Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope
The Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT French: Télescope Canada–France–Hawaï) is a 3.58 m optical/infrared telescope located near the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi at an altitude of, within the Maunakea Observatories. The telescope has a Prime Focus/Cassegrain configuration, and has been in operation since 1979. CFHT had proposed redeveloping its summit facility into the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer, replacing the existing telescope with an segmented telescope while reusing much of the existing observatory infrastructure, including the foundation, telescope pier, and portions of the support building.
Also recorded as CFHT，Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope · Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope，縮寫：CFHT
Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope
Gordon W Myers · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Period
- 1979
- Region
- United States
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Documentary summary
The Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT French: Télescope Canada–France–Hawaï) is a 3.58 m optical/infrared telescope located near the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi at an altitude of, within the Maunakea Observatories. The telescope has a Prime Focus/Cassegrain configuration, and has been in operation since 1979. CFHT had proposed redeveloping its summit facility into the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer, replacing the existing telescope with an segmented telescope while reusing much of the existing observatory infrastructure, including the foundation, telescope pier, and portions of the support building.
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In this article
Funding
Funding
In the interim, the existing telescope will remain operating into the 2030s.
The corporation is bound by a tripartite agreement between the University of Hawaii at Manoa, in the United States, the National Research Council (NRC) in Canada and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France. CFHT also has partnerships with the National Astronomical Observatory of China (NAOC), the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) in Taiwan, the National Laboratory of Astrophysics (LNA) in Brazil and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) in Korea. The contributions from these associate partners help fund CFHT's future instrumentation. Currently, CFHT observing time is offered to scientists from all the seven countries in the partnership. Astronomers from the European Union can also submit proposals through the Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy (OPTICON) access program.
Instruments
Instruments
CFHT currently operates five instruments: • MegaPrime/MegaCam, a one-square-degree field high-resolution CCD mosaic of 40 CCDs totalling 378 megapixels • WIRCam (Wide-Field Infrared Camera), an infrared mosaic of 4 detectors totalling 16 megapixels, optimized for the J, H, and K spectral bands • ESPaDOnS (Echelle SpectroPolarimetric Device for the Observation of Stars at CFHT), an echelle spectrograph/spectropolarimeter • SITELLE (Spectromètre Imageur à Transformée de Fourier pour l'Etude en Long et en Large de raies d'Emission), a wide-field Fourier transform spectrograph • SPIRou (Spectropolarimètre Infrarouge), a near-infrared spectropolarimeter
Notable discoveries
Notable discoveries
In March 2025, astronomers using the CFHT announced the discovery of 128 new moons of Saturn, bringing the gas giant's total number of confirmed satellites to 274.
Outreach
Outreach
CFHT, in collaboration with Coelum Astronomia, maintains a public-outreach website called "Hawaiian Starlight" which offers extremely high-quality versions of CFHT images in various formats including a yearly calendar.
Gallery
Gallery
* • Illustration — CFHT with moon in the background — • Illustration — CFHT in the morning — • Illustration — The telescope in August 2002 — • Illustration — Dark matter map from 2012 by CFHT Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS). The central colour inset shows the previous largest COSMOS dark matter map
Chronology
Dated record
Chronology
The full dated record · 2 entries
1979
Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope first recorded.
1979
Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope is recorded from 1979.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1031946: Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 5158158-9, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.National Research Council Canada. Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope research and development. Government of Canada.
- 2.Bauman, Steven E. Transforming the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) into the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE): A Conceptual Observatory Building and Facilities Design. Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VII. SPIE. 10704. 107041E. 10 July 2018. 10.1117/12.2311350.
- 3.Board of Directors. Board Recommendation. Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer. Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Corporation. 16 December 2024.
- 4.MegaCam paper on ADS
- 5.WIRCam paper on ADS
- 6.Relay optics to correct telescope aberrations and widen the usual field-of-view.
- 7.ESPaDOnS paper on ADS
- 8.SITELLE Home Page. www.cfht.hawaii.edu.
- 9.SPIRou homepage. www.cfht.hawaii.edu.
- 10.The University of British Columbia. 2025 Discovery of more Saturnian Moons. 11 March 2025.
- 11.New Scientist. Saturn has 128 new moons – more than the rest of the planets combined. 11 March 2025.
- 12.Hawaiian Starlight Film - Exploring the Universe from Mauna Kea - CFHT's Official Site. www.cfht.hawaii.edu.
- 13.Heymans, Catherine. CFHTLenS: the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey: CFHTLenS. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 427. 1. 146–166. 2012-11-21. 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21952.x.
- 14.News CFHT - Astronomers reach new frontiers of dark matter. www.cfht.hawaii.edu.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 5158158-9, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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