CFHT UM2025 - 1st Announcement

February 3, 2025

I ka wā ma mua, i ka wā ma hope

The future is in the past and learning from the past can guide our future. It is with this powerful Hawaiian saying that we invite users of the Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope to join us for the 14th CFHT Users' Meeting.

Guided by a vibrant user community and over 45 years of experience that include pioneering instruments, robust data processing plans, a highly efficient queued service observing mode, and an effective balance between PI-time, Large Programs, and Surveys, CFHT aims to continue to serve the widest possible community, from individual Principal Investigators to international collaborations.

The future of CFHT and its site depends on its presence in the new lease to be decided by the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority (MKSOA) after 2028. As a result, the replacement of CFHT with a new facility such as the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) is now a project for the 2040s, which will need to be accompanied by a strong community astronomy model to be co-designed with local communities.

This new process and timeline now offer unique opportunities for the 2027-2035 timeframe. CFHT will carry out ambitious Community Surveys over several years; the meeting program will include a dedicated session to share, discuss, and promote ideas, and to initiate the first step toward forming a Working Group that will manage the to-be-defined Survey. In addition, another session will be set aside for new technical ideas ranging from the development of new visitor or facility instruments to instrument or telescope upgrades (e.g. detector upgrades, adaptive M2, larger M1, etc.), to be potentially implemented before work on MSE can begin.

Building on our past experience and looking to the future, the UM will therefore be an opportunity for our passionate User Community to present exciting scientific results from our current suite of instruments and our most recent Large Programs, to prepare for the upcoming Community Surveys, to discuss models of Community Astronomy, and to propose or suggest instrument or telescope upgrades and developments.

Registration deadline April 1st -- Registration

Abstract submission deadline March 11 -- Abstract submission

Optional pre-meeting survey to help the LOC organize a successful UM available until Feb. 14 -- Survey

All Auberge reservations (lodging and meals) must be made by April 8 by using the form Auberge reservation

Please contact the LOC um2025loc@cfht.hawaii.edu for further information, including lodging information, hotel reservation form, and deadlines.

Stephane Arnouts, Chair, CFHT Scientific Advisory Council
Chair, UM2025 Scientific Organizing Committee.

Nadine Manset, Director of Science Operations.
Chair, UM2025 Local Organizing Committee.