Science at CFHT
CFHT's scientific staff is composed of seven resident astronomers, a QSO specialist, and four remote observers.
The main scientific activity at CFHT consists of the execution of observations for the accepted science programs. This is done via Queue Service Observing (QSO). Each day, one of the resident astronomers serves as a Queue Coordinator and prepares queues for the upcoming night. Observations from these queues are executed by one of our Remote Observers based on the current sky conditions. The next morning, the QC assesses the quality of the observations taken and validates those that meet the constraints set by each Principal Investigator
Five instruments are currently available at CFHT:
- MegaCam, a wide 1-degree field 0.18 arcsec pixels imager.
- WIRCam, a wide-field infrared camera (20 arcmin x 20 arcmin, 0.3 arcsec pixels).
- ESPaDOnS, an Echelle SpectroPolarimetric Device for high-resolution spectroscopy and polarimetry.
- SITELLE, an optical imaging Fourier transform spectrometer (IFTS).
- SPIRou, a near-infrared spectropolarimeter with high radial-velocity precision.
All observations taken with these instruments are processed at CFHT and archived at CADC.
Observations obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope from February 1990 to the present are archived at the CADC.
CFHT executes PI-led programs and Large Programs.
Important results obtained from CFHT data are often covered in the News.
