute, among others, all employing financial support to ensure materials and improved. While the transit of Venus in individuals in outreach capacities. New messages evolve along with the science 2012, being the last for over 100 years, hardware investments have also been they are promoting. garnered vast crowds, even more com- welcomed including new planetariums/ mon events like lunar eclipses are gener- theatres at the University of Toronto, Despite individual NSERC grants not ating media interest. LRP2010 noted that Montreal (Rio Tinto Alcan) and McMas- being augmented for outreach purposes, CTV News carried only seven astronomy ter University, as well as major observato- and concerns about support of the DU stories on its website, while a search in ry building and retrofits at Simon Fraser project, the MTRP commends NSERC’s 2015 reveals over 70 (for the year). Some and Saint Mary’s. Unsurprisingly, social PromoScience program and applauds astronomy commentators are appearing media presences for these institutes and recent statements that this program is almost weekly in the media. While social initiatives are generally very well done. likely to be augmented. Similarly, despite media has played a part in improving this, recent and highly visible setbacks, the there may perhaps be elements of politics CASCA has also increased its own fund- NRC has played a key role in outreach involved as “science muzzling” was a ing to outreach by providing $20K per efforts and the MTRP is highly supportive common thread in much media discus- year to the highly successful Discover the of re-establishing these programs. sion through 2013–15. Nonetheless, the Universe project13 (DU). This project, a new visibility is extremely welcome and legacy of IYA, that arose out of a collabo- Recommendation: NSERC we hope it continues. ration between CASCA, the RASC, and FAAQ, has also received funding via an commit to expanding the NSERC PromoScience grant. DU’s goal PromoScience program Changes in institutional ap- is education of teachers, and while this is proaches to funding outreach budget, while NRC return to not unique, DU has developed an online funding astronomy-related delivery system, including lectures and Although there have been many posi- outreach at levels similar to tives, one particularly negative event interactive chat, typically over a three stands out, namely the closure of the week period, to help build a sense of the 2000–10 decade. Centre of the Universe at NRC Herzberg. community between the participants that Previous LRP recommendations had transcends geography. Participants learn strongly backed the value of government- about common introductory topics such led outreach. Ongoing efforts to restore as the constellations, motions of the Earth science programming at the DAO are be- and phases of the Moon and are provided ing led by a volunteer group, The Friends with many in-class activities and digital

13 http://www.discovertheuniverse.ca/ 23 Advances in observational astronomy depend critically on access to the best and newest facilities

Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum — J.C. Cuillandre and G. Anselmi A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

5 Ground-based Facilities 5.1 World Observatories One of the primary drivers behind this proximately 15% of this $1.6B project. It conclusion was that Canadian scientists is worth noting that the TMT construc- and industry have played leading roles tion is a one-time cost for a project with 5.1.1 TMT its design. TMT is thus viewed as hold- a lifespan > 50 years. The TMT partnering the greatest scientific promise and ship includes Canada, China, Japan, LRP2010 identified participation in the technological interest for Canada. The India, the University of California and next generation of very large optical/ four highest priority Canadian science the California Institute of Technology, all near infrared telescopes (VLOTs) as the cases (described below) all benefit from of whom have committed construction top priority for ground-based optical- observations that are aided by adaptive funds and share in the scientific, techni- infrared astronomy through the follow- optics, and TMT will correct and con- cal, and managerial decisions. ing recommendation: centrate light from a point sources better than any other competing VLOT obser- Partnering in the TMT has been Timely access to a VLOT remains vatory. TMT also has a balanced design Canada’s top priority for ground Canada’s number one priority for including non-adaptive observing modes, based astronomical facilities over the large projects in ground-based and the ability to deploy quickly to targets past decade. The MTRP reaffirms the optical-infrared astronomy over of opportunity. It will be the cornerstone high importance of the scientific and the next decade. Canadian partici- for a suite of Canadian observing facilities that include optical and long wavelength technological priorities of the TMT pation in a VLOT needs to be at a ground based telescopes, as well as space facility, and recognizes the enormous significant level, such that it will satellites, all of which will provide highly economic benefits to Canadian not be treated as a “lesser partner” selected targets to the TMT. industry. The MTRP also thanks the in scientific, technical, and manage- Canadian government for financial rial decisions. Canada committed $243.5M to the TMT project in April 2015. These funds will support and commends the Coalition The TMT is a diffraction limited opti- be spent primarily in Canada and will for Canadian Astronomy for helping cal/near infrared telescope with a 30 m enhance our industrial capability and to secure Canada’s second to none segmented primary mirror. It is one of competitive edge for future contracts. partnership in the TMT project three large aperture telescope facilities Canada’s largest contribution will be the being developed by various interna- enclosure (see Figure 3), a precision steel The science cases of the strongest inter- tional partnerships. LRP2010 conducted structure to be built by Dynamic Struc- est to Canadian astronomers remain a detailed review of the European tures Ltd. (Port Coquitlam, BC) at a cost the same as described in the LRP2010, Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) of close to $150M. Approximately $70M and continue to make the TMT project and the implications of joining ESO, as is earmarked for Canadian instrumenta- the top priority in ground based opti- compared to continued involvement in tion work, including the sophisticated cal/IR astronomy in Canada going into the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The adaptive optics system (NFIRAOS) the future. These include, (1) Extrasolar conclusion was continued participation being built at the NRC Herzberg (Saa- planets and the Search for Life: detection in TMT subject to the project moving nich, BC). The remaining funds are for of new planets and biomarkers in their forward promptly: centralized project management and atmospheres, (2) First Light: the explora- infrastructure costs. These funds will be tion of first stars and galaxies to form If by early 2012 it appears that a distributed over the nine year construc- in the early Universe, (3) Super massive tion period, but somewhat front end 2014 construction start for TMT Black Holes at cosmological distances, as weighted, driven by the enclosure which will not be feasible, then the LRPP well as the centre of our own galaxy, and must be in place before the telescope is tests of general relativity, and (4) Cos- recommends that we take steps assembled inside it. This funding com- mology and Dark Energy: the discovery to become a partner in the E-ELT mitment, with the early investments of and identification of distant type Ia project by joining ESO, and that we nearly $30M and fundamental contribu- supernovae, to map out the dynamics of discontinue our partnership in TMT. tions to the design of the TMT facility the Universe as a function of its age. All and instruments, mean that Canada has of these scientific goals include synergy secured a “second to none” share at ap- 25 Unveiling the Cosmos

with existing observatories (such as HST, opportunities in essentially every field of plications in areas from medical imaging Gemini, CFHT and ALMA) that have astronomy and astrophysics, and it is ex- to fluid dynamics. This enhanced technol- contributed to the target selections and pected to be the powerhouse that leads to ogy base can allow Canadian industries to instrumentation requirements for TMT, new paradigm-shifting and prize winning tackle new commercial opportunities in and with future observatories that can scientific research in the future. space technology and products in optical probe targets at different wavelengths or communications, which are important provide a larger context from wide field The TMT is also an ideal example of to successfully compete globally. All surveys (such as JWST, MSE, and SKA). how investments in science can deliver the work slated for Canada is in highly Furthermore, astronomical instruments new commercialization opportunities skilled sectors, and previous investments will be located on Nasmyth platforms, to Canadian industry. The innovative in astronomy have a proven track record permitting large instruments with quickly integrated dome and support design by of delivering long term economic spin accessible components and rapid switch- Dynamic Structures Ltd (DSL) is now offs. These provide real opportunities to ing from the adaptive optics facility to iconic of the TMT, and represents a high attract and retain highly skilled workers various instruments (< 10 min) or between profile symbol of Canadian technologi- into Canada’s workforce, as well as build different targets (< 5 min). Rapid switch- cal prowess. Projects like this have helped connections – academic and industrial – ing between instruments or targets means DSL develop techniques that have contrib- with the existing and emerging economic the TMT will be able to respond to targets uted to it becoming a world leader in the powers of Asia: China, India, and Japan, of opportunity, such as transiting planets, design and construction of media-based all TMT partners. newly discovered supernova events, attractions for the entertainment industry. or other rapidly variable astronomical Canadian expertise in adaptive optics, The TMT initiative in Canada was phenomena, and to respond to changing being developed for the TMT at the NRC overseen by ACURA (the Association of weather conditions in order to exploit Herzberg, includes algorithms, as well as Canadian Universities for Research in the full potential of the observatory. The data analysis and simulations on peta- Astronomy and its 20 member universi- TMT will provide new observational scale supercomputers that will find ap- ties), working with the Coalition for Ca-

Figure 3. Design drawing of the dome of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).The dome structure has been designed by the Canadian company Dynamic Structures Ltd. (DSL, Port Coquitlam, BC).Credit: TMT International Observatory. 26 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

nadian Astronomy, CASCA and Industry. contribute to innovative technologies and 5.1.2 SKA Their work has been extremely important industrial applications with real economic in negotiating Canada’s partnership impacts for Canada. LRP2010 made the following recommen- in the design and development of the dation concerning the SKA: TMT project, in securing the Canadian Recommendation: With The LRPP reaffirmsthe importance financial commitment to its construc- access to a VLOT being the tion, and resolving Canada’s share of the and very high priority of Canada’s scientific access and management impact. number one priority for participation in the SKA, which it Now that funding is committed, to be ground-based optical-infra- anticipates will become the top pri- managed and directed through the NRC, red astronomy, the MTRP ority following VLOT. Canada should the next step for the university sector reaffirms the importance of is to maximize the scientific returns by continue its current path in the engi- ensuring all Canadian researchers are maintaining a “second-to- neering design and prototype devel- aware of the many opportunities made none” share in TMT. Since opment of SKA elements, leading to available through the TMT. This also partner shares will also fac- participation in the pre-construction includes contributing to second generator in future contributions to design phase and should continue tion instrumentation design and develop- to seek opportunities to build comment, in both the scientific and industrial the observatory, the MTRP communities. Past funding for TMT de- therefore strongly endorses ponents where Canada has experi- sign work has come from NRC, CFI, and ongoing development of ence and an international reputa- NSERC, with additional provincial and second-generation instru- tion. SKA R&D is the highest priority university contributions. A combination medium-scale project over the next ment concepts and encour- of these sources could leverage Canada’s decade. The decision as to how outstanding industrial innovation and ages the various teams to and when Canada should enter the expertise through contributions to new pursue funding. instrumentation projects and upgrades, construction phase of SKA should delivering new commercialization op- await further reviews of SKA project portunities to Canadian industry. development, a more accurate cost estimate, better understanding of Construction of the TMT began in Octo- international prospects, and a better ber 2014 with a ground-breaking cer- knowledge of timing for funding a emony, however as of April 2015, protests on Maunakea have halted on-site work construction start. and on December 3, 2015, the Hawaii Supreme Court required a re-application There have been several important for the construction permit. While the developments in the SKA project since TMT management considers their next LRP2010. The SKA Organisation (SKAO) steps, the Canadian community remains was established as a legal entity in 2011, very supportive. The TMT will provide moving the project into a pre-construc- scientific and industrial opportunities tion design stage. Canada is one of ten for Canada in essentially every field of member countries of the SKAO, with astronomy and astrophysics, as well as its interests represented through two

27 Unveiling the Cosmos

directors on the SKAO Board. Canadian The SKA1 design separates into two rent state-of-the-art: SKA1-Low has eight participation in the SKA is advised by distinct components: SKA1-Low, located times the sensitivity and 135 times the the ACURA Advisory Council on the in Australia and comprised of 128,000 survey speed of LOFAR, and SKA1-Mid SKA (AACS), which includes represen- dipole antennas working in a frequency has five times the sensitivity and 60 times tatives from universities and industry. range of 50–350 MHz and SKA1-Mid, the survey speed of the JVLA SKA site selection occurred in 2012, with located in South Africa and comprised Australia and South Africa each hosting of 133 15 m dishes supplemented by the With a baseline design and costing for components of the observatory. SKAO 64 12 m dishes in the MeerKAT array. SKA1 now in place, a timeline for the headquarters were chosen to be at Jodrell SKA1-Mid will have three operational project has been established. Critical Bank, UK, in early 2015. bands between 350 MHz and 13.8 GHz. design reviews of SKA1 components will This configuration was arrived at as a take place in 2016. Tender and procure- The SKA will be deployed in phases. The result of a re-baselining process in 2015 ment for SKA1 construction will occur in first phase, SKA1, will have ~10% of the that built upon earlier design reviews 2017 in anticipation of a 2018 construc- final SKA sensitivity and a cost cap of in 2014. Earlier proposals also included tion start, to which the United Kingdom €650M (at an exchange of $1.50 CAD to the SKA1-Survey component, an array and Australia have already committed €1, this is very close to $1B CAD). The of dishes with wide-field phased-array funds. Early science will begin in 2020, full sensitivity of the SKA will be reached feeds to be sited in Australia, which has with construction expected to finish in in a second phase, SKA2, whose scope, been deferred following the re-baselining; 2023. Important milestones for the SKA cost and timeline are yet to be finalized. although phased array feed development should therefore be reached within the The MTRP has therefore focused its will continue in anticipation of SKA2. The next five years. While some schedule slip assessment of Canada’s role in the SKA re-baselined SKA1 remains a transforma- remains likely, Canada’s role in the project project on SKA1. tional instrument compared to the cur- needs to be established in this context.

Figure 4 The SKA will consist of two vast arrays of radio telescopes: one in Africa and one in Australia. This artist’s impression shows the central core of the SKA-2 African array, to be constructed in the Karoo region of South Africa. Credit: SKA Organisation 28 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

There have also been important develop- and EOR statistics as well as a variety of design with industry partner MacDon- ments in the design, construction, and other low-frequency science questions to ald Dettwiler & Associates (Surrey, BC). operation of precursor and complementary be tackled. Thus while the relatively low Within the DISH consortium, NRC has facilities to SKA1 since the LRP. At the cost of constructing large collecting areas at developed rim-supported antennas, low- intermediate frequencies at which SKA1- these frequencies implies that experiments noise amplifiers, digitizers, and second- Mid will operate, the wide-field Australian targeting specific aspects of SKA1-Low ary reflectors for use on SKA1-Mid. The SKA Pathfinder telescope (ASKAP) and science may emerge in the coming decade antenna design (Figure 5) was not chosen cryo-cooled MeerKAT array are being con- (e.g. the potential highlighted in section in a decision made in December 2015, and structed at the Australian and South Afri- 5.2.4 CHIME technology or calibration al- Canada will not contribute to this aspect can sites, respectively; they represent ~10% gorithms); SKA1-Low is currently the only of the SKA development. However, other of SKA1 in terms of sensitivity and survey general purpose low-frequency facility on important areas of application for the speed. Commissioning observations are the horizon. The MTRP therefore reaffirms elegant single-piece antenna design are underway at both facilities, and full science the importance of the SKA: already being considered. Several major operations are expected in 2017. A variety industry partners are engaged in the DISH of other pathfinder facilities will soon Recommendation: The consortium effort, including SED Systems begin operating at frequencies that overlap MTRP re-iterates the very (Saskatoon, SK), Nanowave technologies with SKA1-Mid, such as FAST and Ap- (Etobicoke, ON), and Canadian Circuits erTIF. FAST will have a higher sensitivity high importance of Canada’s (Surrey, BC). NRC Herzberg is also testing than SKA1, but a much narrower field of technological and scien- room-temperature and cryo-cooled phased view; SKA1 is therefore by far the superior tific participation in the next array feed designs for SKA2. Canada’s survey machine. The nascent ngVLA con- generation of radio telescope technological work in all of these areas will cept may overlap with SKA1-Mid at some maximize the effective collecting area and frequencies but its timeline lags consider- facilities. With TMT construc- field of view and minimize the system tem- ably behind it, resembling that of SKA2. tion funds committed, access perature of SKA1-Mid; Canadian innova- to the capabilities provided tion is therefore contributing directly to the The landscape for radio facilities in the by SKA1 in the next decade SKA1-Mid sensitivity and survey speed. low-frequency regime in which SKA1- Low will operate has evolved dramatically is the top priority for new The major scientific themes for the SKA in recent years. The MWA has been fully funds for ground-based are probing the cosmic dawn, galaxy operational at the Australian SKA site since astronomy. The MTRP re- evolution, cosmology and dark en- 2012, and has recently been awarded fund- iterates the high priority of ergy, the origin and evolution of cosmic ing to double the number of tiles and base- magnetism, strong field tests of gravity, lines. A Canadian consortium led by the mid and low-frequency radio and the cradle of life. A revised science University of Toronto participated in and R&D, and in particular the book for the SKA was published in 2015, contributed matching funds to the MWA development of key technol- demonstrating the tremendous breadth of upgrade proposal. Science operations ogies for SKA1 tender and science results that SKA1 will deliver: im- are also well underway with LOFAR and aging the EOR and Cosmic Dawn, finding PAPER. Looking into the future, the HERA procurement. and timing millisecond pulsars to test collaboration has recently received seed gravity, tracing the cosmic evolution of in- funding through the US mid-scale astrono- terstellar and intergalactic magnetic fields, my program to design a compact drift- Since the LRP2010, Canada has main- detecting atomic gas reservoirs in galaxies scanning array to measure the epoch of tained its leadership role in the engineer- out to z~3, and measuring the star forma- reionization (EOR) power spectrum with a ing design and prototype development for tion history of the Universe out to z~6 similar sensitivity to, and on a similar time the SKA. In joining the SKAO in 2011, are but a few. Canadians participate in scale as, SKA1-Low. The most significant Canada agreed to deliver €8M of in-kind 11 of 13 science working groups that are differences between HERA and SKA1-Low work to the SKA pre-construction phase. developing key science projects to address are the distribution of the collecting area This work is taking place in three of the the highest priority science objectives for and the operating frequency range; while ten design consortia responsible for the SKA1. As a result, Canadian astronomers the HERA experiment is designed specifi- detailed design and costing of SKA1. NRC are poised to be involved in every major cally to measure EOR statistics, the longer Herzberg leads the Central Signal Process- survey that SKA1 will undertake, and baselines and broader frequency coverage ing Consortium, and is responsible for the Canadian proposals for SKA1 PI-driven of SKA1-Low afford both EOR imaging SKA1-Mid correlator and beamformer science should also be competitive. 29 Unveiling the Cosmos

each has admitted to membership in the IAU. Those member countries that are hosting common SKA infrastructure (the two telescopes and the SKA HQ) are expected to contribute more. The premium recognizes the benefits accru- ing from the investments of the other members. In this model, construction funding in the range of €30M – €65M will therefore be required from Canada, spread over a period of several years. These funds could be provided by in- kind contributions of Canadian-developed key technologies, an ensemble of which is being prepared for tender by NRC. Operations costs are considerably more uncertain, and driven in part by the electricity consumption of this compute-intensive instrument. Current estimates imply that Canada’s annual contribution to SKA1 operations would be in the €4M – €6M range. In the context of the overall envelope of operations budgets, the MTRP highlights that access to new “world observatory” class facilities inevitably means that new operations funding will be needed to cover these costs as well as Canada’s share of the operating costs for other facilities in Figure 5. Caption: Dish Verification Antenna #1 at NRC-DRAO, a novel 15 m diameter, the next decade. The time scale for the rim-supported composite reflector. Its high performance, low cost design has a number of delivery of both construction and opera- potential applications beyond the SKA. Credit: S. Dougherty tions funding remains uncertain, but a commitment will be required soon if Beyond simply participating in SKA1 other current or planned facility, while construction and early science begin in science working groups, Canada has the pulsar timing with SKA1-Low will be 2018 and 2020, respectively, as currently expertise to play a world-leading role in complemented by CHIME’s capabilities planned by the SKAO. several of the key science projects that in the northern hemisphere. The science will emerge from them: pulsar searches case for SKA1 is therefore well-aligned The MTRP concludes that Canada is and timing experiments to carry out with both Canadian research interests and playing a leadership role in both the strong-field gravity tests, radio continu- areas of considerable Canadian expertise. technological and scientific development um and polarimetry surveys to measure of SKA1. Canada’s strengths in correlator, cosmic magnetism, transient studies to Funding for the construction and opera- low noise amplifier and digitizer technol- explore the variable radio universe, and tion of the SKA is based on the principle ogy have forged strong partnerships be- both resolved and unresolved atomic gas of common access to the SKA tele- tween NRC and industry that are directly surveys as a probe of galaxy evolution and scopes by all the contributing members. improving SKA1 performance; Canada is cosmology. This expertise in reflected in Further, the expectation is that much of well-positioned for tender and procure- the Canadian leadership of SKA precur- the work will be done by large, cross- ment of SKA1 construction contracts. sor and pathfinder surveys, as well as in partner teams working on large-scale SKA1 key science objectives align well the SKA1 working groups themselves. observational programs. As a starting with Canadian interests and expertise in For pulsar searches, cosmic magnetism point for detailed negotiation, the con- several different fields and Canada has the and galaxy surveys in particular, the re- tributions for each member state are to capability to lead some of the highest pri- baselined SKA1 will be far superior to any be based on the number of astronomers ority surveys that SKA1 will undertake. 30 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

