Scientific Seminars

Wide-field optical imaging at CFHT: instrumentation, science & public outreach

Jean-Charles Cuillandre
CFHT & Paris Observatory

2007-10-05    14:00    Brera -

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope has a long tradition of CCD imaging driven by exciting science. The first giant gravitational arc was discovered at CFHT for example, triggering the development of larger CCD mosaic cameras to study the shear at larger and larger scales, all the while also enabling a swirl of other scientific studies. The first part of this talk will present the history of CCD imaging at CFHT, from the 100x100 pixel camera in 1982 to MegaCam, currently the largest CCD mosaic in operation with 340 Mpixels. MegaCam was built by CEA-Dapnia (France) for CFHT on the condition a large survey would be executed for the C-F-H scientific communities. The CFHT Legacy Survey was designed over 4 years, and data collection started shortly after the instrument first light in 2003. Today, the CFHTLS is already a brisk scientific success thanks to the SNLS component. It is almost over (2008) and a large fraction of its data is already public. The second part of the talk focuses on describing the CFHTLS components and give a quick overview of the current world release (which can be yours now). Such camera is also a pristine instrument to capture stunning images of the cosmos in nearly true colors. The third part of this presentation will describe the steps involved in creating such image, including the successful collaboration CFHT has conducted for more than 8 years with the Italian scientific editor Coelum Astronomia. At last, the talk will conclude with a multi-media presentation: a time-lapse essay on Mauna Kea scored with a beautiful and engaging musical score.