CASA Docs

is the official CASA documentation. It explains the mechanics of how CASA works. CASA Docs contains a large number of chapter pages on the use of CASA, as well as detailed explanation of the numerous CASA tasks. CASA Docs also contains a Known Issues page with known bugs, a CASA Memo Series for more in-depth information, and a Knowledgebase containing general tips. A new version of CASA Docs is released with every version of CASA.

CASA Docs can be found here.

When online, task parameter pages in CASA Docs can also be invoked from within CASA by typing doc('taskname').

CASA Guides

CASA Guides are step-by-step data reduction tutorials for the processing of VLA, ALMA, VLBI, ATCA, and simulated data with CASA. In contrast to CASA Docs, which describe how CASA works, the CASA Guides contain calibration and imaging strategies that explain how CASA is best used for processing your data. The CASA Guides are provided by the various telescope teams, and explain best-practices to get the most out of your data.

CASA Guides can be found here. The tutorials in the CASA Guides are updated with most major CASA releases.



A CASA Newsletter is sent out twice a year. These Newsletters give an overview of recent, ongoing, and upcoming CASA developments.

An overview of past CASA Newsletters can be found here.

If you want to receive the CASA Newsletter by email, please subcribe to casa-news.




A CASA Memo Series & Knowledgebase can be found in . The CASA Memos provide in-depth information on certain aspects of CASA beyond the regular documentation, while the Knowledgebase articles provide other bits of wisdom on CASA.




CASA supports pipelines for calibrating and imaging ALMA and VLA data. More information can be found on the webpages of the ALMA Science Pipeline and the VLA Calibration Pipeline.

See also this reference paper on the ALMA interferometric pipeline heuristics.




CARTA is the Cube Analysis and Rendering Tool for Astronomy, a new image visualization and analysis tool designed for the ALMA, the VLA, and the SKA pathfinders. The CARTA software is available for users who wish to try visualizing image products outside the CASA Viewer. See CASA Docs for more information.

CARTA is developed by the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and the Department of Physics, University of Alberta.




An overview of CASA outreach materials presented at recent meetings and conferences can be found here.




Please use the following paper as official citation for the CASA software package:

The CASA Team, et al. 2022, "CASA, the Common Astronomy Software Applications for Radio Astronomy", PASP, 134, 114501. DOI: 10.1088/1538-3873/ac9642

Other relevant CASA publications:

  • van Bemmel, I., Kettenis, M., Small, D., et al. 2022, "CASA on the fringe -- Development of VLBI processing capabilities for CASA", PASP, 134, 114502. DOI: 10.1088/1538-3873/ac81ed
  • Emonts, B., Raba, R., Rau, U., et al. 2022, "The CASA software for radio astronomy: status update from ADASS 2020", Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXX, ASP Conf. Ser., 532, 389
  • Raba, R. 2020, "CASA Next Generation Infrastructure", Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXX, ASP Conf. Ser., 532, 67
  • Emonts, B., Raba, R., Moellenbrock, G., et al. 2020, "The CASA software for radio astronomy: status update from ADASS 2019", Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXIX, ASP Conf. Ser., 527, 267
  • Raba, R., Schiebel, D., Emonts, B., et al. 2020, "CASA 6: Modular Integration in Python", Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXIX, ASP Conf. Ser., 527, 271
  • Kepley, A., Tsutsumi. T., Brogan, C., et al. 2020, "Auto-multithresh: A General Purpose Automasking Algorithm", PASP, 132, 02505
  • Rau, U., Naik, N., Braun, T., 2019, "A Joint Deconvolution Algorithm to Combine Single-dish and Interferometer Data for Wideband Multiterm and Mosaic Imaging", AJ, 158, 3
  • Rau, U., Bhatnagar, S., Owen, F. N., 2016, "Deep Wideband Single Pointings and Mosaics in Radio Interferometry", AJ, 152, 124
  • Petry, D., CASA Development Team, 2012, "Analysing ALMA Data with CASA", Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXI, ASP Conf. Ser., 461, 849
  • McMullin, J. P., Waters, B., Schiebel, D., Young, W., & Golap, K. 2007, CASA Architecture and ApplicationsAstronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XVI, ASP Conf. Ser. 376, ed. R. A. Shaw, F. Hill, & D. J. Bell (San Francisco, CA: ASP), 127