Member funding for the current SKA of milli-arcseconds, it is one of the most Since LRP 2010, ALMA has made organization, a company limited by powerful telescopes in the world. Canada major progress: construction has been guarantee registered in the UK, is ap- is a partner in ALMA and in collaboration completed, many key observing modes proved through to the end of 2017. It is with the United States and Taiwan forms have been commissioned (including anticipated that by 2018, the governance the North American region of ALMA. the longest baselines), and four calls for will transition to an intergovernmental Canada contributed to ALMA construc- proposals have been issued. The Cycle 2 organization (IGO) defined by a binding tion by building the Band 3 receivers for and Cycle 3 calls for proposals received Convention (Treaty) under international all 66 telescopes and by contributing to the largest number of proposals ever law. In Canada, governmental approval the development of software, primarily in received by a single observatory, with via a memorandum to cabinet must be the area of off-line data reduction and the 1,578 proposals submitted to the April obtained before treaty negotiations can archive. The total Canadian contribution 2014 call, exceeding previous records set be entered. At present, no organization to ALMA construction was $20M (US$, by the Hubble Space Telescope. The large within Canadian astronomy has this au- Y2000). Canada also contributes annually demand for ALMA observing time (time thority, and hence Canada’s influence on to ALMA operations, both in cash and requested versus time available resulted the future governance of the SKA project in-kind; the Millimetre Astronomy Group in oversubscription rates of a factor of is limited. Therefore, the MTRP makes at NRC Herzberg collaborates with the four in the most recent calls) shows that the following recommendation: National Radio Astronomy Observatory ALMA is a telescope that is accessible to in assisting ALMA operations through the a large community of astronomers and is Recommendation: The North American ALMA Regional Center. succeeding in its goal of broadening its appeal beyond the “black-belt” interfer- MTRP strongly recommends ALMA has been designed to be a power- ometry community. Within Canada, 79 that Canada enter into nego- ful and versatile scientific facility, able to astronomers from 18 different institu- tiations to join the intergov- make transformative discoveries across a tions were PIs or co-Is on submitted ernmental organization that wide range of scientific fields. ALMA has ALMA proposals in Cycle 3. been taking data in “Early Science” mode will oversee SKA1 construc- since October, 2011 and has delivered ex- Now that construction is completed and tion and operations starting citing new results in such diverse fields as operations are well underway, attention in 2017. An alternative to debris disks, star formation, merging gal- is turning to development work that a treaty may be needed for axies, and galaxy formation in the distant can improve ALMA’s performance universe. Probably the single most iconic or extend ALMA’s capabilities. These Canada to join SKA1; this result to date has been the spectacular development projects will be funded out alternative must not signifi- image of the protoplanetary disk around of ALMA operations and can include cantly compromise Canada's the young star HL Tau (see Section 3.1 both hardware and software initia- role in SKA1 governance, ac- Are we alone?) showing broad rings and tives. Canadians at NRC Herzberg and gaps that are evidence for the sculpt- universities have participated actively cess, or construction tender ing of the disk by young unseen planets. in several development studies to date. and procurement. Other highlights include the discovery NRC Herzberg continues to collaborate of spiral structure in the envelope of the in efforts to develop new ALMA Band 1 evolved star R Scu, the determination of (7 mm) receivers and is in a good posi- 5.1.3 ALMA the mass of the central black hole in the tion to provide key components for spiral galaxy NGC 1097, and sensitive the production run if this development ALMA was the top-ranked priority for measurements of large numbers of young project goes forward. Another poten- new ground-based facilities in LRP2000. galaxies in the early universe. Highlights tial path for Canadian involvement is A collaboration involving North America, of papers led by Canadian astronomers in improvements to the usability and Europe, East Asia, and Chile, the Atacama include resolved images of the debris disk functionality of the ALMA archive, Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array around the young star Au Mic, detailed given the extensive expertise in archive (ALMA) is the first example of a “world images of the highly obscured galactic development in Canada. For example, observatory”. ALMA consists of 66 radio nuclei at the heart of the most spectacular the current ALMA archive has no pre- antennas located on a 5,000 m plateau in nearby merger remnant Arp 220, and view capabilities and provides only very northern Chile. With operating wave- dramatic images of young galaxies in the limited search functions, which makes lengths from 3 mm to 350 µm and angular early universe distorted by the effects of it hard to conduct extensive searches of resolution from a few arcseconds to tens gravitational lensing. the archive. 31 Unveiling the Cosmos

Thus, two key Canadian priorities emerge Legacy Survey has led to the best char- DOnS from the Gemini-North 8-metre for the next five years: (1) identifying acterization to date of the nature of dark telescope (GRACES), developed in Canada components of the ALMA development energy in the Universe. The impact of and a key example of inter-observatory co- program in which Canada can play a the CFHT (in papers and citations) has operation, has been found to have similar significant role, including stimulating been comparable to that of larger eight- sensitivity as the best high resolution spec- expertise in sub-mm instrumentation in to ten-metre facilities, due in large part trographs on Maunakea (HIRES at Keck, order to capitalize on future opportuni- to the quality of the site, investments in and HDS at Subaru), at wavelengths above ties with ALMA; and (2) reaching the MegaCam to exploit the advantages of 500 nm. The success of GRACES means widest possible community of potential the site, and importantly that the col- that the CFHT community will be com- users and keeping them fully trained and laboration made a commitment to survey pensated for the use of ESPaDOnS through engaged in ALMA, as new capabilities science. Improvement of image quality access to Gemini in future mini-calls for become available. The MTRP re-affirms has also been a continuing goal of the proposals. In addition, SITELLE (a visible the recommendation from LRP2010: observatory (see Figure 6). Furthermore, imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer) the experience of developing state-of- is a new CFI-funded CFHT guest instru- Recommendation: Canada the-art instrumentation for CFHT has ment. SITELLE was built in Canada (Laval should participate in a bid paid off in placing Canada in the lead- & ABB-Bomen), commissioned at CFHT ing position to develop new instruments in July 2015, and opens a new unexplored for ALMA development fund- (e.g., GMOS, GPI, and GHOST), and the discovery space: integral field spectros- ing to build the ALMA Band adaptive optics systems for the Gemini- copy in visible light over a wide field (11 1 receivers, which would North telescope (ALTAIR) and the TMT arcminutes). It will be used to study the take advantage of Canadian (NFIRAOS). dynamics and abundance trends of galaxies from their emission lines, as well as the skills and experience de- LRP2010 continued the strong support physics of the interstellar medium. veloped during the design for the observatory with the following and building of the Band 3 recommendation: Going forward, CFHT plans to increase receivers. In addition, Can- its commitment to larger survey programs Canada should continue to be a major (more like the CFHT Legacy Surveys). ada should proceed quickly partner in CFHT, and should support This will be accomplished by allocat- to identify other short-term and participate in new instrumenta- ing 429 nights (from the Canadian and French agencies, plus potential contribu- and longer-term priorities for tion projects (specifically 'Imaka, ALMA development work. tions from other partners) over the next SPIRou, and GYES). These instruments three years (2017–19). Another call for should have a five year operations large programs after 2017 is anticipated. window prior to any anticipated redevelopment of the CFHT site. As LRP2010 was being completed, a new 5.2 International and concept emerged, initially referred to as National Facilities SPIRou was selected and is now well into ngCFHT (the next generation CFHT). the construction phase. It is a near-infrared The ngCFHT concept was based on the information that the existing pier and 5.2.1 CFHT and MSE high-resolution spectrograph that will be capable of detecting Earth-like planets in building can support and house a telescope of aperture up to 15 m, and if that CFHT the habitable zone of low-mass stars, and it will also investigate the role of magnetic is coupled with a wide field multi-object The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope fields in the star/planet formation process. spectrograph (WFMOS), then it becomes (CFHT) is a 3.6 m telescope on Maunak- Additionally, new filters have reinvigorated possible to collect high and low resolution ea, Hawaii. Over the past four decades, the potential of MegaCam, including a spectra of ~4000 very faint targets over a CFHT has been responsible for many new u-band filter that leverages CFHT’s 1.5 degree field. Such a capability is not major discoveries. CFHT (and Canada) excellent sensitivity in the UV, and a new currently available anywhere, and yet is have led the way in the development of narrow band Ca H&K filter which can be strongly synergistic with the requirements techniques for the discovery of extra- used to measure stellar photometric metal- of several high profile survey science con- solar planets, deep surveys of galaxies in licities and search for very metal-poor cepts in both galactic and extragalactic the Local Group, the Virgo Cluster, and stars. The new 300 m fibre feed to ESPa- astrophysics (below). This project is cur- at high redshifts, while the Supernova rently being developed as the Maunakea 32 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

Figure 6. CFHT dome interior showing the newly installed vents that have significantly improved image quality. Credit: CFHT/Tom Benedict.

Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE, discussed Recommendation: Canada should continue to be a major below). Tension now exists between completion of long term and large projects partner in CFHT, supporting its facility instrumentation project, at CFHT and the redevelopment of the SPIRou, and completion of the planned large surveys, as a 3.6 m site for MSE. The total number of hours telescope. Slippage in these projects should not delay redevel- required for the large and long-term opment opportunities and priorities. programs, including that associated with SPIRou, need to be carefully determined and secured. The CFHT management has worked hard to balance these concerns and various priorities.

33 Unveiling the Cosmos

MSE Hawaiian interest groups). In addition to tion when compared with all other optical The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer providing a detailed cost and schedule, spectroscopic facilities (that exist or are (MSE) is an ambitious redevelopment the Project Office is also leading the part- in design). MSE will explore the faint project to transform the CFHT 3.6 m nership development effort. Currently, Universe that is beyond the grasp of any telescope into an 11 m facility, with a the science team consists of 80 members two- to four-metre spectroscopic surveys dedicated wide field multi-object spec- from Australia, Canada, China, France, (4MOST, WEAVE, GALAH), e.g., in-situ trograph (WFMOS). The idea of redevel- Germany, Republic of Korea, Hawaii, analysis of the chemical evolution of the oping the excellent CFHT site has been Italy, India, Japan, Spain, Taiwan, the UK, outer halo stars at ~100 kpc, and statisti- discussed in the Canadian community for and the USA. All science team members cal analysis of the broad line regions of nearly two decades, and the concept of a have had the opportunity to engage in high redshift quasars through reverbera- dedicated WFMOS facility was identified the activities of the Project Office. As of tion mapping surveys. Its location in the for detailed investigation with the follow- November 2015, the total estimated cost northern hemisphere makes it an ideal ing recommendation in LRP2010: is $250M to $300M. When this total cost facility to support target selection for the is divided by the number of significant TMT; also, it overlaps with > 60% of the The LRPP recommends that Canada partners (~six) and reduced through southern sky, providing excellent col- reuse of Canada’s current investments in laborative opportunities between MSE develop the ngCFHT concept (sci- CFHT infrastructure, then the estimated and facilities in the southern hemisphere ence case, technical design, partner- cost to Canada is ~$40M for a “second to (LSST, ALMA, SKA), as well as space ships, timing). none” share. Full science operations are observatories (JWST, WFIRST, Kepler, anticipated in 2025. TESS). No other facility comes close to Such a capability is of great interest to the providing the required follow-up capa- international community and has been The science case for MSE is universally bilities for these projects; e.g., Subaru- discussed in detailed planning processes recognized by many detailed studies in PFS or VLT-FLAMES are only one of in both in the US,14 Europe15 and Aus- a variety of countries and observatories. several instruments competing for their tralia.16 It is therefore unsurprising that The WFMOS design for MSE would respective telescope’s time, they both the MSE project has received consider- permit measurements of up to 3,400 have fewer multiplexing capabilities, PFS able international interest. A feasibility objects with a spectral resolution range has a complete absence of high resolu- study was carried out in 2011–12 to spanning 3,000 to 40,000, simultaneously, tion spectroscopic capabilities, and both investigate the key science drivers and in selected wavelength regions from 360 telescopes hosting the instruments have major technical challenges, and included nm to 1.8 µm. The science cases for MSE smaller apertures than MSE. For example, contributions from scientists and engi- include all fields of astronomical sciences; it will be the MSE all sky survey (first neers in Canada, France, and 10 other however they are dominated by two top data release estimated in 2028) that will countries. In September 2013, the CFHT priority projects: (1) exploring the struc- provide the ultimate detailed map of the SAC recommended to the Board that a ture, kinematics and chemical evolution outer halo of our Galaxy, including wide Project Office lead further developments. of the Milky Way, i.e., Galactic archaeol- field coverage of accreted dwarf galaxies, The Project Office was initiated in May ogy; and (2) mapping distant galaxies and stellar streams, and disrupting globular 2014 in Waimea, HI, coinciding with the AGN to study their evolution through clusters. The nearest analogue in terms renaming of the ngCFHT as the MSE. cosmic time. A 10 m class telescope of potential impact across subfields is the equipped with a WFMOS-like instru- Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with more than The MSE Project Office is leading the ment would also have a transformative 3,000 papers, covering nearly every field design phase by producing a construc- impact in a wide range of fields, including in astrophysics, and with over 100,000 tion proposal for 2017: specifically, the stellar structure and evolution, transient citations. The MSE surveys (both galactic Project Office is leading the develop- phenomena, large-scale structure, AGN and extragalactic) will include higher ment of the Detailed Science Case and physics, nature of dark matter, and the resolution spectroscopy at better signal the Science Requirement Document, the epoch of reionization. to noise than smaller telescopes and over operational concept, system architecture, larger areas. These advances are made design concepts, and the permitting MSE has broad international interest possible by the telescopes large aper- process (in collaboration with the Office because it maximizes aperture size, field ture and field of view and, in turn, open of Maunakea Management and other of view, multiplexing and observing frac- up new levels of precision astrophysics

14 http://sites.nationalacademies.org/BPA/BPA_087934 15 https://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2015/eso-2020/eso2020_Bremer.pdf 16 australianastronomydecadalplan.org 34 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

and phenomenology. The scientific and These changes, together with the appoint- Gemini has actively encouraged visitor collaborative opportunities available to ment in 2012 of a new Director, have led instruments, and successful runs with MSE partners are a direct indicator of the to a significantly different Observatory DSSI and TEXES have taken place. strategic relevance of MSE to the future from the one considered in LRP2010. As astronomy landscape. part of its restructuring, Gemini has intro- The next facility-class instrument, duced a Science and Technology Advisory GHOST, will be a high resolution The MTRP thus makes the following Committee (STAC) that reports directly optical spectrograph and is currently recommendation: to the Board, and a User’s Committee that being built by AAO with a major reports to the Observatory. These have subcontract to NRC Herzberg. It is Recommendation: The proved successful and are now providing expected to be available in 2018. valuable advice and direction. The last five MTRP strongly recommends years have also seen great improvement Planning for the next facility-class that Canada develop the in the instrument suite, particularly on instrument after GHOST is underway, MSE project, and supports Gemini South. Specifically: with funded, non-competitive feasi- the efforts of the project of- bility studies. A Request for Proposals The Gemini Planet Imager was com- to build an instrument defined based fice to seek financial commissioned and available for early on these studies is expected in 2016. mitments from Canadian and science in 2014. This lone survivor of partner institute sources. the Aspen program for new instru- Since LRP2010 Gemini has also intro- mentation development is already duced innovative ways to use the tele- returning exciting results. scope. The Large and Long Program 5.2.2 Gemini mechanism allows users to propose to a The Gemini South Adaptive Optics single TAC for large projects spanning up The Gemini Observatory consists of two Imager is a world-leading AO facility to six semesters. This mode has been long- nearly identical telescopes: one on Cerro first offered to the community for awaited (lack of large program opportuni- Pachon in Chile and the other on Mau- science in 2013 (Figure 7). It has suf- ties was noted in LRP2010), and is heavily nakea. They are distinguished from other fered from a poorly performing laser, oversubscribed. The Fast turnaround pro- telescopes in their class by being opti- and from bright guide star limits; gram has monthly deadlines; it is appro- mized for thermal infrared observations both limitations are being addressed priate for shorter projects needing ~10h with excellent image quality, and together with hardware upgrades. or less and promises to greatly shorten offer coverage of the full sky and flexible the time span between an initial idea and scheduling opportunities. Gemini Remote ACcess to ESPa- the acquisition of data. This mode has DOnS (GRACES) is a collaboration generally been met with positive feedback Since LRP2010, there has been a major with CFHT that allows users to (and was called out as an example in the change in the partnership and fund- access the ESPaDOnS high resolu- recent mid-Cycle call for proposals from ing level of the Observatory. The UK left tion spectrograph via a fibre link to HST), though some months have seen the partnership at the end of 2014, and Gemini. It is performing well and limited subscription from users. It is being Australia declared their intention not to proving to be competitive at red expanded to include Gemini South in late continue as a partner after the end of 2015. wavelengths with HiRES on Keck. It 2015, and with the more capable instru- The departure of the UK left the Observa- is being offered as a visiting instrument suite on that telescope the subscrip- tory with a 23% budget shortfall that has ment starting in 2015. tion rate to fast turnaround programs is been accommodated with a restructuring expected to increase. and reprioritization of services offered. In Flamingos-2 was commissioned for 2015 the Korea Astronomy and Space Sci- imaging and long-slit spectroscopy At the Gemini Science meeting held ence Institute (KASI) signed an MoU with in 2013 and is working well in these in Toronto in the summer of 2015, the Gemini to form a limited term partnership. modes. Commissioning of MOS long-term future of the Observatory was This is being extended to 2016 and KASI’s mode is planned for the near future. discussed. A panel composed of sev- intention remains to become a full partner eral Maunakea Observatory Directors in 2017, with a share comparable to that GMOS-S has been upgraded with acknowledged that a greater degree of previously held by Australia (~6%). Aus- red-sensitive detectors, with a similar cooperation between these facilities in the tralia is also continuing as a limited term upgrade planned for the north in 2016. future will be necessary to minimize op- partner in 2016, albeit at a reduced level. erations costs and to compete effectively 35 Unveiling the Cosmos

for funding in the 30 m telescope era. This than Gemini papers from other partners, of the UK. However, the Large and Long is a promising development, as Keck and and the median impact of these papers Program opportunity proved popular Subaru have capabilities and operating is 2.8 (2008 to 2012), comparable to the with Canadians, and two large programs models that complement Gemini, are well overall impact of Keck. The user base in with Canadian PIs were successful in the suited to the scientific interests of many Canada is very broad and includes many first round. Canadians are also critically Canadian astronomers and, importantly, students and other young astronomers. involved in the large GPI campaign. synergize with TMT in different ways. Gemini has provided Canadians an op- When this participation is included, it is portunity and incentive to collaborate clear that there remains strong demand In general, Canadians have made excel- internationally, and almost half of all for Gemini time in Canada. lent scientific use of their time on Gemini. Canadian proposals are collaborative In particular, Canadian astronomers with other Gemini partners. Cana- LRP2010 raised a concern about the published 22% of all Gemini papers from dian oversubscription fluctuates and is US Decadal Survey’s recommendation 2000 to 2012, well above their observing generally healthy, but there have been for coupling Gemini governance with time share during that time. Canadian semesters of concern since the Canadian NOAO. It is notable that this has not Gemini papers are cited more frequently share increased following the departure come to pass and the present governance

