stars

Venus transit June 05, 2012

The Transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event that occurs in pairs, every 105 to 120 years, when the planet Venus passes directly in front of the sun from Earth's perspective. The upcoming transit will occur on June 5, 2012, starting around noon Hawaii time, and can be viewed in its entirety only from Hawaii, Alaska and parts of Australia.

At CFHT's headquarters in Waimea (65-1238 Mamalahoa Highway), our staff will have telescopes equipped with solar filters and will safety show and explain the transit to the public. Mauna Kea coins and small solar filters will also be distributed to the first 500 visitors. Come and join us, and enter our rafles for a copy of Michael Chauvin's book "Hokuloa: the British 1874 transit of Venus expedition to Hawaii", and a galelioscope!

NEVER look directly at the Sun without proper eye protection!

If you are not in the Waimea area that day, you can still view the transit from other Big Island locations. For a complete list and further information, please visit the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station Venus transit webpage.

CFHT General Information

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) is a non-profit organization that operates a world class 3.6 meter telescope atop Mauna Kea, a dormant Hawaiian volcano rising 4,200 meters above the Pacific Ocean. The Observatory headquarters are located in Waimea (Kamuela), where CFHT has been part of the community since 1977. The CFHT team of some 50 people includes engineers, technicians, astronomers, and administrators.

CFHT is a joint research facility of:

* National Research Council of Canada (see also Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics),
* Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France (see also CNRS/INSU ), and
* University of Hawaii (see also UH/IFA ).

Visiting the Summit

Due to staffing constraints, we are unable to give summit tours to visitors who request them. If you plan on driving to the summit, we recommend reading our downloadable "Driving Safely to the Summit" brochure. It offers practical information and suggestions for planning your trip to the summit. Please keep in mind that the summit of Mauna Kea is almost 14,000ft (~4200m) above sea level. People who suffer from heart conditions, breathing problems, vertigo are discouraged from visiting the summit. Children under the age of 16 and pregnant woman are also advised against visiting the summit. The summit is very isolated, there are no emergency medical facilities of any kind or public services.

If you are interested in visiting Mauna Kea, we suggest you check out the Visitor's Information Station website. They have quite a bit of information about visiting Mauna Kea on their website. They offer guided Saturday afternoon summit tours for visitors who have 4 wheeled drive vehicles. The Subaru telescope offers summit tours as well, reservations must be made in advance on their website. A trip to 'Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai'i is also highly recommended. They are located in Hilo and they work to combine the science and culture of Hawai'i.

Contact Us

Email: outreachatcfht.hawaii.edu

Phone: Main office (808) 885-7944