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Instruments

Instruments

Here is a list of all present and future instruments that is utilized by the Canda-France-Hawaii Telescope. Click on the Instrument to view more information like uses, discoveries and more. 

CFHT maintains a database of filters used for its instruments.

All instruments are operated under the Queued Service Observing mode (QSO).

 

VISION

VISION Instrument
VISION is an optomechanical interface that will allow installing SPIRou and ESPaDOnS at the Cassegrain focus of the telescope at the same time. Thanks to a beam splitter that will separate the near IR and optical beams without affecting polarization, and relay optics, VISION can be used to observe with SPIRou only (no intervening optics), or with ESPaDOnS only (using relay optics), or with both SPIRou and ESPaDOnS simultaneously (using the beam splitter).

Pathfinder

pathfinder
Hosted at CFHT, Pathfinder will be a proto-MSE scientific instrument that provides a development platform for innovative technologies that could serve as MSE first-light instruments. With a baseline configuration of ~1,000 multiplexed fibers and two spectrographs, Pathfinder will have two modes: MOS using a fiber positioner at prime focus and a Cassegrain-mounted IFU. The instrument will have a spectroscopic coverage of 0.36 nm to 1 nm at R=2000 to R=5000 moderate resolution (MR). Science capabilities could also include an extended spectral range from visible (VIS) into near-infrared (NIR) J- and H-band and R=15,000 high resolution (HR mode) in the visible. The Pathfinder consortium will define the instrument’s design specifications and parameters.

Megacam

Megacam
MegaCam is a wide-field optical imager that consists of 40 2048 x 4612 pixel CCDs, covering a full 1 x 1 square degree field-of-view with a resolution of 0.187 arcsecond per pixel. Data is reduced using the pipeline Elixir.

WIRcam

wircam
WIRCam is a near-infrared mosaic imager made of four HAWAII2-RG detectors, each containing 2048 x 2048 pixels, with a sampling of 0.3 arcsecond per pixel, and covering 20 x 20 square arcmin. Data is reduced using the pipeline Iiwi.

SITELLE

SITELLE
SITELLE provides integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopic capabilities in the visible (350 to 900 nm) over an 11 x 11 square arcmin field of view, with a variable spectral resolution from R=2 to R>10,000. The data are reduced using the pipeline ORCS/ORBS.

ESPaDOns

espadons
ESPaDOnS is a bench-mounted high-resolution echelle spectrograph and spectropolarimeter which was designed to obtain a complete optical spectrum (from 370 to 1,050 nm) in a single exposure with a resolving power of about 68,000 (in spectropolarimetric and 'object+sky' spectroscopic mode) and up to 81,000 (in 'object only' spectroscopic mode). The data are reduced using the pipeline Libre-Esprit.

SPIRou

spirou
SPIRou is a near-infrared spectropolarimeter, optimized for high-precision radial velocity measurements. The data is reduced using the pipeline DRS.
Decommissioned instruments include:
  • 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. MOS and OSIS Spectral Atlas and Gumball page
  • OSIS - The Optionally Stabilized Imager and Spectrometer at Cassegrain f/8
  • KIR - The AOB/PUEO 1k x 1k infrared detector
  • 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
Decommissioned detectors include:
  • 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