Figure 7. Gemini South with the GEMS adaptive optics laser in operation. Credit: Gemini Observatory 36 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

structure will be in place at least until Recommendation: The made important contributions to the VLA 2022. LRP2010 also noted that finding MTRP recommends that Sky Survey (VLASS), a new all-sky centi- operating funds for “world observatories” Canada’s participation in metre-wavelength survey that will exploit like TMT and SKA17 is a challenge within the tremendous VLA sensitivity afforded current budgets for comparatively smaller Gemini continue to be sup- by WIDAR. The VLASS team includes facilities like Gemini. Clearly, operating ported beyond the end of astronomers from seven different Canadian funds must be considered in the context the 2016–21 International institutions, one of whom co-leads the of the full portfolio of national projects. Agreement. The nature and project. Looking further into the future, Ca- nadian astronomers are members of several As noted above, Gemini has changed level of that participation working groups that will define the science dramatically in the years since LRP2010. must be considered within case for the ambitious Next Generation Moreover, the Observatory is undergoing the context of a coordinated VLA (ngVLA) project, a major proposed a strategic planning exercise to redefine plan for funding the op- VLA upgrade that would bridge the fre- its role in the 30 m telescope era. The quency gap between ALMA and the SKA at results from this exercise will need to be eration of our ground-based the end of the next decade. Five years after known before the 2018 assessment point, facilities, together with any WIDAR’s first light, the Canadian connec- when partners have to declare their inten- opportunities for broader tion with the VLA remains strong. tions regarding Gemini involvement after access to the landscape of the end of the International Agreement The MTRP recognizes that SKA pathfinder in 2021. As the result of this planning 8-10 m optical/IR telescopes. science is being carried out by the Cana- could be a radically different direction for dian community using a suite of radio fa- the Observatory, it seems premature at cilities. A survey carried out by the AACS this point to pronounce on the Observa- 5.2.3 JVLA and other NRAO indicates that Canadians have experience tory’s relevance to Canadian astronomy facilities using over a dozen single-dish and inter- in 2022 and beyond. Alternatives between ferometric radio telescopes around the the current level of participation and full As part of Canada’s close collaboration world at frequencies that overlap with the withdrawal should be considered, partic- with the US National Radio Astronomy SKA1 range, and that over forty Canadian ularly considering that Gemini-South is Observatory (NRAO) to enter the ALMA astronomers already envision themselves the only optical/IR access Canadians have project via the North American Pro- and their research teams working with to southern skies, needed to effectively gramme in Radio Astronomy (NAPRA), SKA1 data in 2020. These data provide a follow up on ALMA and SKA observa- DRAO and NRC Herzberg designed and benchmark that could be used to measure tions. We therefore reaffirm a modified built the powerful WIDAR correlator for future growth. Canadian usage of NRAO’s version of the LRP recommendation: the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is particu- The EVLA was renamed the Karl G. Jansky larly significant, with over half of survey Very Large Array (VLA) upon the comple- respondents reporting expertise using tion of the major upgrade in 2012; the this facility. The GBT is the largest fully lower frequency range of the VLA (which steerable dish in the world operating in a provides continuous frequency coverage frequency range of 0.3–115 GHz in several from 1–50 GHz) overlaps with SKA1. observing bands; the GBT’s larger total collecting area, higher surface brightness WIDAR began astronomical observations sensitivity and broader frequency coverage in 2010, and its most advanced modes is therefore highly complementary to the are still being commissioned. Canadian higher angular resolution provided by the astronomers were some of the earliest VLA. Statistics compiled by NRC indicate WIDAR users, participating in the Resident that in the period from 2008–12, over Shared Risk Observing (RSRO) program in 20% of all refereed journal articles result- which experts take up residence at NRAO ing from GBT data included a Canadian to help commission new capabilities. co-author. It is worth noting that many of Canadians have led next-generation radio the key players in the WIDAR design and continuum surveys with WIDAR, and have construction and the heaviest Canadian 17 We note that operation funds for both TMT and SKA will likely be needed before the end of construction, and the ramp-up and final operations cost of these facilities is not yet precisely known. 37 Unveiling the Cosmos

users of the VLA and the GBT are also current and future initiatives may provide After finalizing the detailed project those most actively involved in SKA pre- a platform for extending the framework concept, in 2012 the telescope and its core cursor and SKA1 science and technology provided by NAPRA beyond this date. Cosmology backend received $11M fund- planning activities today. ing from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (and partner provinces). The AACS usage statistics suggest that ac- 5.2.4 CHIME cess to NRAO facilities is important to the The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Map- CHIME, see Figure 8, is a new radio inter- research programs of a large fraction of the ping Experiment (CHIME) represents a ferometer located at the Dominion Radio Canadian radio astronomy community. new paradigm of radio telescope, relying Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) in NRAO’s long-standing open skies policy heavily on computational power rather Penticton, BC. It is the first major research ensures that astronomers of all nationali- than expensive mechanical structures and telescope to be built on Canadian soil in ties compete equally for observing time on cryogenic receivers. It was the highest more than 30 years and is now the largest its facilities. For the GBT, this open time is priority medium-scale ground-based telescope in continental North America being whittled away as financial partners astronomy project recommended in the with 2% more collecting area than the are sought to offset operations costs in 2010 LRP: Green Bank telescope. Its core Cosmol- response to the NSF Astronomy Portfolio ogy target is to map the 21 cm emission Review of 2012. The current recompetition The LRPP views CHIME as a key of neutral Hydrogen from redshifts 0.8 to for the management of NRAO facilities, 2.5. The resultant three-dimensional map medium-scale experiment that could which treats the VLA and North Ameri- of hydrogen structure in the Universe will can ALMA operations separately from have high scientific yield at modest be the largest-volume survey ever made. the GBT and VLBI for the first time, adds cost, and encourages the proposing It encompasses the critical period when an additional degree of uncertainty. In team to vigorously pursue funding Dark Energy begins to dominate the this context, the access to NRAO facilities for this experiment. The LRPP en- expansion of the Universe, allowing for guaranteed by NAPRA until 2018 provides dorses the project provided that a a unique measurement of the expansion security for Canadian radio astronomers rate of the Universe through this critical detailed study confirms its budget whose programs depend on them. The epoch and constraining the Dark Energy strong collaboration between Canadian and the feasibility of its technical equation of state in a way that is comple- and NRAO astronomers on a variety of design and science goals. mentary to existing probes.

Figure 8. The telescope structure for CHIME, completed August 2015. The telescope consists of four parabolic cylinders 20 m wide and 100 m long with a focal length of 5 m. 256 dual-polarization antennas will be placed along the focal line of each cylinder and the signals are brought to a custom 2,048-input correlator. The instrument has no moving parts. Image from CASCA Cassiopeia newsletter – Autumn/ Automne 2015 38 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

The CHIME telescope will also be a pow- As the first generation of a new class of As a result, there is a significant role for erful instrument for detecting Fast Radio fast mapping radio telescopes, CHIME single-dish submillimetre telescopes in Bursts (FRBs), a relatively new, and as yet will simultaneously provide unique the ALMA era, particularly telescopes unexplained phenomenon that is perhaps science capabilities and key technical outfitted with wide-field continuum the most exciting new radio astronomy insights. The demonstration of its novel cameras at submillimetre wavelengths. development in decades. The excitement techniques for cutting edge science will The analogy at optical wavelengths is the that today exists around transient radio form the foundation for new telescopes synergy between wide-area surveys using science had not yet manifested when the and experiments that can revolutionize MegaCam on CFHT to identify targets for project was proposed. However, research radio surveys requiring fast mapping follow-up spectroscopy with 8–10 m class directions can move quickly when new speed, including high redshift 21 cm telescopes. Thus, single-dish submillime- technological capabilities enable new intensity mapping of the type that SKA- tre telescopes serve a key complementary methods of probing the cosmos. In 2014 Low is targeting. In this manner, CHIME role to ALMA by providing rapid wide- a new radio transient backend concept will act as a scientific and technical path- field imaging and the capability for much was developed for CHIME, allowing it to finder for the SKA, pioneering the mea- larger surveys and samples than ALMA perform the high-cadence de-dispersion surement of very low-surface brightness can reasonably achieve. and the transient searches this sci- phenomena and developing key correlator ence target requires. The FRB backend hardware and calibration techniques. JCMT received $5.5M funding from CFI and partners in 2015, making CHIME a dual- The MTRP sees opportunity for Ca- Through NRC Herzberg, Canada was a 25% partner in the JCMT for over 25 purpose experiment. nadian astronomers to leverage the years (the other partners were the United concepts and leadership that have CHIME is also well suited for a variety of Kingdom and the Netherlands). The Neth- ancillary science objectives. It will pro- been developed and investigate the erlands withdrew from the JCMT partner- duce an independent map of the intensity application of CHIME-like techniques ship in 2013 and, as advised in LRP2010, and polarization of the Milky Way visible to future low-frequency radio as- Canada withdrew from the partnership in from the northern hemisphere. CHIME tronomy facilities such as SKA-Low or September 2014. Ownership of the JCMT was passed from the UK-STFC to the Uni- can observe a very large number of known Canadian-based initiatives address- versity of Hawaii in February 2015 and pulsars which pass through its beams each ing similar science. day, providing pulse arrival times that can operation of the JCMT was taken over by be used for pulsar timing arrays. the East Asian Observatory, a collabora- The CHIME example highlights Canadian tion among observatories from China, Ja- capabilities in technology, organization, Construction of the 8,000 square metre pan, Korea, and Taiwan. A consortium of leadership, and ideas. It demonstrates that CHIME telescope structure was com- UK universities obtained significant fund- this nation can take new Canadian ideas pleted in August 2015 and the receiver ing from STFC, which, along with funds and build them into world-class Canadi- electronics and custom correlator will contributed by the universities themselves, an-based facilities. be built and installed on site over the allows them to participate in JCMT opera- 2015/2016 winter. The CHIME cor- tions at a significant level for three years. relator, consisting of custom Canadian- 5.2.5 Single-dish submillimetre On the Canadian side, a consortium of six made digitizer/channelizer/networking facilities Canadian universities (Alberta, Leth- electronics and a specialized massive bridge, McMaster, Saint Mary’s, Waterloo, array of graphics processor units (GPU) Although ALMA is a fantastically and Western) has raised a small amount for spatial correlation, will be the largest powerful and sensitive telescope, its of internal funding (approximately $100k radio correlator on earth when it comes field-of-view is set by the size of the CAD/year) to allow continued Canadian on line in 2016, handling 2,048 channels 12 m antennas in the array, such that a participation in the JCMT for two years with 400 MHz bandwidth. The 1.6 TB/s single pointing with ALMA covers an (2015 and 2016). real-time data rate for CHIME exceeds approximately one arcminute of sky at the most recent (2014) estimate avail- 2.5 mm wavelengths. Larger fields can The scientific opportunities with the able from Cisco for global data rate to all be observed by using a mosaic to stitch JCMT continue to be very exciting. Over- mobile devices (~1 TB/s in January 2014) together many overlapping pointings, subscription rates at the first two calls — the CHIME correlator could process but the time required to cover a field of for proposals in 2015 were very high (by the world’s mobile data. any significant size, even a single degree a factor of nine for the small Canadian squared, rapidly becomes prohibitive. share of time). The JCMT recently com- 39 Unveiling the Cosmos

pleted a successful call for large observing ority for a new medium-scale project in June 2014 that the proposal would not proposals, with seven programs approved the U.S. Decadal review in 2010. The 2010 be funded. Later that summer, Caltech for close to 2,400 hours of observing time LRP recommended that Canadian as- withdrew from the CCAT partnership, over the next two to three years. The sci- tronomers pursue participation in CCAT, resulting in a significant loss of staff and entific focus of the large proposals ranges including a thorough investigation of expertise. A Canadian proposal (by the from a search for protostellar transients at potential Canadian contributions. CCAT eight founding universities plus Saint submillimetre wavelengths to the deepest has enormous potential for panchromatic Mary’s and Lethbridge) was submitted to 450 μm map of the high redshift uni- confusion-limited continuum surveys CFI in June 2014, just days after the NSF verse ever attempted. Participation in the over tens to hundreds of square degrees, announcement. Despite ranking high on large programs is open to all Canadian measuring the submillimetre spectral en- science metrics, the CFI proposal was not astronomers in recognition of our years of ergy distributions of high redshift galaxies funded. The primary criticisms were that contribution to JCMT operations. between 350 μm and 2 mm to obtain pho- not all construction funds were in place tometric redshifts and source luminosi- and that the route to obtaining operating The JCMT remains the largest single-dish ties, and unique capabilities for multi-line, funding was not clear. submillimetre telescope in the world. Its multi-object spectroscopy at submillime- continuum camera, SCUBA-2, is un- tre wavelengths. A consortium of eight The CCAT partnership currently includes surpassed in its sensitivity and mapping universities (Waterloo, British Columbia, Cornell University, the University of Colo- speed while its heterodyne array receiver, Calgary, Dalhousie, McGill, McMaster, rado, the German universities of Bonn and HARP, continues to be very competitive. Toronto, and Western), became a found- Cologne, and the Canadian consortium Although the telescopes in Chile (APEX, ing partner in CCAT and currently partic- of eight universities. Via its partner, AUI, ASTE) and at the South Pole (SPT) are ipates in CCAT governance and planning. CCAT owns the concession for the use of located at better sites, the JCMT continues With its larger aperture and exquisite site, its 5,600 metre-high site for astronomy. to be the premier submillimetre telescope CCAT will greatly exceed the capabilities There is growing interest by a Chilean that is available as a general-purpose of current telescopes such as the JCMT in consortium of industry, academia, and instrument to the broader astronomi- sensitivity, angular resolution, and map- government in joining CCAT as a partner cal community. In this way, the JCMT ping speed. CCAT’s rapid mapping speed (i.e., contributing construction funds) plays a complementary role to ALMA will be 22,000 times faster than ALMA at rather than simply hosting the site, as well by providing the wide-field mapping a wavelength of 350 μm. CCAT continues as indications that other new international capabilities that ALMA lacks. The JCMT to generate a high level of interest among partners may come on board. Discus- consortium is continuing to recruit new Canadian astronomers and would serve sions are also underway with NRAO as to partners and to solicit increased financial a key complementary role to ALMA by whether they can contribute key manage- contributions from the existing partners providing rapid wide-field imaging and ment during the construction phase. as it seeks to position itself on a firm long- the capability for much larger surveys and term financial and operational footing. samples than can reasonably be achieved The telescope is being redesigned to Continued Canadian involvement in the with ALMA. reduce the cost of the project while keep- JCMT would be a very useful complement ing the sensitivity goals intact. Thus, the to ALMA as well as serving as a bridge to LRP2010 as well as the 2010 U.S. decadal telescope will continue to be located at the new submillimetre facilities such as CCAT survey anticipated CCAT construction originally chosen site and to have a diam- that are several years in the future. The within this decade with operations begin- eter of 25 m. One decision has been to re- MTRP commends the Canadian consor- ning around 2020. However, the CCAT move the enclosure (which was the largest tium for their efforts to secure Canadian project has not progressed as quickly as of the contributions proposed originally access to the JCMT and encourages them anticipated. NSF funding has been mark- for Canada) and to reduce the accuracy to explore any opportunities that may edly lower than assumed when the 2010 of the telescope’s surface by not enabling arise to extend this participation further. decadal survey was written, which meant active control of the surface at first light. the project could not be supported at the These changes will make it more difficult level initially envisaged ($37M USD). for CCAT to operate in the very challeng- CCAT Consequently, the project was directed to ing 200 μm wavelength window. The de- CCAT is planned to be a 25 m diameter apply to the NSF Mid-Scale Innovations sign of the telescope itself will be simpli- submillimetre-wavelength radio tele- Program (MSIP) despite having been fied to a Cassegrain design, with room for scope. It will be built on Cerro Chajnantor singled out as the top priority in medium only two instruments to be mounted at a approximately 600 m above the ALMA scale facilities. A proposal was submitted time, and the surface will not need to be as plateau. CCAT was ranked as a high pri- in 2013; however, it was announced in late accurate. One option being considered is 40 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020 to build a smaller dish initially (10–15 m) Canadian companies in contributing to Recommendation: The MTRP on a larger mount that can be expanded to the construction of the telescope structure, reaffirms the importance of 25 m as funds become available. Overall, most likely as a sub-contractor to one of the the descoping is designed to impact pri- two companies submitting the overall de- next generation single-dish marily operational aspects of CCAT and sign bids. Options that keep key scientific, sub-mm facilities, and recom- will result in slower overall survey speeds; technical, and engineering work in Cana- mends that Canadian as- however, no specific science case will be dian companies and universities are more tronomers continue to pursue eliminated. The total cost for the descoped desirable than sending money abroad. 25 m facility will be approximately 80% participation in CCAT, subject that originally proposed. Thus, because of its high scientific prom- to the project meeting its ise and its complementarity to ALMA, the original science goals. Con- The next few years will be critical for the MTRP recommends as follows: struction contributions that ultimate success of the CCAT project. With the withdrawal of Caltech and the on- keep key scientific, technical, going re-arrangement of the partnership, and/or engineering work in there may be opportunities for Canada to Canadian companies and take the lead on one of the first genera- universities will provide the tion instruments, such as the multi-object spectrograph. There may also be a role for most return on investment.

Figure 9. Cut-away image of the LSST dome and telescope. Credit: lsst.org 41 Unveiling the Cosmos

5.2.6 LSST as a wide-field spectroscopic survey, as Follow-up site testing campaigns were well as more specialized surveys such as conducted in 2011–12 using DIMM and The highest-ranked large ground-based CHIME, and space-based surveys such as MASS instrumentation on top of the Po- telescope in the 2010 US Decadal Survey WFIRST and CASTOR. lar Environment Atmospheric Research is the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Laboratory (PEARL), 15 km from Eureka. (LSST), a dedicated survey instrument The LSST survey will start in 2022, and Analysis of these measurements yielded with an effective aperture of 6.7 m and a will produce several tens of petabytes image quality comparable to Maunakea 2 camera with a 9.6 deg field of view (Fig- (1,016 bytes) in its ten years of operations. and Cerro Tololo in Chile. However, the ure 9). This telescope, which is now under Gemini and TMT will be ideal telescopes PEARL location, building design, and construction on Cerro Pachón in the for doing detailed follow-up studies of a lack of sampling over an entire winter Chilean Andes, addresses a wide variety of discoveries made with LSST. The project means that these image quality estimates scientific topics of interest to the Canadian represents fundamental challenges in data are still only preliminary. Sampling for an astronomical community, including but processing, distribution, and scientific entire winter away from the building on not limited to the distribution of both near analysis, and has thus attracted the atten- a tower platform would provide conclu- and distant asteroids in our Solar System, tion of the “Big Data” community. It also sive measurements, although at present, the structure of the Milky Way galaxy, has a major education and public out- no plans exist to continue to monitor or searches for transients and variable stars, reach component: the data can be used develop Arctic sites. the evolution of galaxies, and cosmology in classrooms across Canada to allow probes using strong and weak lensing, schoolchildren to learn astronomy and to Science motivation for using polar sites large-scale structure, and supernovae. take part in real Citizen Science projects. extends beyond image quality alone. One While this is a US-led project, the LSST of the notable possibilities is monitoring Consortium has been actively soliciting of transient phenomena, such as exo- involvement by international partners, 5.2.7 Arctic planet transits. For example, researchers who would contribute to operations in Arctic astronomy, and the potential for from the University of Toronto ran a exchange for access to the data in a timely finding accessible sites that are cold and project monitoring 500 square degrees way. A university partnership centered at dry with long periods of darkness, con- for two years from PEARL, which has the University of Toronto has now joined tinues to hold the community’s interest. now evolved into an NSF funded project as such an international partner; support- At the time of LRP2010, initial measure- to examine 10,000 square degrees from ing ten PI slots (total cost $2M USD, to ments of image quality on Ellesmere the US mainland and Antarctic. The be spread over the ten years of operations Island, situated at 80° N latitude, had been inherent coldness of telescopes in the of LSST). There is also strong interest in a taken and were suggestive of potentially Arctic also has advantages for near infra- broader Canadian involvement. superb image quality, equivalent to Ant- red spectroscopy. arctica Dome C without the problematic There is a long history of major imaging boundary layer. It was clear during the surveys in Canada, especially with the writing of LRP2010 that the image quality CFHT, and the LSST represents a natural at this location is significantly better than extension of those efforts. The LSST data any other site in Canada. are also highly complementary to MSE

42 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

6 Space-based missions 6.1 General comments most widely-considered sense, but are 6.2 Wide field Optical/IR significantly detached from the detailed on strategic planning for decision making process that leads to Surveys from Space space astronomy space-based missions being chosen. The LRP2010 noted that the study of Participation in JWST is a major achieve- The topical teams, and the preceding Dark Energy is a priority for Canada, and ment in Canadian space astronomy, discipline working groups, add a level that both the US community (through generating enormous interest within the of detail beyond that present in the LRP the Astro2010 process) and ESA identi- scientific community, whilst simultane- process because the LRP view is extreme- fied Dark Energy satellite missions as ously being the most complex and costly ly broad. As such, the topical teams are a their top priority for space. The Euclid enterprise yet attempted. As a result of welcome and potentially useful addition (ESA) and the Wide Field InfraRed Space engineering this ambitious, but success- to planning that could aid both the CSA Telescope (WFIRST; NASA/DOE) mis- ful, contribution to an $8B mission, the and the LRP process. The key issue is sions address this need for those commu- technological and management capabili- assuring topical team results are prepared nities. In light of this, LRP2010 made the ties of Canadian space contractors, as well ahead of an LRP, or MTR. Conducting following recommendation: as the aspirations of Canadian scien- topical team studies while developing an tists, have grown hand-in-hand. As was LRP or MTR, introduces a number of The LRPP recommends that Cana- highlighted in LRP2010, the potential of problems both in coordination and rela- dian astronomers participate in a Canadian space astronomy, both in terms tive effort. major wide-field Dark Energy satel- of science leadership and industry exper- lite mission. Joining Euclid or WFIRST Despite these concerns, the overall goals tise, has reached the point where leading as a significant partner would fulfill a mid-level space astronomy mission for space astronomy of CASCA and the this recommendation, provided that would be a bold, achievable and ground- CSA remain the same: selecting the best breaking new step. missions and opportunities, both from we can (i) negotiate a partnership in a scientific and technology perspective, the leading mission, and (ii) identify At present, the decision-making pro- and then supporting them as effectively a contribution to the satellite instru- cess by which missions are chosen has as possible. Thus, the MTRP suggests mentation. Alternatively, a Canadian that future CSA topical teams be started a number of inputs that are potentially Space Telescope (CST) could be opposing. As always, the astronomy com- 18 months ahead of the LRP or MTR re- developed as a component of a Dark munity is prepared to help in any way it ports. At the same time, it is also possible can to streamline this process and to aid that the committee structures involved Energy experiment. transparency within the scientific and in the LRP process could be changed government spheres. to reflect discipline areas rather than Since that time, and despite consider- facilities. However, this would represent a able effort on the part of the CSA and The CSA currently relies upon input significant change in the organization of the Canadian astronomy community, from the JCSA, the LRP process, and its the LRP process. the opportunity to participate directly in own newly-contracted “topical teams”. Euclid in a significant way has vanished. The topical teams-effectively discipline Recommendation: The JCSA There remains the possibility of contributing ground-based imaging with CFHT working groups-are tasked to produce should work with CASCA the most focussed science cases for through a Large Program, in return for their particular science area within and the CSA, to determine some scientific participation within the space astronomy. At a broader level, the a precise input process for large Euclid consortium. But with no op- JCSA, which has a long history within mission selection in space portunity to contribute directly to satellite instrumentation, no arrangement of this the community, has worked tirelessly to astronomy that is both trans- advise CSA and CASCA on opportuni- type will satisfy the LRP2010 recommenda- ties and priorities in space astronomy. parent and equitable. tion. Two viable options remain: WFIRST Lastly, the LRP and the associated MTR and CST (now CASTOR). Though both suggest missions, in the broadest and have the potential to satisfy the recommendation, they are very different missions. 43 Unveiling the Cosmos

