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CFHT Update

Doug Simons

CFHT Executive Director

Maunakea Observatories Background

CFHT Research Sampler

CFHT Instrumentation & Capabilities

The Most Powerful Collection of Telescopes in the World

MAUNAKEA OBSERVATORIES

A Wonderful Collaboration…At the Best Astronomy Site in the World

A billion dollar astronomical research complex

50 year legacy founded upon broadinternational partnerships

Unique source of high-tech jobs, educational resources, community engagement

Total Science Impact per Telescope(2016 – Courtesy D. Crabtree)

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MAUNAKEA

OBSERVATORIES

Smooth air flow across the summit minimizes turbulence, helping keep images steady and increasing resolution compared to most other high altitude sites Predominant East-West air flow,

unobstructed by land for thousands of miles before it reaches Hawaii

High altitude dry air allows more infrared and microwave radiation to reach the summit

than lower elevations

Low Humidity

Diurnal inversion layer frequently caps cloud tops below the summit

Most of the Maunakea observatories have been

optimized to take advantage of these conditions

At night this inversion layer helps block city lights from below

MAUNAKEA OBSERVATORIES

Radio/Microwave

LBO

Wide Field

High ResolutionInfrared

Diverse Capabilities → Collaborative Research

Commissioned in 1979, CFHT has a long history of innovation

First facility class adaptive optics system

First multi-object spectrometer

First integral field spectrometer

Largest digital camera

First to use 4x4k NIR sensor (H4RG)

Today CFHT specializes in -

O/IR panoramic imaging

Large surveys

Solar System

Exoplanets

Galaxies

Clusters, etc.

O/IR high-res spectroscopy and polarimetry

Imaging spectroscopy

EquatorialMount

3.6 m f/4primary

Prime Focus

Cass Focus + Fiber Feed

Dome Vents

5 instruments + Gemini Fiber Feed

The distinction between stars and brown dwarfs has always been based upon core fusion occurrence, but exactly what minimum mass leads to core fusion?

A comprehensive study by Dupuy (UT) and Liu (UH) finally empirically measured this minimum mass – 70 MJup

Minimum stellar surface temp – 1600 K

Measurements made at CFHT and Keck of 31 faint dwarf binaries (HST used too) Keck laser AO used to measure orbits of

binaries

CFHT WIRCAM used to measure astrometric reference grid around each binary

This minimum mass is slightly lower than the canonical 80 Mjup assumed for decades, based mostly upon theory

Star or Brown Dwarf?

Temporal Scale: 1 sec animation = 2 yrs real time

Observations of LSB galaxy Malin 1 (one of the largest disk galaxies known) made as part of NGVS

Bulk of Malin 1 composed of dark matter, extending well beyond its faint visible disk

Compared images in 6 bands (FUV, NUV, u, g, i, z) to various models, testing various assumptions about formation and evolution of Malin 1

Measured quiescent star formation rate over prolonged period suggests no violent collisions involved in formation of this giant disk galaxy – inconsistent with prevailing theories on formation of such large galaxies

Malin 1: A LSB Galaxy Discovered Years Ago – Still Has Surprises…

Ref: S. Boissier et al., 2016

Vennes et al. discovered an unusual white dwarf (LP 40-365), which may be the product of a failed type Ia supernova, resulting in the remnant white dwarf being jettisoned out of our galaxy Space velocity ~500 km/s

Devoid of hydrogen and helium –composed mostly of oxygen with traces of heavier elements

GRACES fiber system connecting Gemini/CFHT was used to record spectra of this high speed star KPNO and WHT used as well

Failed (subluminous) SN occurred ~50 Myr ago, a few kpc away

Failed Supernova

Origin of supernova and trajectories of remnant WD

First discovered by PanSTARRS, what was first thought to be a comet was quickly identified as the first detection of an object to visit our solar system from interstellar space

Hyperbolic orbit and 26 km/s speed

Karen Meech’s team at UH used CFHT to acquire some of the highest quality light curves for ‘Oumuamua, helping demonstrate its peculiar 10:1:1 shape and 7.5 hr rotation period

Name given by Ka’iu and Larry Kimura at UH Hilo and ImiloaAstronomy Center

Later adopted by IAU

1I/‘Oumuamua – A First in Many Ways

Meech et al., 2017

Associate Partners to CFHT established through renewable agreements and are structured to promote science and engineering collaboration

Associate Partners have –

Access to observe with all CFHT instrumentation, typically 5-10 nights per semester

Links to CFHT instrumentation and development projects (SPIRou, WIRCam, and MSE are recent/current examples)

Observer status on CFHT’s Science Advisory Council and Board

Means of stationing visiting scientists/engineers at CFHT’s Hawaii based facilities

Links to strategic interests in common with CFHT

Maunakea Observatories, students, future projects, etc.

