This page provides CFHT users with information necessary to prepare proposals (deadline, submission process, information about the instruments).

Here is a quick access to frequently used links:

Observing
Schedule		 Time Allocation
Statistics		 Proposals MegaPrime /
MegaCam		 WIRCam
Queue
Scheduling		 ESPaDOnS SPIRou Sitelle Weather
SkyProbe

Preparation of proposals

CFHT divides a year in 'A' semesters that run from February 1st to July 31st, and 'B' semesters that run from August 1st to January 31. CFHT is open for proposals twice a year. The deadlines are usually around March 21st and September 21st, with a Call for Proposals issued about one month before.

CFHT users from the Canadian, French, ASIAA, and NAOC agencies can submit a proposal during the regular Call for Proposals or as a Director's Discretionary Time proposal (DDT) by using the Kealahou K1 tool.

CFHT users from other agencies (UH and Opticon) can submit a regular proposal using their agency's tool and submit DDT proposals by using the Kealahou K1 tool.

When a semester is open for proposals, an announcement is made on the CFHT Front Page and the information is also available on the web.

Please note the instructions on how to properly acknowledge CFHT in refereed papers.

CFHT's instruments

CFHT offers various imagers and spectrographs.

The following spectro-imager is available at CFHT:

  • Sitelle - SITELLE provides integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopic capabilities in the visible (350 to 900 nm) over an 11 by 11 arcminutes field of view, with a variable spectral resolution, depending on the requirement of the observer, from R=2 to R>104 (for low to high spectroscopic studies).

The following imaging instruments are available at CFHT:

  • WIRCam - The Wide-Field IR camera, with four 2048 x 2048 pixel HAWAII2-RG detectors, a 20 arcminute x 20 arcminute field-of-view and a sampling of 0.3 arcsecond per pixel
  • MegaPrime / MegaCam - The CFHT 36 CCD mosaic 1 square degree CCD imager

The following spectrographs are available at CFHT:

  • ESPaDOnS - The échelle spectrograph/spectropolarimeter
  • SPIRou - The near-infrared spectropolarimeter, optimized for high-precision radial velocity measurements

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.

Archived information

  • The following instruments are no longer offered at CFHT:
    • FOCAM - The Cassegrain or AOB/PUEO imaging camera.
    • CFH12K - The CFHT 12k x 8k pixel, CCD mosaic camera.
    • CFHT-IR - The f/8 1k x 1k infrared detector
    • MOS - The Multi-Object Spectrograph, can also be used for imaging
    • OSIS - The Optionally Stabilized Imager and Spectrometer at Cassegrain f/8
    • KIR - The AOB/PUEO 1k x 1k infrared detector
  • The following spectrographs have been decommissioned or are no longer offered:
    • OASIS - An integral field spectrograph for use with AOB/PUEO
    • FTS - The Fourier Transform Spectrograph at f/35
    • MOS - The f/8 Multi Object Spectrograph
    • OSIS - Optionally Stabilized Imager and Spectrometer at Cassegrain f/8
    • Gecko - Coude f/4 Spectrograph
    • Fabry-Perot - For use with MOS, OSIS, and AOB/PUEO
    • GriF - A multi-mode infrared integral field spectrograph for use with AOB/PUEO
  • Detectors no longer offered
    • Redeye - 2562 NICMOS
    • Loral3 - 2048 × 2048   - frontside illuminated
    • CFH12K - 12,288 × 8,192  - backside illuminated
    • EEV2- 2048 × 4500 - backside illuminated - Gecko only
    • MIT1 - MIT chip similar to those found in CFH12K - very good red response, very low fringing - for MOS
    • MIT2 - MIT chip similar to those found in CFH12K - very good red response, very low fringing, but a lot of bad columns - for Gecko only
    • CFHT-IR - 10242 HgCdTe
    • EEV1- 2048 × 4500 - backside illuminated - ESPaDOnS only
    • KIR - 10242 HgCdTe
  • Related information
  • Detectors