Figure 10. Visualization of WFIRST in orbit. While the mirror is a similar size to the Hubble Space Telescope, the images it takes will have 200 times the coverage of Hubble’s Wide Field Camera. Credit: NASA Goddard/CI Lab

6.2.1 WFIRST dark energy mission, and that makes it of tion at the end of 2014, for a “pool of interest to a great number of Canadian as- experts” to assist CSA in independent There is an opportunity, currently being tronomers. In particular it plays directly to reviews of concept studies for potential pursued and defined by the CSA, to join Canadian strengths in supernovae, weak contributions to WFIRST hardware. Six the WFIRST project. WFIRST has evolved lensing and exoplanets, as well as wide prominent astronomers were named to considerably since LRP2010 and since field survey science. this group, with acknowledgement from Astro2010 (US). It is now a larger, 2.4 m CSA that ad hoc contributions on specific telescope, donated by the National Recon- Over the past year, more than 50 Cana- issues might later be requested from oth- naissance Office (Figure 10). This increase dian astronomy faculty have expressed ers who responded to the RFI. over the original 1.5 m design yields interest in being directly involved in improvements in sensitivity and image WFIRST. Dr. Mike Hudson from the Following this, CSA initiated two concur- quality, though with a smaller field of view. University of Waterloo served as the rent concept studies for potential contri- The possible addition of a coronagraph Canadian representative on the Science butions: one on the Wide Field Imager with designed contrast of < 10–9 will allow Definition Team from December 2013, (WFI), led by COMDEV (Ottawa), and imaging and integral-field spectroscopy of until its termination in 2015. Among his another on the coronagraph, led by ABB Neptune-mass planets in reflected light. activities on this team, he conducted an (Quebec). The results of these studies Compared with Euclid, WFIRST will informal survey of the Canadian as- were well received by NASA, which is cover a smaller field but to significantly tronomical community regarding their actively following up. The CSA is to be deeper limits with smaller PSF, in the near interest in participating in the WFIRST commended for leading this work. infrared, and with more passes. It has ded- Science Investigation Teams (SITs). icated supernovae and exoplanet programs The response was very positive, with 42 NASA has put WFIRST on an accelerated that do not exist with Euclid. Finally, while people, including a significant fraction of development path, officially launching the Euclid offers no Guest Observer (GO) all senior, active Canadian astronomers, project ahead of schedule thanks to a large time, 25% or more of WFIRST time will registering interests distributed across all boost in funding from Congress. It is thus be used for a GO program. WFIRST is the SITs. In addition, there was a good imperative to further define how Canada therefore considerably broader than a response to a CSA Request for Informa- might engage in this project. One of the 44 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

challenges to fulfilling the LRPP recom- Recommendation: The MTRP 6.2.2 CASTOR mendation will be to enable participation reaffirms the exciting oppor- in such an ambitious mission at a suf- LRP2010 recommended that an alter- ficiently significant level. Participation at tunity presented by WFIRST native option to joining a NASA or the level of ~5%, equivalent to our share and its broad appeal to the ESA-led mission would be to develop a in JWST, would be in line with the LRP Canadian community. In or- Canadian Space Telescope mission as a recommendation for a $100M investment. der to fulfil the LRPP recom- component to a Dark Energy experiment. This evolved from an idea generated at Scientific involvement in WFIRST mis- mendation we recommend the 2006 Canadian Space Astronomy sion development is through the six SITs, that Canada begin negotia- Workshop (CSAW), for a flagship mis- comprising 174 members, who were tions to secure a significant sion focusing on wide-field UV/optical selected in December 2015. While there (~5%) level of participation, imaging and/or spectroscopy. It was are six participants on these SITs from the further developed within CSA Disci- Canadian community, these all have “Col- at the earliest opportunity, so pline Working Groups from 2007–09. laborator” status, rather than the more as to match NASA’s acceler- Now named the Cosmological Advanced influential “Co-I” status. While US Co-Is ated schedule. This should Survey Telescope for Optical and uv have access to substantial funding from include contributions to criti- Research (CASTOR), a concept study was NASA, others must provide proof of their launched in 2012, followed in 2013 by own external funding. Without compa- cal instrumentation that, pref- a two year Space Technologies Devel- rable funding, the Canadian community erentially, is synergistic with opment Program study to retire a key participation will be limited to a second- Canadian science interests, source of technical risk: UV detectors and ary role in scientific development, regard- and funded participation on coatings. This study identified a need to less of the level of hardware contribution. review detector layout and optical design Science Investigation Teams in order to mitigate red leak issues, and to We therefore make the following recom- for a representative number re-optimize overall observing strategy. mendation: of Canadian scientists.

Figure 11 Rendering of the CASTOR telescope design. Credit: P. Cote 45 Unveiling the Cosmos

CASTOR contributes to dark energy updates the optical design science case as in the past 25 years. Clearly our biggest exploration by providing the UV/blue a result of the detector study. impact has been in terms of expertise and spectral energy distribution coverage know-how that has contributed to ad- needed by both WFIRST and Euclid for Members of the international community, vances in theory, data analysis, experiment accurate photometric redshift measure- particularly in France, India, Taiwan, design, and technology. The latter pro- ments. It is also complementary to LSST, Australia, Switzerland, and the US, vides a concrete example. Essentially every providing access to the UV and generally have expressed interest in the CASTOR competitive CMB polarization experiment improved sensitivity at wavelengths below concept. The need for a replacement to, that is presently operating on the ground 400 nm, together with the much higher and upgrade of, the capabilities of HST or on stratospheric balloon platforms is angular resolution needed to overcome for UV imaging is widely acknowledged, using Canadian-built technology to read potential biases at faint magnitudes where and other related mission concepts (e.g. out their transition edge sensor (TES) de- LSST becomes confusion limited. It thus Messier, CoWeX, HDST) are being devel- tectors. This includes leading experiments has significant strategic value for Canadi- oped. Without formal CSA support and such as the Atacama Cosmology Telescope ans involved in these other projects. It is an accurate cost estimate, it is difficult or and BICEP, which use readout electronics an exciting project in its own right, with impossible to develop connections with designed and built at UBC, and the South a compelling science case that plays to the necessary international partners. Pole Telescope and POLARBEAR, which Canadian expertise in wide-field optical Regardless of what happens with Euclid use readout electronics designed and built imaging. In addition to its contribution to or WFIRST, therefore, it is necessary at McGill. Likewise, two stratospheric bal- dark energy investigation, the surveys and to continue developing the CASTOR loon missions have flown CMB polarim- GO programs executed by CASTOR will concept with a Phase 0 study, to identify eters recently: Spider and EBEX use the allow transformative research in the fields the needs and technical requirements to UBC and McGill technology respectively, of galaxy evolution, near-field cosmology, allow a realistic assessment of the project demonstrating these systems in a space- stellar astrophysics and the outer solar feasibility, cost, and development plans. like environment. Canadian-built readout system – all areas of strength within the electronics, as well as software and analy- Canadian community. Recommendation: The sis expertise, have become a requisite for MTRP strongly recommends successful experiments. The project is well aligned with Canada’s Space Policy Framework; in particular, it that the CSA launch a Phase Since the 2010 LRP was released, tech- has the potential to become a high profile 0 study for CASTOR, with nological developments and new mea- mission producing exceptional scientific study results required within surements have resulted in tremendous results, as well as being a flagship for Ca- 12 months, so that this progress for teams attempting to indirect- nadian industry and the CSA. More than ly detect gravity waves emitted from an twenty companies have been identified, compelling project can be early period of inflation using the Cosmic across Canada, who might participate developed, presented, and Microwave Background (CMB) polar- in the design, development, and fabrica- competed in the interna- ization. The field has matured from its tion of mission components. As noted in tional community. The LRPIC infancy to one of the most-watched fields the LRP, CASTOR would provide “the in cosmology (and indeed in physics). ideal opportunity for high-tech Canadian and JCSA should review the companies to showcase their capabilities”, outcome of that study and At large angular scales, the B-mode particularly in the areas of optoelectron- make further recommenda- polarization component of the primor- ics, high-volume data transmission tech- tions as appropriate, well in dial CMB is expected to be dominated nologies, X-band phased array transceiv- by inflationary-epoch gravity waves. At ers, data handling units, memory boards, advance of LRP2020. smaller angular scales, secondary-effects readout systems and control software. due to gravitational lensing imprint a signal in the B-mode component that traces The related detector study has identified 6.3 Cosmic Microwave structure. This generates a guaranteed and tested components for a focal plane Background Polarization signal which is extremely sensitive to the array that significantly exceed specifica- Missions physics of dark energy and the details of tions, and place Canadian technology the neutrino sector. in a world-leading position for this type Canadians have played key roles in nearly of mission. If a full phase 0 study is not every important CMB result to appear The first detection of B-mode polarization done soon, we support further work that at small angular scales due to gravitational 46 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

lensing was made with the South Pole Tele- funding in the US for its implementation A dedicated CMB polarization satellite scope (the discovery paper had a Canadian concept study phase as a mission of op- will be a large international partnership. first author, despite being from an Ameri- portunity from NASA. LiteBIRD employs With support from the Canadian Space can led collaboration) and proved the ma- a kilo-pixel superconducting detector ar- Agency, Canadian researchers are unique- turity of the instrumentation and analysis ray spanning a dozen frequency bands on ly positioned to play an international techniques. This was rapidly followed by a cryogenically cooled 100 mK focal plane, leadership role in this mission, partnering a detection of large angular scale B-mode with an optical system at a temperature with one or more other agencies to make polarization with BICEP2 in March 2014 of 4 K. It will have an angular resolution the definitive measurement of large to (with significant Canadian co-authorship) of 30 arcminutes at 150 GHz. In both the medium angular scale CMB polarization. — the signal that, if it originated in the Japanese and American proposals, Cana- CMB, would be the hallmark of inflation- dian readout electronics were presented as ary gravity waves. The scientific world was the baseline technology for the mission. Recommendation: The stunned by the potential implications. MTRP recognizes the unique LiteBIRD is not alone in the CMB polar- role that Canada could play However, there is now general agreement ization landscape. A novel concept, called that, although the measurement appears PIXIE, is being explored in the US. PIXIE in an international CMB correct, the origin of this B-mode polar- uses Fourier transform spectroscopy and polarization satellite mission. ization is more likely from dust emission multi-moded optics to measure both the The MTRP strongly recom- in our galaxy, rather than a feature in the polarization anisotropy and probe spec- mends that the CSA engage CMB. This emphasizes the need for sensi- tral distortions. The PIXIE team is likely tive observations covering a large number to re-propose for the next NASA MidEx in discussions with its sister of frequency bands, many of which are opportunity in 2016 or 2017. The team agencies for a hardware and only accessible from satellite platforms. has strong Canadian participation. science role in a new mis- The excitement that accompanied the re- sion such as LiteBIRD or sult highlights the global interest in this as In Europe, several CMB polarization perhaps the most powerful modern-day concepts have been proposed. Although other mission opportunity probe of very early universe physics. none have been successful to date, there is such as PIXIE that may arise strong community support for leadership in the immediate future. Definitive measurements of B-mode po- or participation in a CMB polarization larization in the CMB will ultimately be mission to follow on the success of Planck. made from satellite platforms, as has been the case for the temperature anisotropies. International collaborations designing and building satellite CMB polarimetry observatories have expressed interest in using Canadian technology for these instruments. The Canadian Space Agency has recognized this signature Canadian technology and invested in creating higher technical readiness level (TRL) prototypes with funding through its Sci- ence and Technology Development and the Flights for the Advancement of Sci- ence and Technology (FAST) programs, readying it as a potential mission critical contribution to a satellite mission.

Recently, LiteBIRD (Figure 12), a high Figure 12 Artist’s impression of the LiteBIRD mission that is designed to measure profile JAXA-led international mission the signature imprinted on the Cosmic Microwave Background polarization by gravity planned for launch in 2022, has been waves emitted from a period of inflation a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. Canadian funded in Japan for phase A1 (as a Stra- technology forms the baseline readout for the project. Credit: NASA MO Proposal, tegic Large Mission) and received new UC Berkeley 47 Unveiling the Cosmos

6.4 Athena (jets, gamma-ray bursts). The selection of lent foreseen scientific capabilities IXO also reflected the growing number of that will be a superb match for the Involvement in the next flagship high- Canadian astronomers working in these expertise of the Canadian HEA com- fields, and the importance of multiwave- energy astrophysics (HEA) mission was munity, but also with an eye toward length astronomy. ranked as the highest medium-scale capitalizing on technical expertise space opportunity in LRP2010. This gained from fabrication, implementa- recommendation recognized the general In LRP2010, the specific recommendation importance of probing matter both in its read, tion, and calibration of the ASTRO-H most common state (hot gas in galaxy metrology system. Involvement with clusters) and in its most extreme – and The LRPP strongly recommends Ca- IXO is consistent with CSA’s mandate hence often most physically revealing – nadian R&D involvement in the Inter- of growing experience and capability. conditions. Such investigations include national X-ray Observatory (IXO) as extremes of gravity (black holes), density, its number-one medium-scale space IXO was a worldwide project which was magnetic field (neutron stars), tempera- priority. This is because of its excel- also ranked as the highest space-based ture (supernova remnants), and speed priority in the US decadal survey. Its aim

Figure 13. Athena is planned to survey a violent Universe of exploding stars, black holes and hot gas. New silicone pore optics will provide improved resolution and an enlarged collection area compared to current X-ray missions. Credit: ESA 48 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

was to significantly improve on existing Building upon the ASTRO-H mission and partnership will be open only to agencies missions in all facets of survey speed, successful contribution of the Canadian contributing a significant piece of the mis- collecting area, spectral resolution, and ASTRO-H Metrology System (CAMS), sion. Despite launch being scheduled for energy coverage. The project, however, Athena is a natural aspiration for involve- 2028, the project is moving ahead swiftly, ended up being considered overly ambi- ment for the HEA community, and associ- and we need to continue our involvement. tious and risky, and in the US, budget ated technology development, in Canada. constraints forced the wavelength cover- As was highlighted in detail within age to narrow to optical survey instru- LRP2010, this community has grown ex- Recommendation: The ments. This led ESA to turn to a more tensively since 2000, to now contain close MTRP recommends that focussed and robust European-led X-ray to 30 faculty and almost 100 individuals in Canada continue to explore mission, the Advanced Telescope for total. Four current Canada Research Chairs the possibility of contributing High-ENergy Astrophysics (ATHENA, exist in this field, and there are also former now written Athena; approved for de- chair holders as well. Further, despite lack- to the science instrumenta- velopment for a nominal 2028 launch). ing individual scientists who work directly tion on Athena, as well as the While the mission cost has come down on X-ray instrumentation, the successful cost and the access to the from that anticipated for IXO, Athena delivery of CAMS to JAXA in 2015 has mission that would be gained is still budgeted at approximately €1.4B, also demonstrated that the community is or over $2B CAD, assuming a €1 to 1.5 capable of working effectively with indus- from such a contribution. CAD exchange rate. try partners who possess the necessary instrumentation expertise. At the same While less ambitious than IXO, Athena time, development of flight qualified read- will still be transformational in the same out electronics for transition edge sensors 6.5 SPICA sense that ALMA has been compared to (TES) has been funded. Taking all factors previous millimetre arrays, and that TMT together, the overall size, success, and tech- SPICA is a planned far-infrared space will be compared to 10 m class telescopes. nological expertise of the HEA community mission led by Japan with participation Athena will provide well over an order-of- has continued to grow since 2010. from ESA. In its original concept, SPICA magnitude improvement in effective area, would have been 100 times more sensi- field of view, and/or spectral resolution As for other research specialities, access tive than Herschel because of its cooled over previous missions as well as missions to leading facilities is essential to main- primary mirror. Canadian participation planned for the nearer future. Two instru- taining competiveness and attracting top was made even more interesting because ments are proposed for the mission, an talent. With Athena viewed as the “world of the potential to leverage our expertise X-ray integral field unit, covering a five -ar observatory” X-ray facility, not being in Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (FTS) cminute field with high spectral resolution involved would be a significant blow technology. LRP2010 gave Canadian in the energy range 0.2–10 keV, and a 40 both to the current community and the participation in SPICA very high priority arcminute wide-field imager with a similar potential for attracting the next genera- under medium-scale space projects. energy coverage but less spectral resolution of researchers. Similar arguments can tion. The revolutionary use of silicon pore be made on the technology development SPICA has undergone considerable optics will enable the unique combination side, where involvement in designing revision in the past five years. The size of of a large collecting area and good angular and building major new hardware would the primary mirror has been decreased resolution. The two instruments also work provide a venue to train engineers and somewhat to 2.5 m (Herschel was 3.5 in a complementary fashion: wide-field develop new technology-related skills. m) and is now based on the design for imaging allowing rapid mapping of the the Planck telescope. One side effect of sky to reveal populations such as high For all Athena’s promise as a ground- the smaller mirror is that an FTS would redshift black holes, while the integral breaking facility, the route to participa- no longer be the best instrument for field unit is capable of studying the precise tion is unclear. Aside from the previ- spectroscopic surveys, particularly in the phenomenology of hot gas to learn, for ex- ously mentioned metrology and readout z=1–3 redshift range. A dispersive system ample, how it accretes and evolves in dark electronics for the calorimeter imager, based on a diffraction grating is needed, matter halos. All these advances make Canada has expertise in satellite pointing but this provides only low resolution Athena the “world observatory” for X-ray and calibration support. However, a more spectroscopy (R~300). A complementary astronomy, and it will make advances significant challenge is the overall size of high-resolution component is needed across many field of HEA. the contribution required to participate and this is likely to be provided using a in the mission. There are indications that Fabry-Perot interferometer. 49 Unveiling the Cosmos

Figure 14. The BIT telescope about to be launched from Timmins, Ontario in September 2015. Credit: Steven Li

There is still the potential for Canada 6.6 Small payload and Since that time, the Canadian Space to remain a key player in the mission, Agency has introduced two programmes possibly by taking on the Fabry-Perot balloon-borne missions that have helped address these worries at development. The design of the Fabry- the low-cost end: the regular Flight for Perot involves metrology and a cryogenic Canada has continued to build expertise Advancement of Science and Technolo- mechanism and is not so different from in using small satellites and balloon-borne gies (FAST, up to ~$500K) opportuni- the scanning mechanism used for an instruments for astronomy, which are ties, and a new balloon program, joint FTS, which builds on our heritage from funded by the CSA through grants. The with the French space agency (CNES) Herschel and JWST. Thus, SPICA still has BRITE Constellation is the first project to called STRATOS ($0.5M–$2M), with immense potential and there is a potential use nanosatellites for astronomical mea- launches from Timmins (ON) as well as route for Canada to be involved. surements – aiming to better understand other CNES sites. Both programs have the structure of the most luminous stars. been used by the astronomical com- SPICA had a successful Mission Design With balloons, BLASTpol is being used munity, with a nice example being the Review by JAXA in summer 2015. Fund- to study the early stages of star forma- recent test flight of the Balloon-borne ing for SPICA will be submitted to the tion, while EBEX and SPIDER aim to find Imaging Telescope (BIT, see Figure ESA M5 call expected in early 2016. If direct evidence for the epoch of inflation 14), which allowed the team to prove funded, launch would be in 2029 or 2030. in the cosmic microwave background. the ability to point a half-metre optical telescope sufficiently well to obtain An issue identified in LRP2010 was that diffraction-limited and thus high-reso- Recommendation: The funding opportunities for small satellite lution imaging. With that successful test MTRP recommends that missions were perceived as unclear. In- passed, the path is now open for a longer Canada explore the possibil- deed, this was one reason that, of the six flight (aimed at measuring the masses of nano-satellites that comprise BRITE Con- ity of contributing elements clusters of galaxies using weak lensing) stellation, the two Canadian ones were as well as for constructing a larger suc- of the Fabry-Perot instrument launched several months after the first cessor, SuperBIT, which aims to obtain- to SPICA, as well as the cost launches by the partner countries Austria ing high-resolution, wide field optical and the access to the mis- and Poland. This was despite the fact that images of large parts of the sky, thus the project was conceived in Canada and sion that would be gained providing an early preview of the type that the satellites were designed (and of science aimed for by Euclid, WFIRST from such a contribution. mostly built) at the University of Toronto and CASTOR. Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). 50 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