Associate Partnerships

Status of CFHT Associate Partner Agreements –

Agreement with NAOC extends through 2018B hence seeking renewal now to ensure continuity of Chinese programs at CFHT

Agreement with ASIAA extends through 2019B with consistent demand for CFHT from Taiwan community

Brazil situation remains fluid – awaiting identification of funding to allow LNA to rejoin CFHT as an Associate Partner

Associate Partnerships

217 papers published in 2017 including CFHT data

Delivery of SPIRou

Numerous Discoveries

Innovative Community Outreach

Want to Learn More about CFHT?

MSE Status

Instrumentation

&

Facility Development

Photo: Don Mitchell

SPIRou

Ultra pure ~35 m fluoride fibers that transmit

through 2.5 µm

NIR high-res fiber-fed X-dispersed spectrometer

Single‐shot spectral domain 0.98‐2.4 μm (YJHK)

Resolution ~70k with ~1 m/s RV stability

Polarization measurements with <1% channel cross-talk

SPIRou Arrives Jan. 2018

SPIRou Being Assembled at CFHT

SPIRou Arrives at CFHT

SPIRou is CFHT’s latest instrument – a near infrared ultra-stable spectropolarimeter designed to search for exoplanets in the habitable zones of nearby low mass stars

SPIRou will be used to conduct a very large scale search for exoplanets from Maunakea - 300 nights via the Large Program CfP out now

Likely >500 nights of observing time over it’s lifetime

It is the first instrument to use a 1-2.5 µm H4RG near-infrared sensor and infrared transmitting fiber optics (transmits out to 2.5 µm)

If it meets performance specs, SPIRoushould, on average, detect a new planet each night it is used

SPIRou First Light a Few Weeks Ago…

Testing SPIRou via CFHT’s Remote Operations room

SPIRou – Current Status

Tests since delivery to CFHT show great promise for this instrument – arguably the most complex and ever built for CFHT

Throughput and velocity resolution need to be verified via on-sky tests this summer

Many low level noise sources can creep into the system – need to verify their combined effect through on-sky measurements

Anticipate large scale search for terrestrial class planets from CFHT starting this fall

CFHT’s Imaging FTS - SITELLE

Carbon Fiber Support Structure

Telescope Interface Plate

Control Electronics

Beam Splitter

CCD

Precision Scan Mirror

Filter Wheel & Calibration

CCD

In 2016 SITELLE joined MegaCam, WIRCam, and ESPaDOnS as a member of CFHT’s suite of facility class instruments

Depending on source brightness

R~3000-5000 is typical spectral resolution achieved

Scans require ~2-3 hours to complete

Short wavelength limit~380 nm

Powerful probe of emission line sources, absorption line sources TBD

CFHT’s Imaging FTS - SITELLE

Additional Instruments(MegaCam)

“Workhorse” instrument at CFHTMore papers have been generated by

MegaCam than all other instruments built for CFHT combined

340 Megapixel camera with 1°FoV

10 filters (BB+NB)

Well established data pipeline

Queue operated

Used to generate CFHT’s “Legacy Survey” containing ~40 million objects

Additional Instruments(Espadons)

R~70K fiber fed optical spectrometer, 370-1050 nm in one shot

Polarimetry mode used to study stellar magnetic fields

Fiber coupled to CFHT or Gemini

Currently ~1/3 of CFHT time allocated to Espadons

Additional Instruments(WIRCam)

1-2.5 µm imager

20x20 arcmin FoV

2x2 mosaic of H2RGs

Numerous BB and NB filters available

Bright time instrument

Astrometry

Precision photometry (transits)

Complements MegaCam

CFHT was among the first to migrate to remote observing, yielding a variety of benefits as a queue based observatory

Our most recent innovation is to adopt “SNR” queue operations

This is now the default mode for MegaCam and ESPaDOnS – our two most popular instruments

PI’s specify the SNR needed to support their program and observations are dynamically tuned to reach the desired SNR, instead of integrating a predetermined amount based upon various assumptions

Since most programs tended to overshoot SNR, the net effect has been to increase time available to all programs

Our Latest Operations Innovation

MegaCam SNR

ESPaDOnS SNR

Canada-France-Hawaii TelescopeMaunakea Spectroscopic Explorer

The Maunakea Observatories are a world leader in 21st century astronomy

With its diverse and modern instrumentation and operations, CFHT is among the most scientifically productive observatories on Maunakea

Innovation throughout the history of CFHT has been the secret to our success, and that innovation is taking us in even bolder directions in the future…