A team led by the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, the Observatoire du\u00a0Mont\u2011M\u00e9gantic\u00a0(OMM) and the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx), in partnership with the University of British Columbia and McGill, has been awarded nearly $11.3 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to support Canada\u2019s contribution to ANDES, a flagship scientific instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) under construction in Chile.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For McGill, the project\u00a0sees\u00a0the University\u2019s\u00a0researchers\u00a0playing a\u00a0critical\u00a0role\u00a0in one of astronomy\u2019s most ambitious international facilities:\u00a0creating the software that will help transform\u00a0raw telescope data into discoveries about distant planets,\u00a0stars\u00a0and galaxies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
At 39 metres in diameter, the ELT will be the largest telescope of its kind, capable of\u00a0observing\u00a0the\u00a0universe in unprecedented detail. First observations are expected later this decade.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A rare gateway to a global facility\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Canada is not a member of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which is building and\u00a0operating\u00a0the ELT. By contributing key components to ANDES, however, Canadian astronomers gain guaranteed access to the telescope, which\u00a0they would not otherwise have.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a transformative moment for Canadian astronomy, propelling Canada into a leading role in what may become the most powerful ground-based telescope ever built,\u201d says Ren\u00e9 Doyon, Director\u00a0of the OMM and\u00a0IREx, Professor at UdeM and co-PI of the Canadian contribution to ANDES.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For decades, access to a\u00a0next\u2011generation\u00a0optical telescope has been identified as a national priority. With other international projects facing delays, the ELT\u00a0represents\u00a0Canada\u2019s only\u00a0near\u2011term\u00a0path into this new era of astronomical discovery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
ANDES: turning light into answers\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
ANDES,\u00a0short for\u00a0ArmazoNes\u00a0high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph,\u00a0is one of the ELT\u2019s core instruments. It works by breaking incoming light into its\u00a0component\u00a0wavelengths with extreme precision, allowing astronomers to\u00a0determine\u00a0what distant objects are made of and how they behave.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The instrument will be used to study everything from the first stars and galaxies to the evolution of chemical elements across cosmic time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of its most\u00a0anticipated\u00a0applications is closer to home: searching for signs of life beyond Earth. ANDES will be the first instrument capable of directly probing the atmospheres of nearby\u00a0Earth\u2011like\u00a0planets orbiting\u00a0sun\u2011like\u00a0stars, looking for molecules such as water, oxygen,\u00a0methane\u00a0and carbon dioxide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cANDES will be a huge leap forward in our search for life in the Universe,\u201d said Nicolas Cowan, a professor in the Trottier Space Institute at McGill and co\u2011investigator of the Canadian ANDES contribution. \u201cIt will be the first astronomical instrument designed from the ground up to search nearby exoplanets for signs of life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McGill\u2019s role: from data to discovery\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
McGill\u2019s contribution is led by Cowan, who serves as the McGill principal investigator and a national\u00a0co\u2011investigator\u00a0on the project.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
McGill researchers\u00a0will\u00a0develop\u00a0key software that converts ANDES\u2019s\u00a0raw measurements into science\u2011grade spectra:\u00a0the processed data astronomers need to detect molecules in exoplanet atmospheres and carry out the instrument\u2019s broader science program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This\u00a0work places\u00a0McGill at the essential interface between observation and discovery, ensuring that the ELT\u2019s unprecedented\u00a0light\u2011gathering\u00a0power can be translated into reliable scientific results.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Broad impact beyond astronomy\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beyond its scientific goals, the project will support training and innovation across Canada.\u00a0Nearly half\u00a0of the funding will go toward highly qualified personnel and partnerships with Canadian industry, advancing technologies in optics, photonics,\u00a0detectors\u00a0and data science. These fields have\u00a0applications ranging from medical imaging to communications.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project also includes educational initiatives designed to bring ELT science into classrooms in Canada and Chile, giving students direct exposure to real observations of distant worlds.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
With development of ANDES already underway, Canada\u2019s contribution is now fully secured. As a\u00a0second\u2011generation\u00a0ELT instrument, ANDES is expected to begin operations in the next decade, shortly after the telescope itself becomes operational.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scientific\u00a0contacts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicolas Cowan\u00a0\u00a0
Canada\u00a0Research\u00a0Chair in\u00a0Planetary\u00a0Climate\u00a0\u00a0
Department\u00a0of\u00a0Physics\u00a0and\u00a0Department\u00a0of Earth and\u00a0Planetary\u00a0Sciences\u00a0\u00a0
McGill\u00a0University, Trottier Space Institute\u00a0\u00a0
nicolas.cowan [at] mcgill.ca\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ren\u00e9 Doyon\u00a0\u00a0
Director\u00a0\u00a0
Trottier Institute for\u00a0Research\u00a0on\u00a0Exoplanets\u00a0and Observatoire du Mont-M\u00e9gantic\u00a0\u00a0
Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al\u00a0\u00a0
rene.doyon [at] umontreal.ca\u00a0\u00a0
Tel: 514-349-5779\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rique Baron\u00a0\u00a0
Canadian ANDES Project Manager\u00a0\u00a0
Observatoire du Mont-M\u00e9gantic\u00a0\u00a0
Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al\u00a0\u00a0
frederique.baron [at] umontreal.ca\u00a0\u00a0
Tel: 514-277-2858\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Media\u00a0contacts\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire Loewen\u00a0\u00a0
Communications Officer, Science & Engineering\u00a0
McGill University\u00a0\u00a0
Claire.loewen [at] mcgill.ca\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathalie Ouellette\u00a0\u00a0
Deputy Director\u00a0\u00a0
Trottier Institute for\u00a0Research\u00a0on\u00a0Exoplanets\u00a0and Observatoire du Mont-M\u00e9gantic\u00a0\u00a0
Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al\u00a0\u00a0
nathalie [at] astro.umontreal.ca\u00a0\u00a0
Tel: 613 531-1762\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A team led by the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, the Observatoire du\u00a0Mont\u2011M\u00e9gantic\u00a0(OMM) and the Trottier Institute for Research on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-670193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}