At present, the Timmins flights have 6.7 Current and near- At the time of the LRP2010, the science weight and duration restrictions which module of the FGS was intended to be a limit their appeal for astronomy science term space missions Tunable Filter Imager (TFI). However, flights – indeed, for BIT's longer sci- technical challenges to this instrument ence flight, the team will rely on NASA 6.7.1 JWST put the TFI at risk given the sched- launches and funding, while for SuperBIT ule constraints imposed by the JWST the hope is to use one of the new class of JWST is an ambitious successor to the project. Thus, in 2011, the instrument super-pressure, long-duration balloons. Hubble Space Telescope. With a 6.5 m was rescoped into NIRISS, a simpler It is hoped that by further collaborat- mirror and a formidable instrument but uniquely powerful instrument that ing with CNES, the payload restrictions suite it is far more capable than HST and can be configured for broadband imag- on launches can be relaxed. This would promises to be a transformative facility ing, multi-object low-resolution slitless open up astronomical opportunities more for many areas of research. Broadly, JWST spectroscopy, high-contrast imaging, and generally; e.g., the proposed high con- is designed to address four fundamental cross-dispersed spectroscopy optimized trast planet imaging experiment MAPLE science themes: “The End of the Dark for exoplanet transit work. The FGS was would likely similarly benefit from a less Ages: First Light and Reionization”; “The delivered to NASA in July 2012, repre- stringent weight limit and from longer Assembly of Galaxies”; “The Birth of Stars senting an enormously important mile- duration flights. and Protoplanetary Systems”; and “The stone for which CSA and the FGS science Origins of Life”. Optimized to operate at team are applauded. On the funding side, the main element near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, it will that is missing is a regular call for propos- have a tremendous synergy with the next JWST far surpasses the HST in terms of als for somewhat higher-cost small proj- generation of ground-based telescopes, its functionality; its instrument suite will ects, at the few million dollar level (i.e., including the TMT, which will be able to include multi-object and integral field that required for, e.g., the construction follow up spectroscopically the many new spectrographs, a slitless spectrometer, a and launch of a nano-satellite). Given the classes of objects discovered by JWST. non-redundant pupil mask, two corona- above concerns, the MTRP recommends graphs, and three imagers. Much work as follows: JWST was identified as the highest prior- remains to be done to ensure the Cana- ity for space astronomy in LRP2000, and dian community is ready to exploit these Recommendation: The again in 2010. Canada secured a large powerful instruments immediately upon contribution to this project ($150M, launch, and to maximize the Canadian MTRP recommends that 2.5% of the total cost) under CSA direc- contribution to JWST science during its Canada continue to support tion, representing our largest ever invest- (minimum) five-year lifetime. The pro- small-scale exploratory satel- ment in astronomy, at that time, and still posed six-month proprietary period adds lite projects and balloon- the largest investment in space-based additional time pressure for science teams astronomy. Through this investment to exploit their data before they become borne missions through Canadians are guaranteed at least 5% public. It is important that potential regular calls for proposals, of the available observing time for our users are well informed and prepared in and that the CSA introduce contribution of the Fine Guidance Sensor advance of the launch date, and funded regular calls for proposals for (FGS), which includes the guider itself workshops and help centres (which as well as the Near-Infrared Imager and proved to be successful with ALMA) nano- and microsatellite op- Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS). Though would help to achieve this. portunities and contributions the launch delay anticipated by LRP2010 to instrumentation on larger came to pass, the current launch date of As was emphasized in LRP2010, the op- missions, so that these types October 2018 has been stable for some erational model for JWST is challenging time and appears secure. Integration of because observing time awards will not of projects can also proceed the various parts is of such public interest necessarily be synchronized with funding through a competitive fund- that the NASA Goddard cleanroom is opportunities for using the data. This puts ing process. broadcasting its activities via a webcam Canadians at a competitive disadvantage (Figure 15). relative to US astronomers, who have opportunities to apply for funding associated with successful proposals.

51 Unveiling the Cosmos

Figure 15 The JWST mirror segments being integrated on to the mirror support structure at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Credit: NASA Goddard/Chris Gunn

In support of these concerns LRP2010 below what NASA will provide for US Recommendation: The recommended: astronomers who are awarded observing MTRP reaffirms the essential time. Estimates for the per year support importance of continuing The LRPP recommends that CSA of JWST science in the US are between set aside funds in the SSEP program $40M–$60M USD, scaling down by the science support to exploit to provide support for four PDFs in fraction of observing time available for our investment in JWST as each country, this is equivalent to a sup- well as other CSA-supported support of JWST and other CSA support in Canada of around $2M–$3M per ported missions. This investment will year. To take full advantage of the 5% of missions. This should include help ensure that the exceptional data observing time available to Canadian as- funding workshops and help expected from these missions will be tronomers will require that financial sup- centres to enable the com- utilized to their full extent. port from all sources be competitive with munity to ramp up expertise what is available to our US colleagues. prior to launch, as well as a Indeed, the funding level required to sup- mechanism for funding post- port four PDFs per year, relative to our Thus, the MTRP reaffirms the recommen- share of JWST time, is likely to be well dation from LRP2010, as follows: doctoral fellows to work on and with JWST data.

52 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

6.7.2 Ultra-Violet Imaging Tele- Astrosat was launched on 28 September performance of all instruments has been scope on Astrosat 2015, and first light with the X-ray instru- properly characterized, there will be a first ments occurred on 12 October 2015. The call for proposals, likely in March 2016, Astrosat comprises four X-ray tele- ultraviolet telescopes were opened later, for observations starting in September scopes as well as two telescopes covering allowing for the instruments to be prop- 2016. Observations from all instruments ultraviolet and blue wavelengths, with erly “outgassed,” with first light happening may be proposed for observing, serving all telescopes co-aligned and operating on 1 December 2015. So far, the results are a very wide range of scientific interests. simultaneously, allowing studies with an excellent, with both satellite and instru- The Canadian Space Agency is funding an unusually broad energy coverage, from ments working nominally, and, in the case expert to support Canadian proposals and the blue/ultraviolet to both soft and hard of UVIT, actually exceeding specifications. data processing for UVIT. We urge that the X-rays. Astrosat is an India-led mission, level of support be adequate to make opti- for which Canada provided the detectors Going forward to the operations phase, mal use of our share of this unique facility. and read-out electronics for the Ultra-Vi- there will first be a period with guaran- olet Imaging Telescopes (UVIT). Canada teed-time observations of pre-selected has a 5% share of the observing time. targets. In parallel, once this in-orbit

Figure 16 Visualization of ASTRO-H. CAMS will precisely measure any distortions in the boom alignment, allowing precise calibration of the hard X-ray detections. Credit: JAXA 53 Unveiling the Cosmos

6.7.3 ASTRO-H (Hitomi) vae to constraints on the dark matter in mirrors accurately, some dozen metres clusters of galaxies from the properties in front of the detectors. In exchange for The ASTRO-H mission (Figure 16) is and velocities of their hot gas. The second our contribution, Canadian astronomers a continuation of a series of innovative noteworthy aspect is the ability to focus are allowed to apply for time within the X-ray satellites led by Japan. It is notewor- high-energy X-rays, using multi-layer, JAXA block of observing time, and also, thy in two aspects. The first is the unique grazing-incidence mirrors. These novel arguably more importantly, get to provide ability to precisely measure the energies of mirrors give much improved angular reso- input into the planning process. incoming X-ray photons, which allows, for lution and a much reduced background example, accurate separation of emission (and thus improved sensitivity). ASTRO-H launched successfully on from different elements in hot plasmas. February 17, 2016 and was renamed The latter in turn, allows for a range in Canada's contribution is tied to the “Hitomi.” studies, from measurements of the yields second aspect: it provides the metrology of those elements produced in superno- required to position the grazing incidence

54 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

7 Computing, networks and data 7.1 Overview perceived promise and actual returns on Data management issues have also research in this area still exhibit a gap, evolved significantly in the last five years. Computing and networks are now a key the influence of new techniques and ap- With the rise of CANFAR as the key component in improving productivity proaches has filtered through to the point directing body for data support in Cana- across numerous spheres of society. In that graduate courses are being construct- dian astronomy, an increasing number astronomy research, it has long been the ed with these tools in mind. Indeed, many of researchers are participating on its case that computers are as necessary as astronomy graduates are finding employ- Science Management steering commit- telescopes. Indeed, in a recent survey ment in the growing field of data science tee. Through this committee an informal conducted by the CASCA Computa- where their skills are directly applicable. approach to policy on data management tion and Data Committee (CDC), 65% is evolving, although nothing official is of CASCA members reported that it In terms of the overall management and established. As a critical part of CAN- was likely they would need access to the distribution of computing and networks, FAR, the CADC has invested significant significant computing resources provided the federated governance remains the resources in moving analysis services over by Compute Canada (CC) in the next five same as it was in 2010. Networking is ad- to a cloud-based model operated largely years. Essentially all new telescope facility dressed at the federal level by CANARIE, on CC hardware. This creates potential designs incorporate data processing and at the provincial level by the optical re- benefits in terms of scalability, but has reduction as key step in the development gional advanced networks (ORANs), and also highlighted challenges in the deploy- process, and for some (the SKA is a no- last mile connectivity is the domain of the ment of this kind of infrastructure: insuf- table example) it can have a fundamental research institutions. Funding of CA- ficient capacity and a lack of desired hard- influence on the overall capability. Over- NARIE is assured for the next few years ware configurations within CC (although all, ICT infrastructure is a critical factor in with the commitment of $105M for the future hardware purchases by CC could the overall success of research astronomy. 2015–20 period, while ORAN funding is address this issue). However, the CADC more sporadic and reflective of indi- is acutely aware of archive access/security LRP2010 highlighted that hardware invest- vidual provincial government initiatives. and, if needs be, will maintain a separate ments were falling significantly behind oth- Computing infrastructure continues to be copy of data on proprietary hardware. er countries, and recommended increasing provided by provincial and CFI-funded investment in computing to $50M/year, a consortia under the banner of CC. doubling of the net investment from 2005– 7.2 Compute and storage 10. At the same time, the report noted that There have been some key changes in the CC would need to support additional new organization of CC, with a consolidation resources services, particularly cloud computing and of sites resulting from the decommission- recommended that the organization move ing of aging equipment and only four new CC will celebrate its tenth anniversary in this direction. The last recommendation sites being funded in the 2015 Cyberin- in 2016. In that decade there has been made focused on developing a coherent frastructure competition. However, CFI significant evolution in its management Canadian Data Management Policy that has also allocated new funding streams structure, from a bottom-up federated focused on end-to-end management of to directly address software develop- approach in early days, to the central- data, especially for the needs of upcoming ment, which is a welcome addition. The ized structure that operates today. “world observatories”. 2015 Economic Action Plan for Canada Despite a number of teething troubles, also announced a new CFI commitment the organization is finally reaching some In the five years since LRP2010 was to digital infrastructure, interpreted as level of maturity, and processes, such authored, cloud computing concepts and computing and data infrastructure, of as resource allocation, are now well es- the growth of data analytics, commonly $100M. Adding matching funds means tablished and comparatively optimized, falling under the “Big Data” banner, have there is a significant reinvestment poten- even if compute resources are insuffi- undergone an almost exponential growth tial, although years of below-G8 average cient. There remain concerns about stor- in visibility. Astronomy, as a field, has investments in computing infrastruc- age allocation procedures and tailoring been a pioneer in data management and ture (as detailed in LRP2010) mean that of proposals to machine architecture, analysis, so adaptation to these trends Canada has a long way to go to be seen as but many of these issues can, at least in has happened quite naturally. While the internationally competitive. principle, be addressed.

55 Unveiling the Cosmos

At the same time that the new structure of CC was put in place, a number of consor- System Name Location System parameters tia essentially centralized coordination to provide more streamlined representation LP University of Toronto 66,000 CPU cores, 15 at both the provincial and federal level. The PB of storage regional consortia interests are now represented by WestGrid, Compute Ontario, GP1 University of Victoria 8,500 CPU cores, 7 PB Calcul Quebec, and ACEnet. These organi- of storage zations continue to be one of the strongest voices for users, the base of which has grown by a factor of two in just five years GP2 Simon Fraser University 25,500 CPU cores, 20 to over 10,000 across the country. PB, 192 GPU cards

Despite the extensive changes in the CC GP3 University of Waterloo 26,500 CPU cores, structure with the goal of improving the 20.5 PB, 64 GPU cards overall efficiency of the organization, hardware funding for the 2010–15 period Table of new systems funded as a result of the 2015 CFI Cyberinfrastucture was lower than anticipated in LRP2010. competition. These systems will be operated by regional consortia. With astronomy being a significant user (approximately 5% of cycles are used Additional input was provided to CC provinces and vendors, this is an aver- by 350 astronomers who constitute by other fields, as well as commentary age per year investment of $50M, which only 0.5% of the CC user base) research from the Advisory Council on Research. corresponds exactly to the recommen- aspirations have been notably impacted. Overall predictions, weighted by usage, dation made in LRP2010. Based upon Additionally, from an operational per- led to CC estimating an increase of 7x numbers presented therein, the resulting spective, inefficient and old hardware has for compute needs and a 15x increase in investment would place Canada in the been operated beyond its cost-effective data requirements by 2020. These findings middle of the G8 on an HPC investment life-cycle, and the comparative expense were included as motivating factors in the as a function of GDP basis; although it is of this led to CC proposing, in 2015, to CC proposal for four new systems (see worth emphasizing expenditures in other defund a number of hardware installa- table) that was submitted, and funded, as countries have likely increased. Addition- tions. Although having a staged roll-out part of the 2015 CFI Cyberinfrastructure ally some installations, most notably the over two years, the implementation of competition. While originally budgeted at US “Blue Waters” installation, which cost this strategy will lead to a reduction in the $15M, CFI upgraded this award to $30M. over $200M USD, is not listed on the Top number of sites with supported hardware In addition, as part of the additional 500. While computing requirements are from 23 to 11. $100M investment in Cyberinfrastructure growing across many subject fields, this from the Economic Action Plan, another increase in funding is obviously extremely As part of the SPARC consultations con- block of $25M has been released to the welcome but is unlikely to significantly ducted by CC, CASCA’s CDC conducted CFI, of which $20M will go to hardware, change Canada’s overall position given a review of projections for computing re- making the net CFI hardware investment the extended period of underfunding. quirements in Canada in the 2015–20 time for 2015–17 $50M. A further $25M will Machines in the Top 20 already have frame and submitted a white paper outlin- go towards software development over the 100,000+ CPU cores today, so the LP ing these findings. Overall computing same time span. system will not meet the “Tier 1” desire requirements were estimated as growing that many researchers have stated. Future by a factor of 10x, while average storage The remaining $75M of the $100M funding is needed to address this. requirements were estimated to grow by Economic Action Plan investment an- a factor of 3x, although a number of proj- nounced in 2015 will be spent in the The MTRP commends both the govern- ects, most notably the SKA, would have 2017–20 time frame. Assuming a split ment and CC in moving to address and vast storage requirements. Astronomers of $50M towards hardware and $25M fund the replacement of ageing compute placed a high priority on building large- towards further software development, infrastructure and the progression of scale computational and storage facilities the total hardware investment by CFI supporting new computing paradigms, to support simulation, data analysis and over the 2015–20 time frame should be most notably cloud computing. However, mining. Funds for software development close to $100M. After full match from as many distributed research projects (of were also acknowledged as necessary. 56 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

which CANFAR is a notable example) of digital research infrastructure makes built has seen the rise of a close collabora- move towards software-as-a-service ap- policy direction difficult to determine tion between the CADC and the CAN- proaches there will be a need both for from a bottom-up process, not only due to FAR steering committee which primarily further hardware investment and the the difficulty of coordinating stakeholder comprises university-based researchers. provision of new services beyond compu- interests but also in terms of managing Recognizing the importance of careful tation and software. technical issues, including standards. data management, and the growing need for analysis, the HAL report stressed: Recommendation: CC Nonetheless, two summits led to the formulation of a number of recom- “CANFAR is thus a critical evolution provide services such as mendations by the Leadership Council in Canada’s astronomy computing en- authentication/authoriza- and arguably had a role in the increased vironment that will allow researchers investment in digital infrastructure that is tion, and efficient distrib- to take advantage of the opportunities uted storage platforms that now occurring. However, simultaneously, Industry Canada has conducted its own afforded by this new global reality.” encompass both archiving consultation process on digital research and user spaces in a scal- infrastructure which ended in September Development of the CANFAR platform able way. Services like this 2015. CC made a significant contribution has been strongly aided by a series of NEP awards from CANARIE. Despite a will enable the development to this process and, perhaps critically, has emphasized the importance of technical number of successes in the past five years of increasingly sophisticated advice within policy and decision making (indeed since 2011 over 500 publications analysis platforms. processes. Their submission includes a cite CANFAR support), two key issues suggestion to formally create a Digital have co-developed: the need to transi- Research Infrastructure Advisory Council tion on to hardware supported by CC (as with both policy and technical elements to part of the wider government hardware 7.3 Evolution of the provide direct advice to the government. rationalization policy) and the vision of Management of Digital extending the capabilities of the platform to encompass additional analysis Research Infrastructure and visualization methods, particularly in Canada 7.4 CADC and CANFAR the analysis of simulated data. Combin- ing simulated data with observational For over two decades the CADC has been Before discussing the CADC and CAN- analysis pipelines allows the creation of a critical component of the astronomy FAR, it is also important to note that forecasts for observations (commonly research infrastructure in Canada. The the increase in the public perception of called “mock” observations) rapidly and evolution of the CADC has been well- the importance of digital infrastructure more importantly, accurately, by directly documented elsewhere, but key statistics has led to the evolution of new policy matching observational procedures. Such for 2014 include: 20 staff, over 400 Cana- bodies above both CC and CANARIE. augmentation must be done in a flexible dian users, 7,000 (international) regis- Virtualization of computation, combined and scalable way, which is non-trivial. tered users and 91 million file requests to with the increased sharing of data, makes the 2.3 PB archive. This highlights both the digital landscape considerably more Thus, the transition and augmentation of the international nature of astronomy and complex than in the era of batch jobs and this innovative platform requires sig- the data-driven nature of the field. remote file transfer protocols. In recogni- nificant investment. However, there are tion of this changing landscape, the Lead- delicate political issues as CADC staff are But the key evolution for the CADC in ership Council on Digital Infrastructure NRC employees and a number of federal the last five years is the emergence of the brought together representatives from agencies have distinct rules on passing CANFAR cloud-based platform for both universities, CANARIE, CC, Canadian funding to other federal agencies (no- serving and analyzing observational data. Research Knowledge Network, Research tably CFI). A proposal by the CANFAR While the CADC originally grew out of Data Canada, Canadian Association of consortium to the CFI Cyberinfrastruc- NRC requirements to provide researchers Research Libraries and the granting coun- ture fund was rejected on these grounds, with data, CANFAR evolved primarily cils along with Industry Canada repre- despite CANARIE funding precedents on the needs of university researchers to sentatives. However, the large number of and the majority of the funding going to perform analysis on data. The recognition stakeholders and the complicated nature non-NRC personnel. Such rulings, ap- that an encompassing platform can be pear to be distinctly against the spirit of 57 Unveiling the Cosmos

the 2011 “Innovation Canada: A Call to Action” report, led by Mr. Tom Jenkins, which highlighted the importance of a close working relationships between the NRC, universities and industry. Fund- ing problems, induced by structural governance issues, have the potential to severely impact science progress.

Recommendation: Given the increasingly blurred relationship between data and analysis products, the MTRP recommends that the Agen- cy Committee for Canadian Astronomy (ACCA) meet to discuss possible strategies to avoid policy traps that preclude the funding of the development of critical and innovative software infrastructure for CANFAR.

