NGC7023

Scientific staff

CFHT's scientific staff is composed of resident and staff astronomers, visiting astronomers, and remote observers. The science staff is involved in several of the scientific activities ongoing at CFHT.

Daily Science Activities

- Observations

The main scientific activity at CFHT consists of the execution of observations for the accepted science programs. This is done via Queue Scheduled Observing (QSO) Three instruments are available in the QSO mode.

  • MegaCam, a wide 1 degree filed 0.18" pixels imager.
  • WIRCam, a wide-field infrared camera (20'x20', 0.3" pixels)
  • ESPaDOnS, an Echelle SpectroPolarimetric Device for high resolution spectroscopy and polarimetry.
-The science staff also participates in classical observations at CFHT using instruments which are not offered in QSO mode.

- Scientific results
Important results obtained from CFHT data are often covered in the News. Please visit the News section for our latest discoveries.

- CFHT data archive at CADC.
Observations obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope from February 1990 to the present are archived at the CADC. The CFHT archive at CADC allows searches by observation meta-data, such as object name and run ID, and presents the results of the search in a tabular format. Users can request and receive archival data and, for some imaging data, previews of CFHT data.

Development

Instrument development is also done at CFHT. Currently, several instruments are being considered for future use or currently developed.

  • IMAKA, a high resolution wide field imager.
  • SPIROU, an infrared high resolution spectropolarimeter.
  • SITELLE, a spectro-imager with a 12' field of view.
  • OHANA is the optical Hawaiian Array for Nanoradian Astronomy project and its sister project OHANA Iki.

The science staff also participates in the development and maintenance of the different data reduction pipelines at CFHT in collaboration with the software group.

  • Elixir, the data reduction pipeline for MegaCam.
  • Upena, the pipeline for Espadons
  • Iiwi`, the pipeline for Wircam.

The science staff also participates in the Observatory Automation Project (OAP)

Research

CFHT astronomers conduct their own science projects and publish research papers. A few astronomers have written articles on various astronomical topics for the general public in the local North Hawaii News weekly magazine.

CFHT's astronomers organize and attend seminars presented on a semi-regular basis.

CFHT's library is a great source of information that includes a database of International Astronomy meetings and a core list of Astronomy books, both compiled by our librarian. CFHT's Information Bulletins, important information on working at high altitude, and much more are also available.

Committees