58 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

8 Governance, Funding and Budgets 8.1 The complexity of the on future investments, its governance The MTRP commends the LRPIC for ground-based astronomy process is challenged in several the exceptional job it has done over respects. One is the high level of un- the past five years and sees it as a governance landscape certainty over future facilities, all of valuable and continuing addition to which depend on multi-governmen- the LRP process. First we reiterate what is meant by “governance” in the context of astronomy tal funding partnerships. At any given Yet, the challenges involved in negotiat- in Canada and this MTR report, since time, there are a number of major ing a share in TMT clearly demonstrate astronomical research by its nature can- next-generation telescope projects why the overall governance of astronomy not be “governed.” There are two primary being proposed by various interna- in Canada needs improvement. The contexts relevant to the MTR in which tional coalitions of scientists, many process played out over a number of the term “governance” is applied. The first of which are in competition with one years and involved CASCA, ACURA, a is the development and operations man- coalition of representatives of industry agement of national and international another for government support. and academia, NRC, and of course, the observatory facilities to which access is astronomy community. provided on a competitive basis for Cana- “This uncertainty is compounded by dian astronomers. Such facilities include, the fast pace of evolution in the field. In fact, there was very little “process” – it for example, CFHT, Gemini, and ALMA. Driven partly by new technological was quite ad hoc and changed in response The second context relates to grants and advances, new opportunities are de- to evolving situations. Both from the contract funds to conduct research with veloping faster than can be planned perspective of the community and fund- these and other facilities. for by the current decadal planning ing agencies, the process would have been better facilitated if there had been a The investigation carried out by the Hick- process. Another challenge is the central body that was clearly recognized ling, Arthurs, Low Company concluded: fact that investments in major new by all stakeholders as representing the facilities typically require new money interests of the entire community, while “Governance of astronomy in beyond the funding envelopes of the being respected in a policy advice role.18 Canada is remarkably complex, ow- agencies that support astronomy. This central body would oversee the ing in large part to the fact that there development of a coherent, strategic plan is no central structure for allocating “Finally, the effectiveness of this for astronomy and be able to respond to funding for big science projects. In- governance arrangement is also chal- requests from the government or other stead, the community must mobilize lenged by the degree of informality organizations about priorities. One possibility to consider might be to utilize the and align both funders and perform- and associated lack of clarity of the proposed NRC Herzberg Advisory Board, ers to ensure that, in an environ- roles of participants.” discussed below, for this purpose. An- ment of limited resources, Canada other possibility might be for ACURA to can continue to partake in what are This “challenge” was also highlighted in evolve to take on this role. However, seri- increasingly expensive international LRP2010 and little has changed since, ous consideration should also be given to so a more effective and efficient form of astronomy projects. the possibility that astronomy in Canada governance of astronomy in Canada is might be better served by an entirely new still desirable. One change that partially national organization. “While the astronomy community is addresses the rapidly evolving landscape one of the most organized research in astronomy and related technologies While the MTRP approves and applauds communities in Canada in terms was the implementation of the LRPIC the directions and actions taken by NRC of setting priorities and engaging that proved, for example, extremely useful Herzberg to date, the evolving roles and stakeholders in a strategic dialogue in updating and reaffirming the LRP pri- responsibilities of NRC within the restruc- orities during the process to fund TMT. tured federal government is another rea-

18 The Coalition for Canadian Astronomy fulfilled some of this role during the TMT era but, as a small committee formed by mutual agreement of the three organizations involved, it is not an ideal candidate to play an expanded long-term role. 59 Unveiling the Cosmos

son for considering the formation of a new be capable of making recommendations Further, international collaborations, national organization. NRC is becoming on strategic issues in astronomy, consistent facilities and the science they undertake, more and more like any other department with the overall priorities of Canadian will all become increasingly complex. that responds primarily to industrial pri- astronomers as embodied in the LRP. Navigating this mixture of policy and orities rather than acting like a traditional science, even domestically, is a chal- research council, and NRC Herzberg now Recommendation: An NRC lenge without well-framed procedures. A stands out even more as an anomaly. Herzberg Advisory Board, proper process of decision making and policy setting for “Big Science” in Canada Internally, NRC Herzberg takes its direc- constituted of senior rep- is sorely needed. tion and priorities from the LRP, folded resentatives of academia, together with ongoing commitments for including both administra- the operations of Canadian facilities. This tors and scientists, as well mission, together with the ability to work 8.2 Funding with the Canadian community to develop as industrial representatives, long-term strategic plans, is under threat should be established to 8.2.1 Overall funding within the new federal government advise on the portfolio and structure. The Herzberg Advisory Board, programs of NRC Herzberg. The HAL report gives a brief summary of largely composed of representatives from the overall Canadian funding for as- academia and industry, was disbanded tronomy: several years ago so now there is no ongo- As discussed, over the longer term, to ing external review of performance or address both the lack of direct formal com- “In 2009, Canadian astronomy re- assistance in establishing short term and munity guidance to NRC Herzberg and the ceived some $86 million in support, long-term priorities and objectives. The lack of a central body that represents the in- most of which (~83%) is directed MTRP heard that Herzberg Astrophysics terests of the entire Canadian community, towards infrastructure. NRC-HIA staff as well as the broader community the formation of a new separate national would welcome the re-establishment of organization19 could be considered to pro- and CSA are the largest funders, the Herzberg Advisory Board. Another vide guidance to the government. Astron- accounting for 80% of total expen- disadvantage of the current system is omy in Canada might be better served by ditures, almost all of which is for that, as a government department, NRC a TRIUMF-like model for NRC Herzberg the development and operation of Herzberg cannot lobby or very effectively rather than remaining as just a “portfo- facilities. With this support, Cana- promote the interests of astronomy in lio” of NRC. Indeed a number of possible dian astronomers have been able Canada. An entirely new national orga- management scenarios were outlined in nization would be able to do this most LRP2010, including government owned, to directly access 10 facilities since effectively, but even the least significant contractor-operated possibilities, wherein 1990, totaling approximately $175 of the changes suggested here, namely the contractor represents community inter- million in investments. the reinstatement of an Advisory Board, ests. In this case, there would automatically can represent community interests to the be extensive community involvement. “By most measures, however, these government more effectively. However, investments are below the average of perhaps more importantly, the wide Concerns over strategic decision-making Canada’s peer group of countries. As representation of stakeholders in either for “Big Science” facilities have been of these possibilities would ensure they voiced across multiple fields, and as- a percent of gross domestic product would be recognized as more broadly rep- tronomy is especially distinct, given the (GDP), five countries – the United resentative of the community as a whole. fundamental role the NRC plays in the Kingdom (UK), Italy, France, Ger- operation of government observatories many and the United States (US), – In the short term, at minimum, we recom- primarily for university-based research- spend at least twice that of Canada. mend that an external Advisory Board to ers. In this regard, the ACCA has previ- In operations support alone, these NRC Herzberg be formed, that includes ously been a highly useful vehicle for both senior representatives of academia establishing interagency collaboration, same countries spend four times that (e.g., at VP Research level) and relevant in- and there are current issues that it could of Canada.” dustries across Canada. This Board should meet to address (page 58). 19 ACURA might be such an organization but, at least at present, is primarily concerned with the promotion of, and participation in, TMT and SKA and so lacks breadth. A description of ACURA activities is given in more detail in the fall 2015 issue of Cassiopeia. 60 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

There is some optimism that this may be $11.8M should have grown into $12.8M in the organization of NRC within the changing. On April 6, 2015 the Canadian to keep pace with inflation21 from 2010 federal government. Many administrative government announced20 that it would to 2015. The average annual “Discovery services were recently centralized either at provide $243.5M funding for TMT over Grant” per researcher has declined in NRC Ottawa or more broadly in the gov- the next decade, joining the US, Japan, 2010 dollars to $34.1K when inflation ernment as a whole (e.g., all computing China and India who had already com- is accounted for. This > 10% decline has services). Furthermore, the extra funding mitted funding. The Canadian money will had significant impacts on the abilities to support the Canadian contributions mostly be spent by industries in Canada of several researchers to support their to ALMA/EVLA ended in 2009 and no who will provide the iconic enclosure graduate students and maintain their major new projects were initiated. This, and a state-of-the-art adaptive optics research output. of course, will change when the funds system. Naturally, this announcement was for TMT begin to flow. By 2020, the LRP heralded throughout the astronomical Following political imperatives, NSERC panel should have a much better indica- community with great excitement – the recently established several new programs tion of the direction of NRC support for scientific promise of TMT is immense, to fund more directed research and in- astronomy in Canada. in practically every branch of astronomy. novation. One of these is entitled “Idea to Participating in TMT will also bring Innovation Grants” the objective being to CSA funding Canadian industries in contact with “accelerate the pre-competitive develop- high tech counterparts in some of our ment of promising technology originating The potential for funding new space-based most important trading partners. As from the university and college sector and facilities, even at the level of concept stud- mentioned in Section 4.2 Industry and promote its transfer to a new or estab- ies, has not evolved as expected in 2010. Economic Impacts, thanks to the interna- lished Canadian companies.” Thus far, One of the highest priorities of LRP2010 tional, open nature of astronomy, it plays astronomy has not benefitted significantly was significant involvement in a major important roles in both strengthening from this program perhaps because, as space based mission (EUCLID, WFIRST, innovation and the training of HQP. described in the industry section (4.2 In- or CASTOR) primarily to investigate dark dustry and Economic Impacts), astrono- energy, at a level around half that ex- However, as discussed in Section 8.1 The mers have already been doing this for a pended on JWST. This has not happened, complexity of the ground-based as- long time, so that many possibilities aren’t largely because the CSA budget, whilst not tronomy governance landscape, the path “new.” Another reason is that the funds appreciably shrinking, has been forced to towards successful funding of TMT was have in general been directed towards cover cost overruns associated with the extremely complex and laborious, and other priorities (e.g., environment, health, RADARSAT Constellation mission, that appeared to most of those involved to be etc.) rather than sciences like astronomy. are estimated to be several hundred mil- ad hoc at best. Also, since Canada lagged However, the MTRP encourages Cana- lion dollars (precise figures are unknown well behind the other partners in making dian astronomers to be more proactive in at this time). When costs associated with a commitment to the project, its impact in relating their research to practical innova- JWST are removed, the annual budget the final design was lessened and Canada’s tions, and to make sure that successes are associated with the remaining space mis- reputation suffered. We reiterate that a more broadly publicized. sions averages just under $7M (a sum- more logical process for funding “Big Sci- mary of CSA annual budgets by mission, ence” in Canada is still very much needed. which excludes studies, is provided in Ap- NRC funding pendix C). It is clear that any significant The combined operational and capital aspirations for space astronomy requires 8.2.2 Update on astronomy budgets of NRC Herzberg Astronomy and the CSA budget for space astronomy to at funding since 2010 Astrophysics have remained more or less least double, and funding Canadian-led flat over the past five years, although the missions clearly goes beyond the current NSERC funding annual contributions to offshore facili- funding envelope. One of our main findings and concerns ties have grown recently as a result of the is that the funding for astronomy that is decline in the Canadian dollar exchange the responsibility of NSERC has declined rate. Any real long term trends in the in the past five years since LRP2010 from NRC Herzberg budgets are difficult to a total of $11.8M to $11.0M. Instead, the assess in detail since there have been several major changes in accounting, and

20 http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/canada-finally-commits-its-share-of-funds-for-thirty-meter-telescope-1.3022659 21 http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/ 61 Unveiling the Cosmos

CFI Funding CIFAR Funding to the future, another renewal of the pro- During the 2010–15 period, CFI contin- A sixth cycle of the Cosmology and gram is clearly of great importance to the ued to provide funding for astronomy Gravity program began in 2012, mark- Canadian astrophysics community and projects at more or less the same rate (in ing a remarkable fifth renewal, under the MTRP strongly supports this goal. the absence of inflation) as before. When the leadership of program Director Prof. matching funds are included, this aver- J. Richard Bond. Overall funding levels Recommendation: The ages ~$6.4M per year, although competi- remain as before, with contributions MTRP reiterates the impor- tions are not held every year. The major amounting to approximately $1M per grants since LRP2010 include one in 2012 year, which goes towards the support, at tance and value of the CIFAR to CHIME ($4.6M), another to upgrade least in part, of over 20 personnel across Cosmology and Gravity CHIME for transient observations in Canada. As outlined in LRP2010, the program, which has been 2015 ($2.4M), and one to construct a program has moved towards a closer rela- of exceptional benefit to copy of the SPIRou spectrograph for the tionship between theory and observation, southern hemisphere ($4.5M). The total encapsulating the founding philosophy of Canadian astrophysics. The of all CFI grants for astronomy in the the program, and this progress has been community is strongly en- 2010–15 period was $13.7M, equivalent further cemented recently with some couraged to seek a further to $34.2M including matching funds. members of CIFAR participating in the renewal of the program. innovative CHIME experiment. Looking

62 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

9 Demographics 9.1 Introduction and

Trends 350

Using data collected by ACURA, 300 LRP2010 highlighted significant growth in the Canadian astronomical community 250 over the 2000–10 decade. Driven by a series of research successes (Canadian as- 200 tronomy was ranked #1 in the world in a 2005 citation impact study by Thompson ISI), combined with the growing need for 150 additional resources as aspirations rose, all cohorts from faculty numbers to un- 100 dergraduates involved in research, grew at rates between four and nine percent per 50 year. We also emphasize that astronomy is somewhat unusual in that a large frac- 0 1999 2004 2007 2009 2013 tion of the graduate students come from a physics undergraduate background, Tenure-stream Postdoctoral Graduate Undergraduate faculty fellows students students making undergraduate to graduate flow discussions appear counter-intuitive. Figure 17. Time evolution of the sizes of the various cohorts in Canadian research The survey was updated by ACURA in astronomy. 2013 and rather than focusing on long term trends, which are broadly similar to 2010 data, we focus here on the nearer term 2007–13 period. As can be seen at 4% per year. In six years this amounts tions, the current ratio in Canada is 0.8. from Figure 17, which includes all years to 17 new faculty positions, 37 new PDF Via an informal survey of other countries, for completeness, all the cohorts contin- positions, and 71 additional graduate it was noted in LRP2010 that the typical ued to exhibit growth. students. Once the entire populations are international PDF to faculty ratio is slightly considered, however, the faculty to gradu- over 1, and even with the increase in the The total number of individuals engaged ate student ratio has been close to two ratio in the 2013 data, Canada remains in astronomy research in Canada is now since 2004. For comparison, the faculty below its competitors in this regard. PDFs just over 860 people. Beginning with un- to graduate student ratios in biology remain a strong driver of research capabil- dergraduates participating in research, the and chemistry are 3 and 2.5 respectively ity and are a key factor in the successful growth in this sector has slowed to 3%, (CAUT data). Aside from overall research and rapid commissioning of facilities. De- which is close to the overall growth rate successes and productivity, increases in tailed arguments were made in LRP2010 of undergraduate physics and astronomy undergraduate enrolments (CAUT num- about the significant impact the loss of the students suggested by CAUT data. The bers suggest overall physics and astrono- NSERC Special Research Opportunities overall percentage of the undergraduate my enrolments have grown at 2–3% per (SRO) program had on Canadian astron- population participating in research is annum) have provided economic motiva- omy. It was then proposed that facility- likely levelling off. However, the growth of tions for both more graduate students and oriented PDF funding, with a value equiva- faculty numbers is weakening relative to professors. Overall, the growth of astron- lent to that of the lost SRO funds, be put in the growth in both the PDF and graduate omy in Canada appears to be sustainable place. As of the time of writing, these funds student populaces. Compounded growth from a demographic perspective. have not been approved. Hence, the MTRP rates show faculty numbers increased reiterates the LRP2010 recommendation. at about 2% per year, PDF numbers at While it is tempting to highlight a growing almost 6% per year and graduate students disparity between PDF and faculty posi-

63 Unveiling the Cosmos

Recommendation: The changes and reduced support of gradu- sure on funding to help attract the best MTRP reiterates the key role ates and postdoctoral fellowships. The and brightest. that PDFs play in research Discovery Grant fund has been preserved, although after inflation adjustments the capability and facility com- average DG award has fallen by around 9.2 Career flow missioning, and hence reaf- 10% since 2007. This is particularly acute in terms of graduate student support as firms the high importance of These data have significant implications fees are rising, in turn driving up the NSERC funding a postdoc- in terms of career prospects and are now required support from NSERC funds. Suc- being closely monitored in the national toral program in support of cess rates have also fallen somewhat: fol- education and skills context. By consid- Canada’s access to major lowing the change to the conference-based ering a flow analysis of the five ACURA model, the total number of grants awarded facilities. surveys,22 it is estimated that roughly 80% has remained approximately constant of PhD graduates are able to find a PDF despite the number of faculty growing by position. However, flow in and out of the Canadian researchers have also become 17 positions. Despite concerns about their country is not accounted for directly in more productive in terms of research out- applicability to astronomy, the new in- this modelling. Thus the actual percentage puts and citation rates. Although year to novation funding streams, such as Engage of PhD graduates that find PDF positions year variations can be significant, broad and CRDG programs, have been utilized could be different from what is reflected trends suggest overall research output, by the field, with the first three years of here, possibly even higher if Canada is a measured in terms of paper outputs, funding bringing in close to $0.25M of net exporter post-PhD. It is quite com- has grown by almost 40% since 2007 grants. However, the CREATE program mon for graduates of PhDs in Canada go with overall citation rates (measured on appears to have been largely inaccessible abroad for their first PDF position. three-year baselines) growing at close to to astronomy, with a single grant awarded 50%. This more than surpasses the overall in 2008 for the related field of astrobiology. The step from PDF positions to faculty growth in the community size of 23%. is much more difficult. A flow analysis International collaboration continues to The overall organization of Canadian suggests that only 19% of PDF positions be very strong in the field, with Canadian astronomy remains much as reported in transition to faculty. Again, while factors of researchers publishing with colleagues 2010. The majority (80%) of researchers flow in and out of the country could impact from over 80 different countries. By any are university-based while the larg- this percentage, it is in moderate agreement measure astronomy is an exceptionally est fraction of direct monetary support with estimates from the PhD destinations international endeavour. Perhaps unsur- (approximately three times the NSERC survey conducted for LRP2010. prisingly, given geographic and historical funding) is channelled through the NRC. ties, the US and UK remain the two coun- This highlights the importance of strong In a broader context, these numbers are tries most commonly collaborated with. links between the university community in close agreement with a Conference It is worth noting that while collaboration and the NRC. In the era of TMT, where Board of Canada analysis23 that 19% of with European countries remains very exceptional funding levels naturally imply PhD graduates, across all disciplines, are strong, Japan (10th), China (13th), and high levels of expectation, we anticipate employed as university professors. The India (21st) are also already significant the need for NRC-university cooperation number increases to 39% if any form of sources of collaborative interaction with to become even more significant. We dis- employment within post-secondary edu- Canadian researchers. In the next decade cuss this point in more detail in Chapter 8 cation is considered. It is clearly impor- it is reasonable to anticipate further Governance, Funding and Budgets. tant to recognize that four out of five PhD strengthening of these connections due to students will not find employment in the the TMT collaboration. In general, these statistics paint the professoriate. Improved preparedness for picture of a comparatively healthy com- alternative careers, such as the provision The overall “envelope” of NSERC fund- munity undergoing sustainable growth, of more transferrable skills, is clearly in ing to astronomy, over half of which is which nonetheless has challenges in terms the best interests of graduate students. not Discovery Grant related, has fallen by of overall funding levels, especially in Balancing this against the needs of ad- approximately $1.4M since 2007 (inflation relation to student support. Looking to equate subject area development needs to adjusted), an 11% reduction. Most of this an increasingly competitive future, it is be handled carefully. loss can be associated with MRS program expected that there will be growing pres- 22 “The Evolution of Astronomy and Astrophysics Populations” ACURA publication, R. Racine, 2014. 23 http://www.conferenceboard.ca/topics/education/commentaries/15-01-06/where_are_canada_s_phds_employed.aspx 64 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

9.3 Broader subject area istry 4% and physics 3%, although the membership although this is not a com- number for physics should be treated with plete census. The most recent CAUT data comparisons caution as there appears to be a change in available is 2010, where it is reported 41% CAUT reporting for physics in 2004. The of MSc students in astronomy are female, Previous demographic surveys have 4% growth rate for graduate astronomy while 33% of PhD students are. Based not put in context the overall size of the reported by ACURA also matches these upon the LRP2010 PhD survey, and in- astronomy community relative to other numbers closely. Overall, the growth of dependent studies previously mentioned, disciplines, such as biology or chemistry. astronomy is healthy, and is not an outlier there is evidence that fractional female This exercise was undertaken in 2013 as in the national science context. participation is rising in astronomy, but part of an ACURA report to the NRC only slowly and the leaky-pipeline effect entitled “The Thirty Meter Telescope and appears to be operating. It is also worth Astronomy in Canada”. We borrow from emphasizing that studies have shown, data compiled in that report here. Precise 9.4 Participation of most notably the Yates Committee on statistics are difficult to derive due to com- women and minorities in Gender Equity at McMaster University, pleteness concerns, although CAUT sum- astronomy that there are systemic inequalities for maries provide good estimates with the female faculty, including pay, even when proviso that detailed subject area break- adjusted for seniority and tenure. downs stopped being provided in 2010. Using the departments included in the ACURA survey, a follow-up web-survey conducted by the MTRP suggests that Addressing these inequities is a challenge In terms of student numbers, overall that all must accept. Notably the Austra- undergraduate student numbers are the overall participation of women at the faculty level in Canadian astronomy is lian decadal plan has made a recommen- approximately in the ratio 1:9:19:98 for dation that its institutions adopt positive astronomy to physics, to chemistry and just under 18% (note not all websites give clear information on academic rank). hiring processes with a view to making lastly to biology. Biology remains over- the overall participation rate 33% by whelmingly popular as an undergraduate CAUT data for astronomy from 2013, has a slightly lower value of 16% but is likely 2025. While positive hiring processes are degree which is unsurprising given that important, it is worth recalling that the it is perceived to be a feeder into numer- less complete. Within specific ranks, the CAUT percentages are: assistant profes- NSERC University Faculty Awards (UFA) ous health-related graduate programs. program, which cost around $2M per Growth rates in biology and chemistry sors 30%, associate professors 14%, and full professors 6%. This compares to 32%, year over 10 years, was eventually put on (6% and 8%, respectively) both outpaced hold since it could not address the place astronomy and physics (2% and 3%, 25%, and 15% for all of the sciences and technology areas grouped together. Even where inequity appears most impactful respectively). The growth of undergradu- within the academe, namely the transition ate research (9%) noted in the ACURA before consideration of the true value of the overall average, clearly women are out of assistant professorships to senior census in the 2000–10 decade should be ranks (occasionally referred to as a glass- considered in the context of these overall under-represented within astronomy relative to the sciences at large. Moreover, the ceiling issue). However, the UFA and population growth numbers: it suggests earlier Women’s Faculty Awards (WFA) that while overall undergraduate num- numbers for astronomy are comparatively unchanged compared to an independent programs have had a significant impact bers increased modestly, undergraduate on female representation in Canadian students became much keener to gain survey commissioned by the CASCA 24 astronomy: approximately 40% of female research experience. Board in 2005, which gave 31%, 18% and 4% respectively (no CAUT or ACU- astronomy faculty have received funding from them. At the graduate level the ratios of student RA data are available for this epoch). It is numbers are much closer, namely, 1:6:8:12 disturbing that there has been such little change in the overall percentage of associ- There are alternative possibilities. Other highlighting that the undergraduate to than fellowships, awards for individuals graduate flow is quite different across the ate professors given that the assistant to associate transition is frequently the most undergoing career interruptions could be sciences. At the graduate level, physics is considered, as can changing assessment approximately half the size of biology, a rapid career step, although a complete 2015 survey is clearly needed. of productivity based upon the opportu- significant contrast to the almost factor of nity of an individual to contribute. One ten ratio at the undergraduate level. The At the graduate student level, female en- particularly innovative way of promoting growth rates of the populations are also an appreciation of the issues is to provide broadly similar with biology at 5%, chem- rolment in CASCA represents 46% of the 24 http://www.aas.org/cswa/status/2007/JUNE2007/WomenInCanadianAstronomy.html 65 Unveiling the Cosmos

awards to institutions that take steps The recent reports of systemic violations to advance the careers of women and of institutional sexual harassment policies minorities in astronomy, and the Pleiades by individuals at some US universities, Awards in Australia are a proven example. has shocked the global astronomical community. The MTRP joins the CASCA Unfortunately, we are not aware of any Board of Directors in strongly condemn- statistics available on the representation ing the actions of these individuals: such of minorities in Canadian astronomy. behaviour has no place in our profession- This is a very significant issue that needs al academic and working environment. to be addressed, and a survey appears to The MTRP fully endorses CASCA's ethics be the only path forward. statement, and the implementation of a code of conduct at its annual meetings. Recommendation: CASCA’s newly formed Diversity and Inclusivity committee should restart CASCA’s equity survey process, extending it to capture data on minority participation. From the data derived, policy recommendations should be formulated that either the LRPIC or LRP2020 can directly build upon.

66 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

10 Discussion and summary comments 10.1 Project phasing of 10.2 The need for facilities such as JWST, TMT and MSE. The MTRP therefore strongly reaffirms the TMT and SKA involvement in a dark the value of this science area. energy mission As for LRP2010, the top-ranked projects in ground-based astronomy for the MTR While some progress has been made since 10.3 Mid-scale facilities/ are the TMT and SKA. However, there 2010 on involvement in one of the possi- has been a significant shift in the sched- ble missions, the MTRP wishes to express projects ules of both projects since 2010. In 2010 significant concerns about the uncer- the most ambitious construction time- tainty faced in this area and the potential World observatories have capabilities that lines for TMT envisaged the telescope damage that could result by Canadian as- are unique and by definition are not (sig- constructed by 2016; at the time of writ- tronomy being “shut out” of these survey nificantly) bettered elsewhere. The land- ing the earliest construction can begin missions. The WFIRST mission, offering scape is different for mid-scale facilities on Maunakea is fall 2016, and it could be three distinct instrumentation capabili- where competition in the landscape can later. Best estimates for the completion ties and synergies with JWST, remains a evolve more quickly. Indeed it is possible time for TMT are now 2024. For the SKA highly interesting prospect to the Cana- that innovation in mid-scale level facili- construction of Phase 1 has shifted from dian community, yet great uncertainty ties can address small parts of larger-scale 2016–19 to 2018–23 with early science surrounds what scientific involvement facility science cases, which is one of the anticipated by 2020. can be expected for Canadian research- reasons why the US decadal plan empha- ers. The involvement of a small number sized the value of mid-scale innovation. Nonetheless, the question must be asked: of Canadians on science teams would This report takes the philosophical posi- Can two world observatory projects be clearly not be an appropriate return for an tion that recommendations by the MTRP managed simultaneously by the Canadian investment of several tens of millions of at this level serve as a generic assessment astronomy community? In short, these dollars, and the MTRP strongly suggests of capability, and that a true assessment two projects can be straightforwardly that researchers be involved in discus- of mid-scale facilities for ground-based handled together. Firstly, while many sions with the US mission leaders on this astronomy must be considered in peer re- astronomers work across multiple wave- front. At the same time, the Canadian-led viewed competitions. The 2016–20 budget lengths, in practice the primary expertise CASTOR mission, which admittedly is in item “Midscale innovation” reflects this of most university researchers is distinct a different mission class, but nonetheless philosophy in terms of supporting CCAT, to a given wavelength. Thus while there is offers unique and synergistic capabilities, and contributions to the design and de- no strict delineation between the optical including science cases not available to velopment of MSE and second generation astronomy and radio astronomy com- either WFIRST or Euclid, has not been instrumentation for TMT. munities, there are sufficient numbers of given sufficient support to advance to the researchers with primary interests in opti- point where it can be discussed within the For space-based facilities the situation is cal or radio astronomy for the projects international community. more complex. Other than JWST, which to be more than adequately supported. the whole community remains extremely Secondly, within the NRC the optical and It is worth emphasizing that dark energy excited by, Canada’s contributions to space radio astronomy programs are distinct missions are survey missions, something astronomy missions are generally small, from one another, meaning that resources in which the Canadian astronomy com- at least when measured by international will not be drawn from one at the expense munity has considerable expertise by standards. Thus while recommending of the other, again allowing both projects virtue of the success of MegaCam on the contributions to a CMB polarization mis- to move forward together. CFHT. Aside from producing data that sion, Athena and SPICA, only the CMB addresses the dark energy question, the polarization mission is anticipated to need imaging produced in these surveys can significant funding within the 2010–20 address many other science questions decade. However, both Athena and of interest to the Canadian community. SPICA, at the time of writing, are unique There are also numerous other synergies capabilities. Indeed, unless the next US with upcoming or proposed Canadian decadal plan supports a massive US mission in X-ray astronomy, the Athena mis- 67 Unveiling the Cosmos

sion can be viewed as the de facto “world projects that will be necessary to preserve majority of the construction costs are an- observatory” for X-ray astronomy. The facility share. This represents a nominal ticipated to occur in the 2020–30 decade. MTRP thus strongly endorses involve- increase of $5M in the 2010–20 decade, ment in both Athena and SPICA, despite with the bulk of the funds being spent in flying more than a decade out, and em- 2020–30. WFIRST/CASTOR phasizes the importance of determining The 5% share for Canadian participation what contributions can be made. SKA in JWST, combined with a $2B estimate for the WFIRST mission, places a similar The $60M figure quoted is likely towards Canadian contribution to WFIRST at 10.4 Budget justification the upper limit on the expected SKA1 $100M (ignoring the notable variances in contribution for Canada, and will ulti- current exchange rates), which remains and projections 2020–25 mately be determined by an international as proposed in LRP2010. However, it agreement. A number of opportunities for should be noted that the overall contribu- Although discussed in detail within the contributions exist, although the selected tion value will be strongly constrained by text, we here summarize the reasoning technologies will be determined by SKA the contributions that NASA desires and behind funding values given for each line committee processes. The budget reaf- could be lower than this figure. item. The focus of this accounting is on firms that of LRP2010. equipment contributions and does not Costs for CASTOR remain uncertain and include, for example, CSA administra- this report has recommended continuing tion costs, or NRC Herzberg salaries. It CCAT work and a Phase 0 study be conducted to is important to again emphasize that in The consortium of Canadian universities assess them in detail. A significant part- almost all cases the numbers quoted must contributing to CCAT proposed a $28M nership for CASTOR will be an essential be expected to have some variance, and contribution to the project in 2014 via a part of the costing. that the LRPIC and LRP2020 will be able CFI grant. Although overall costs remain to produce more accurate estimates as uncertain at this point, this represents projects evolve. CMB Polarization missions slightly under a one-quarter share of the final facility, approximately the same as Both the LiteBIRD and PIXIE missions The projections provided for 2020–25 are the former share of the JCMT. This would have spacecraft and instrument costs in essentially approximate roadmaps, and give Canadian interests a strong voice in the $200M range. The Canadian contribu- in many cases participation or contribu- the operation of CCAT. A contribution tion is thus assessed at the 10% level, but tion levels are highly uncertain, this is of $30M is thus included in the midscale will ultimately be determined by an in- particularly notable for second phase innovation budget for 2016–20. This is an ternational agreement on the equipment of the SKA which this report has not increase of $15M over LRP2010 estimates. contribution. The MTRP emphasizes that considered due to the immediacy of the these missions are targeted for launches first phase. One key exception is MSE, for in the early 2020s and will likely need which the overall costing is comparatively MSE funds on a comparatively short time scale. well understood although exact participa- Thus the selected mission will be the only tion levels will be subject to negotiation Envisioned as a highly international medium-scale space mission requiring between countries. project, the budget quoted for MSE is comparatively uncertain at this time, but funding in the entire 2010–20 decade. based upon a $250M total cost, $40M The $20M budget represents a reduc- TMT ($5M from midscale innovation 2016–20 tion of $5M over the LRP2010 budget for and $35M for 2020–25) represents a SPICA and Athena (which are now both The April 6, 2015 announcement by the 16% share, consistent with involvement late 2020s missions). Government of Canada set the construc- in both Gemini and TMT. Precise time tion contribution at $243.5M, as com- requirements for these funds will become pared to the original LRP2010 request Athena clear as the project progresses, although of $305M. The additional $20M budget the bulk construction costs will likely Contributions to Athena, scheduled to listed for the 2016–25 period ($5M from be predominantly in the 2020+ era. The launch in 2028, are the most uncertain midscale innovation plus the $15M noted $5M budget for 2016–20 represents a new of all missions and facilities highlighted in 2020–25) represents a contribution request over LRP2010 (which did not in this report. The MTRP is therefore to second-generation instrumentation budget for MSE construction) while the unable to place even an estimate against 68 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

this mission at the current time. However, Scaling shares of the JWST mission alone, 2020 we have added a 40% increase on a emphasizing discussions elsewhere in either by observing time or population year-to-year basis to reflect an expected, this document, Athena remains the single suggests that over $2M per year should and necessary, build-up of expertise in most exciting X-ray astronomy facility be provided for postdoctoral funding support of major instrumentation innova- that is currently moving ahead. Failing to in Canada to match the equivalent US tion (TMT being a key motivation), and secure participation in Athena will have investment. In support of theoretical adjusted for a full five year period. a significant impact on the high-energy research, we reaffirm the suggestion to astrophysics community in Canada. This augment the CITA National Fellows position matches LRP2010, in that a grant, at $200K per year. This will add Outreach specific technology contribution to IXO four additional National Fellow positions While NSERC has not been able to fund could not be costed, and the budget of and adjust for the fact there have been outreach at the 1.5% level recommended $10M against IXO was specified for techno inflationary increases in the grant in both previous LRPs, it should be noted nology research and development only. since 2010. Post 2020, we have added an that the NRC has acted on previous increase to account for inflation and allow recommendations to use monetary funds for a full five year period. On a year-to- SPICA in support of outreach. Unfortunately, year comparison the requested funding recent cutbacks have curtailed this effort, Although this mission has evolved signifi- level is $0.77M higher than LRP2010. particularly with the enforced closure of cantly since 2010, it continues to offer an the Centre of the Universe. Given recent unmatched spectroscopic capability. The Laboratory infrastructure in- statements by the current President of $10M budget for 2020–25 reaffirms the vestments NSERC that the PromoScience program contribution suggested in LRP2010. will be strongly supported, we recom- LRP2010 laid out detailed arguments mend support at the level of $300K per year to be set aside for outreach purposes: Small Payloads for supporting a network of three major centres across the country, with funding $100K per year going toward augmenta- This category merges recommendations levels for each centre priced at $750K per tion of NSERC PromoScience projects given in LRP2010 for both balloon mis- year, plus an additional $1M per year in within astronomy (which would need sions and microsatellites, and maintains instrument testbed support from CFI. Ex- to be competed, and thus the $100K can the same funding level. penditures for the centres were envisaged be viewed as a fractional part of a much as being spread 2/3 to NSERC and 1/3 to larger increase of the overall PromoSci- the CSA, reflecting the relative distribu- ence budget), while a $200K per year con- Post-doctoral fellow support tions of the development of ground-based tribution from the NRC is broadly similar versus space-based instrumentation. This to prior commitments. The budget for The cancellation of NSERC’s Special funding has not been approved, and the 2020–25 is adjusted for the full five year Research Opportunity program had a situation has worsened with the suspen- period and adds an inflationary increase. strongly negative impact on the funding sion of the MRS program. While the loss of PDFs. As in LRP2010, we recommend of the MRS program impacted astronomy that this funding be reinstated at the level at the level of $200K per year, the MTRP of $700K per year, commensurate with viewpoint is that merely replacing this the value of the SRO program to astrono- funding is insufficient to generate in- my before its cancellation. An additional novative new techniques and technolo- $1M per year is recommended from the gies that are necessary to fully exploit CSA in support of mission targeted PDFs, the opportunities in second generation especially in relation to JWST. Aside from instrumentation for TMT, for example. greatly improving the science return on We recommend funding at the level 1/3 investment and spurring more rapid ad- that of LRP2010, namely $1M per year, vances, this funding increase would also but believe this to be a justified number help prevent Canadian researchers from that replaces funding lost due to program being usurped from leadership positions suspensions, whilst enabling a funding in international collaborations due to a stream that ensures continuity of person- lack of resources. We emphasize that even nel. We also note this number is the same these combined values should be consid- as that quoted in the previous MTR. Post ered absolute lower values for support. 69 Unveiling the Cosmos

Funding for New Astronomy Facilities/Missions/personnel 2016–25 The 2016–20 budget is an update of Project/Theme 2016–20 Amount LRP2010 for the remaining four years of Ground SKA Phase 1 $60M the 2010–20 decade. The 2020–25 sugges- Midscale innovation* $40M tions go beyond the LRP2010 framework and thus include new funding, although Sub total $100M both Athena and SPICA have suffered Space Dark energy and surveys $100M delays moving them into the 2020 decade. CMB Polarization $20M Small payloads $5M 1) Midscale innovation includes CCAT, costs for developing facilities/in- Sub total $125M struments that will have primary People/Infrastructure Postdoctoral funding $7.6M construction in the 2020–25 decade, Laboratories $4M including MSE and second-generation instrumentation for the TMT, Total $236.6M and new projects that may appear. Outreach PromoScience and NRC $1.2M It is anticipated that these funds will come largely from existing competitive programs.

2) At present, the costs and schedules of these projects are uncertain. How- ever, they both fall into the “large” investment category with individual project costs (for Canadian contributions) in excess of $100M.

70 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

10.5 List of MTR2015 Recommendations

Below is a complete summary of the recommendations developed by the MTR process. The ordering reflects appearance in the document and is not reflective of importance.

1. (page 20) The MTRP strongly reaffirms the need for stable funding of university-based astrophysics laboratories, both as a generator of new instrumentation ideas as well as an important complement to the larger laboratory infrastructure present at NRC Herzberg. 2. (page 20) The MTRP re-iterates the need for continued funding of productive Canadian small telescopes. 3. (page 21) The MTRP reaffirms the value of increasing NSERC’s support to CITA to augment the National Fellows program, which has proven exceptionally successful in attracting talented post-doctoral researchers to Canada, with four additional positions. 4. (page 22) CASCA draft a mission statement on its EPO activities and goals. 5. (page 23) Social media should be considered a key component of organizational outreach strategies. Appropriate resources, specifically funds, talent, energy, and time, should be allocated. 6. (page 23) NSERC commit to expanding the PromoScience program budget, while NRC return to funding astronomy- related outreach at levels similar to the 2000–10 decade. 7. (page 27) With access to a VLOT being the number one priority for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, the MTRP reaffirms the importance of maintaining a “second-to-none” share in TMT. Since partner shares will also factor in future contributions to the observatory, the MTRP therefore strongly endorses ongoing development of second-generation instrument concepts and encourages the various teams to pursue funding. 8.(page 29) The MTRP re-iterates the very high importance of Canada’s technological and scientific participation in the next generation of radio telescope facilities. With TMT construction funds committed, access to the capabilities provided by SKA1 in the next decade is the top priority for new funds for ground-based astronomy. The MTRP re-iterates the high priority of mid and low-frequency radio R&D, and in particular the development of key technologies for SKA1 tender and procurement. 9. (page 31) The MTRP strongly recommends that Canada enter into negotiations to join the intergovernmental organization that will oversee SKA1 construction and operations starting in 2017. An alternative to a treaty may be needed for Canada to join SKA1; this alternative must not significantly compromise Canada's role in SKA1 governance, access, or construction tender and procurement. 10. (page 32) Canada should participate in a bid for ALMA development funding to build the ALMA Band 1 receivers, which would take advantage of Canadian skills and experience developed during the design and building of the Band 3 receivers. In addition, Canada should proceed quickly to identify other short-term and longer-term priorities for ALMA development work. 11. (page 33) Canada should continue to be a major partner in CFHT, supporting its facility instrumentation project, SPIRou, and completion of the planned large surveys, as a 3.6 m telescope. Slippage in these projects should not delay redevelopment opportunities and priorities. 12. (page 35) The MTRP strongly recommends that Canada develop the MSE project, and supports the efforts of the project office to seek financial commitments from Canadian and partner institute sources. 13. (page 35) The MTRP recommends that Canada’s participation in Gemini continue to be supported beyond the end of the 2016–21 International Agreement. The nature and level of that participation must be considered within the context of a coordinated plan for funding the operation of our ground-based facilities, together with any opportunities for broader access to the landscape of 8–10 m optical/IR telescopes. 14. (page 41) The MTRP reaffirms the importance of next generation single-dish sub-mm facilities, and recommends that Canadian astronomers continue to pursue participation in CCAT, subject to the project meeting its original science goals. Construction contributions that keep key scientific, technical, and/or engineering work in Cana- dian companies and universities will provide the most return on investment.

71 Unveiling the Cosmos

15. (page 43) The JCSA should work with CASCA and the CSA, to determine a precise input process for mission selection in space astronomy that is both transparent and equitable. 16. (page 45) The MTRP reaffirms the exciting opportunity presented by WFIRST and its broad appeal to the Canadian community. In order to fulfil the LRPP recommendation we recommend that Canada begin negotiations to secure a significant (~5%) level of participation, at the earliest opportunity, so as to match NASA’s accelerated schedule. This should include contributions to critical instrumentation that, preferentially, is synergistic with Canadian science interests, and funded participation on Science Investigation Teams for a representative number of Canadian scientists. 17. (page 46) The MTRP strongly recommends that the CSA launch a Phase 0 study for CASTOR, with study results required within 12 months, so that this compelling project can be developed, presented, and competed in the international community. The LRPIC and JCSA should review the outcome of that study and make further recommendations as appropriate, well in advance of LRP2020. 18. (page 47) The MTRP recognizes the unique role that Canada could play in an international CMB polarization satellite mission. The MTRP strongly recommends that the CSA engage in discussions with its sister agencies for a hardware and science role in a new mission such as LiteBIRD or other mission opportunity such as PIXIE that may arise in the immediate future. 19. (page 49) The MTRP recommends that Canada continue to explore the possibility of contributing to the science instrumentation on Athena, as well as the cost and the access to the mission that would be gained from such a contribution. 20. (page 50) The MTRP recommends that Canada explore the possibility of contributing elements of the Fabry-Perot instrument to SPICA, as well as the cost and the access to the mission that would be gained from such a contribution. 21. (page 51) The MTRP recommends that Canada continue to support small-scale exploratory satellite projects and balloon-borne missions through regular calls for proposals, and that the CSA introduce regular calls for proposals for nano- and microsatellite opportunities and contributions to instrumentation on larger missions, so that these types of projects can also proceed through a competitive funding process. 22. (page 52) The MTRP reaffirms the essential importance of continuing science support to exploit our investment in JWST as well as other CSA-supported missions. This should include funding workshops and help centres to enable the community to ramp up expertise prior to launch, as well as a mechanism for funding postdoctoral fellows to work on and with JWST data. 23. (page 57) CC provide services such as authentication/authorization, and efficient distributed storage platforms that encompass both archiving and user spaces in a scalable way. Services like this will enable the development of increasingly sophisticated analysis platforms. 24. (page 58) Given the increasingly blurred relationship between data and analysis products, the MTRP recommends that the Agency Committee for Canadian Astronomy (ACCA) meet to discuss possible strategies to avoid policy traps that preclude the funding of the development of critical and innovative software infrastructure for CAN- FAR. 25. (page 60) An NRC Herzberg Advisory Board, constituted of senior representatives of academia, including both adminis- trators and scientists, as well as industrial representatives, should be established to advise on the portfolio and programs of NRC Herzberg. 26. (page 62) The MTRP reiterates the importance and value of the CIFAR Cosmology and Gravity program, which has been of exceptional benefit to Canadian astrophysics. The community is strongly encouraged to seek a further renewal of the program. 27. (page 64) The MTRP reiterates the key role that PDFs play in research capability and facility commissioning, and hence reaffirms the high importance of NSERC funding a postdoctoral program in support of Canada’s access to major facilities. 28. (page 66) CASCA’s newly formed Diversity and Inclusivity committee should restart CASCA’s equity survey process, extending it to capture data on minority participation. From the data derived, policy recommendations should be formulated that either the LRPIC or LRP2020 can directly build upon.

72 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

10.6 Concluding remarks bring with them tremendous possibilities for collaboration and learning, both Canadian astronomy is in many ways scientific and cultural, as well as new, in a better situation than it was in 2010. and in many cases unforeseen, economic The commitment to the TMT cannot be opportunities. The most heavily cited understated in terms of importance not Canadian astronomy facility, the CFHT, only to current researchers, but also to was a success thanks to a successful and attracting a new generation of research- strong international partnership. And ers who will ultimately be the individuals as the world changes, so do our interna- that benefit the most from this facility. tional partners. Canadian astronomy is Yet, as has been outlined in this report, a front and centre in forging new collab- properly functioning and diverse research orative links with both China and India, ecosystem requires access to a range of whilst maintaining our close link with wavelengths, and facilities at a range of our US neighbours. investment levels. LRP2010, and this MTR, present a coherent and carefully The history of Canadian astronomy is rich detailed plan to build this absolutely nec- with accomplishment. The MTRP salutes essary capability for Canada. a community that can rightfully stand up and be proud of its achievements, Like almost all spheres of life, the astron- and thanks all the supporters of Cana- omy research landscape is more complex dian astronomy that have helped make than it has ever been. Phasing of projects this possible. We look forward to seeing is a challenge, as are managing the exact- a continued and strong partnership of ing international partnerships that are researchers and students with industry, necessary in funding these new facilities. government and, most importantly, the Yet, at the same time, these partnerships Canadian public.

73 The history of astronomy, and science generally, tells us that the most startling discoveries are unanticipated. Unveiling the cosmos will reveal wonders we have yet to imagine.

Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum — J.C. Cuillandre and G. Anselmi A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

11 Appendices 11.1 Appendix A: Acronyms, Abbreviations and Context

ACCA Agency Committee on Canadian Astronomy ACEnet Atlantic Computational Excellence Network ACURA Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy AGN Active Galactic Nucleus ALMA Atacama Large Millimeter Array ALTAIR ALTitude conjugate Adaptive optics for the InfraRed (Gemini) AO Adaptive Optics; also Announcement of Opportunity arcsec Arcsecond, angular measure,1/3,600 of a degree ASKAP Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder ASTRONET European Astronomy Strategic Plan 2010–2030 Astro2010 New Worlds, New Horizons (US Decadal Survey) AU Astronomical Unit, the Earth-Sun distance BLAST Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub-millimeter Telescope CADC Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (HIA) CANARIE Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network CANFAR Canadian Advanced Network for Astronomical Research CASCA Canadian Astronomical Society CASTOR Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope CAUT Canadian Association of University Teachers CC Compute Canada CCA Council of Canadian Academies CCAT Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope CCD Charge Coupled Device CFHT Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope CFI Canadian Foundation for Innovation CHIME Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment CIFAR Canadian Institute for Advanced Research CITA Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics CMB Cosmic microwave background CRC Canada Research Chair CSA Canadian Space Agency CST Canadian Space Telescope, now CASTOR CU Centre of the Universe (outreach facility at HIA, Victoria) CTIO Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory

75 Unveiling the Cosmos

DAO Dominion Astrophysical Observatory DRAO Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory DSL Dynamic Structures Limited E-ELT European Extremely Large Telescope EBEX E and B balloon experiment ELT Extremely Large Telescope ESA European Space Agency ESO European Southern Observatory EVLA Expanded Very Large Array FAST Flight for Advancement of Science and Technology FGS Fine Guidance Sensor FTS Fourier Transform Spectrometer FUSE Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer GPI Gemini Planet Imager GPU Graphics Processing Unit HIA Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, now NRC Herzberg HPC High Performance Computing HQP Highly qualified personnel HST Hubble Space Telescope ICT Information and Communication Technologies IFU Integral Field Unit IR infrared ISM Interstellar medium IXO International X-ray Observatory JAXA Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency JCMT James Clerk Maxwell Telescope JWST James Webb Space Telescope LAE Laboratoire d’Astrophysique Experimentale LIGO Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory LiteBIRD “Light” satellite for B-mode polarization and Inflation from cosmic microwave Radiation Detection LNA Low noise amplifier LRP Long Range Plan LRPIC Long Range Plan Implementation Committee LRPP Long Range Plan Panel LSST Large Synoptic Survey Telescope ly Light year MeerKAT “More of the” Karo Array Telescope MIRES Mid-infrared Echelle Spectrometer (TMT)

76 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

MIRI Mid-infrared Instrument (JWST) MOST Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars satellite MRS Major Resources Support program (NSERC) MSE Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer MTRP Mid-Term Review Panel NAPRA North American Program in Radio Astronomy NFIRAOS Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (TMT) ngCFHT Next generation CFHT, now the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer NIR Near infrared NOAO National Optical Astronomy Observatory NRAO National Radio Astronomy Observatory NRC National Research Council of Canada NSERC Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada NSF National Science Foundation ODIN Swedish-Canadian sub-mm satellite OMM Observatoire de Mont Mégantic ORAN Optical Regional Advanced Network PDF Post-doctoral fellow PEARL Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory PI Principal Investigator PIXIE Primordial Inflation Explorer PSE Post-Secondary Education SCUBA Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array SDSS Sloan Digital Sky Survey SETI Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence SITELLE Imaging Fourier Transform spectrometer (CFHT) SKA Square Kilometre Array SNOlab Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Lab SPICA Space Infra-Red Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics SPIDER Balloon-borne polarimeter for studying the CMB SPIRou Spectro-Polarimètre Infra-Rouge SRO Strategic Research Opportunity SSEP Space Sciences Exploration Program STIC Science, Technology and Innovation Council TFI Tunable Filter Imager (JWST) TMT Thirty Meter Telescope UTIAS University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies UVIT Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on the Astrosat satellite

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VLA Very Large Array VLBI Very Long Baseline Interferometry VLOT Very Large Optical Telescope VLT Very Large Telescope (ESO) WFIRST Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope WIDAR Wideband Interferometric Digital Architecture WMAP Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe z Redshift (a measure of distance in the Universe)

Angular scales This report frequently refers to the angular size of objects on the sky. For reference, the full moon is approximately 0.5 degrees in diameter, which is equivalent to 30 arcminutes (60 arcminutes constituting one degree). The human eye has a resolving power of approximately one arcminute. The limit of resolution due to distortion in the atmosphere is approximately one arcsecond, with 60 arcseconds constituting an arcminute. Resolutions significantly higher than this in optical wavelengths from the ground require adaptive optics techniques to correct for atmospheric distortions.

78 A Vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010–2020

11.2 Appendix B: Table of LRP2010 recommendations

For reference, a summary of recommendations from LRP2010 is given below. These recommendations are numbered according to the ordering of material in the text, and not according to priority or ranking.

1 Canada should continue to be a major partner in CFHT, and should support and participate in new instrumentation projects (specifically 'Imaka, SPIROU, and GYES). These instruments should have a five year operations window prior to any anticipated redevelopment of the CFHT site. 2 The LRPP recommends that Canada’s participation in Gemini be reconsidered as we reach the point that Canada’s VLOT project requires operating funds. 3 Canada should participate in a bid on the provision of ALMA Band 1 receivers to take advantage of Canadian skills and experience developed during the design and building of the Band 3 receivers. In addition, Canada should proceed quickly to identify other short-term and longer-term priorities for ALMA development work. 4 The LRPP reaffirms its previous (MTRC) recommendation to phase out Canada’s involvement with the JCMT as our various scientific and technical commitments are completed, and to transfer its operating support to ALMA. The LRP2010 also recommends that extending JCMT operation beyond March 31st 2012 should be considered only if this does not affect ALMA operations, and only after (i) a performance review of SCUBA-2, and (ii) an assessment of the scientific impact of the (descoped) SCUBA-2 surveys. 5 The LRPP recommends that the Canadian SKA Board of Directors, and other principal players involved in the SKA, be proactive in encouraging use of the EVLA to build up an SKA user base in Canada. 6 Completing and launching JWST is the top priority for Canadian space astronomy. CSA should continue working diligent- ly with its international partners (NASA, ESA) to bring this observatory into operation as soon as possible. More specifically, sufficient resources should be allocated to encompass the costs inherent in a launch delay of JWST, and to ensure the success of the science-critical made-in-Canada Tunable Filter Imager. Once completed, sufficient support must be provided to allow timely pre-flight calibration and in-flight operational support of this instrument, which is of special interest to the Canadian community. 7 The LRPP reiterates the need for the funding of university-based experimental astrophysics laboratories in Canada for both ground-based and space-based instrumentation and technology development, and recommends that renewable funding programs be available from NSERC and CSA to support these activities. The LRPP further encourages NRC to support Industrial Chairs at Canadian universities. Coordination between the funding agencies is a key to achieving these goals. 8 The LRPP recommends continuing funding from NRC and NSERC for the productive small telescopes discussed above, with an emphasis on increasing remote access/queue mode observing to serve the widest possible community. 9 The LRPP recommends that CITA’s NSERC support be increased by 12%, so that, so that, in addition to continuing its existing programs that attract top researchers to Canada both in the short and long term, it can add four new PDFs to the CITA National Fellows Program. 10 Compute Canada funding should be doubled to bring us up to at least 2/3 of the G8 average HPC funding per GDP. At least 1/5 of this funding should go towards encouraging user innovation through research support, and to the provision of HPC consultants. Compute Canada should also budget funds to ensure a "Tier 1" facility is available to researchers. 11 The LRPP recommends that Compute Canada move to fully support users with cloud computing requirements. 12 The LRPP reiterates the need for a coherent Canadian Data Management Policy. As observatories become more dependent on data analysis, end-to-end management of data, including decommissioning archiving, needs to be a critical part of project development. A working group from the NRC (CADC) and CASCA should be formed to address this point, particularly focusing on the needs of the “world observatories”. 13 Timely access to a VLOT remains Canada’s number one priority for large projects in ground-based optical-infrared astronomy over the next decade. Canadian participation in a VLOT needs to be at a significant level, such that it will not be treated as a “lesser partner” in scientific, technical, and managerial decisions.

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14 The LRPP recommends that Canada pursue a “second-to-none” share of TMT. This recommendation is contingent on a TMT construction start no later than 2014. Funding for Canada’s TMT participation should be provided at a level that ensures that a 2014 (or earlier) start is possible. The continued participation of HIA is essential to maintain Canadian presence in the TMT project. 15 If by early 2012 it appears that a 2014 construction start for TMT will not be feasible, then the LRPP recommends that we take steps to become a partner in the E-ELT project by joining ESO, and that we discontinue our partnership in TMT. 16 The LRPP reaffirms the importance and very high priority of Canada’s participation in the SKA, which it anticipates will become the top priority following VLOT. Canada should continue its current path in the engineering design and prototype development of SKA elements, leading to participation in the pre-construction design phase, and should continue to seek opportunities to build components where Canada has experience and an international reputation. SKA R&D is the highest priority medium-scale project over the next decade. The decision as to how and when Canada should enter the construction phase of SKA should await further reviews of SKA project development, a more accurate cost estimate, better understanding of international prospects, and a better knowledge of timing for funding a construction start. 17 The LRPP views CHIME as a key medium-scale experiment that could have high scientific yield at modest cost, and encourages the proposing team to vigorously pursue funding for this experiment. The LRPP endorses the project provided that a detailed study confirms its budget and the feasibility of its technical design and science goals. 18 The LRPP recommends that Canadian astronomers pursue participation in CCAT. More specifically, funds at the level $0.9M should be devoted to R&D, and to conducting a thorough investigation of potential Canadian contributions (instrumentation and/or infrastructure). 19 Site testing at PEARL should be funded and continued until the image quality at the site can be fully characterized. This site testing requires continued support of the PEARL facility. In addition, testing should be extended to at least one additional, preferably higher altitude, site in the High Arctic. If the superlative image quality of Arctic sites is confirmed, then the LRPP recommends a design study and the development of a science case for a small (1–4 metre) telescope, and technical studies on telescope construction and operation in polar environments. This would be followed by telescope construction, if the design and implementation are determined to be cost effective. 20 The LRPP recommends that Canada develop the ngCFHT concept (science case, technical design, partnerships, timing). 21 The LRPP recommends that a cost exercise be started immediately by CSA and Canadian astronomers to (i) identify possible instrumentation contributions to space missions of interest, and (ii) estimate the costs to Canada of these missions. 22 The LRPP recommends that Canadian astronomers participate in a major wide-field Dark Energy satellite mission. Joining Euclid or WFIRST as a significant partner would fulfill this recommendation, provided that we can (i) negotiate a partnership in the leading mission, and (ii) identify a contribution to the satellite instrumentation. Alternatively, a Canadian Space Telescope (CST) could be developed as a component of a Dark Energy experiment. 23 The LRPP recommends ASTRO-H as its top priority small-scale space mission. The LRPP commends CSA for its rapid handling of this opportunity. 24 The LRPP strongly recommends Canadian R&D involvement in IXO as its number-one medium-scale space priority. This is because of its excellent foreseen scientific capabilities that will be a superb match for the expertise of the Canadian HEA community, but also with an eye toward capitalizing on technical expertise gained from fabrication, implementation and calibration of the ASTRO-H metrology system. Involvement with IXO is consistent with CSA’s mandate of growing experience and capability. 25 The LRPP recommends that the CSA and other funding agencies develop procedures that enable them to react quickly to international opportunities (like that offered by ASTRO-H), which often have timelines and scheduling that are beyond our control. Such involvement, once established, has the potential to pave the way toward future projects with even more Canadian involvement, and eventual Canadian leadership. 26 The LRPP gives Canadian participation in SPICA very high priority under medium-scale space projects. 27 Canada is a world leader in micro- and nano-satellite technology. The LRPP strongly supports this program as a cost-effective way of answering highly targeted science questions. The LRPP recommends that the CSA issue a call for proposals for micro- and nano-satellites so that new projects can proceed through a competitive funding process.

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28 The LRPP notes the continued scientific importance of balloon-borne experiments, and strongly reinforces the need to continue these missions, both for their scientific potential, and also as a cost-effective means of accessing a near-space environment for technology development and demonstration. 29 The LRPP recommends that NRC and ACURA negotiate a cooperative agreement to manage HIA. This would preserve NRC’s responsibility for operating and administering observatories established or managed by the Federal Government. The CSA should be involved as well in order to permit a review of options for its participation in this cooperative management. NSERC and CFI should be invited to play a less formal role as observers in any new governance structure since their participation would act to improve communication among the various agencies for the support of astronomy. 30 All of the relevant funding agencies in Canada should cooperate to recommend to the Federal Government a standing process for funding Big Science in Canada. The process should involve a panel of internationally recognized Canadian and non-Canadian scientists, and a rigorous and extensive peer review. 31 The LRPP recommends that the LRP Implementation Committee collect data following the next several NSERC DG competitions, in order to assess the impact of the new conference model evaluation scheme on astronomy. The results of this analysis should be communicated to NSERC and the astronomical community. 32 We recommend that the CSA move towards a system that enhances the role and involvement of science teams in instrument delivery. 33 The success of the CIFAR Cosmology and Gravity program has been of exceptional benefit to Canadian astrophysics. We strongly encourage the community to seek a further renewal of the program. 34 The LRPP recommends that CSA set aside funds in the SSEP program to provide support for four PDFs in support of JWST and other CSA supported missions. This investment will help ensure that the exceptional data expected from these missions will be utilized to their full extent. 35 The LRPP recommends that NSERC fund a postdoctoral fellowship program in support of Canada’s access to major international facilities. The investment in this program should be proportional to the requisite hardware investment. 36 Graduate programs should strongly consider adding some element of outreach, either training or project requirements, to their programs. 37 The LRPP recommends that the “AstronomyCanada.ca” website be co-developed with a brand awareness campaign led by the professional community. 38 The LRPP reiterates the value of investing a 1.5% fraction of government funding of new large-scale projects into outreach. 39 It is important that Canadian funding agencies recognize the potential importance of astronomy projects of small to intermediate scale that develop on rapid time scales, and that are therefore not included in the LRP Report. Such projects may have a strong impact on science and in training of HQP for involvement in Very Large Facilities within the plan. 40 The LRPP recommends that a standing LRP Implementation Committee (LRPIC) be formed to handle “real-time” decisions that arise from the LRP2010 report concerning the future evolution of Canadian Astronomy.

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11.3 Appendix C: CSA Budgets 2005–15

The MTRP expresses thanks to Dr. Denis Laurin for passing on these figures.

Mission Launch FY FY FY FY FY FY FY FY FY FY Total* 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 FUSE 1999 0.2 0.1 3.0 ODIN 2001 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 5.5 MOST 2003 1.0 1.0 0.8 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.5 19.1 BLAST 2005 0.2 0.3 0.3 1.8 Herschel 2009 4.4 1.4 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.7 19.3 Planck 2009 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 8.0 ASTROSAT 2015 1.6 1.5 1.0 1.2 1.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.4 8.9 EBEX 2009 0.2 0.5 0.7 NEOSSat 2013 0.3 0.3 2.3 1.1 2.4 1.0 1.4 3.1 2.2 2.1 16.3 JWST 2018 8.6 22.8 30.9 34.7 28.7 11.4 7.8 6.1 5.7 10.1 170.9 CADC 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 3.8 BRITE 2012 0.7 2.4 0.4 0.1 3.6 ASTRO-H 2016 0.6 1.5 3.2 2.5 1.4 9.1 Total 17.7 28.5 37.1 40.2 35.5 16.2 15.8 15.1 12.7 15.7 270 a.) Total figures are summed over all mission years, including those going back to FY00/01. Numbers should be considered approximate. b.) Concept studies and grants are not included, and FUSE and ODIN do not show full mission costs. c.) MOST, ASTROSAT, Herschel, Planck, JWST, Astrosat, and ASTRO-H include scientific support. d.) NEOSSat is jointly funded by DRDC and CSA (approximately 50/50). Figures above show only CSA funding and operations.

11.4 Appendix D: Table of Mid-term Review panellists

Member Affiliation Role Dr. Michael Balogh University of Waterloo Dr. David Crampton National Research Council Ex-officio Dr. Matt Dobbs McGill University Dr. Kristine Spekkens Royal Military College of Canada Vice-Chair Dr. Michael Strauss Princeton University External Member Dr. Robert Thacker Saint Mary’s University Chair Dr. Marten van Kerkwijk University of Toronto Dr. Kim Venn University of Victoria Dr. Christine Wilson McMaster University 82

Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum — J.C. Cuillandre and G. Anselmi