Introduction:
Mary Beth Laychak is the Director of Strategic Communications for the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT)
The Canada France Hawaii Telescope is 4m in diameter and can see in optical/infrared wavelengths
The CFHT resides on Maunakea in Hawaii
This is one of the best locations on Earth for astronomy
From on top of the mountain, they also create mesmerizing time-lapse videos!
Science with the CFHT:
There are 5 primary instruments that the CFHT takes photos with:
MegaCam takes large pretty pictures
WIRCam helps astronomers see the universe in a different light
ESPaDOnS breaks light into a rainbow for detailed studies of a single object
SITELLE can turn these rainbows into a movie to understand the movement and makeup of material in each image
SPIRou is new and hunts for exoplanets using careful measurements of star movements
Mary Beth is involved in many outreach programs:
Maunakea scholars gives students a chance to use the Maunakea telescopes
CFHT has a Facebook page
Videos about cool science, virtual star parties, updates about CFHT, and more
MKO@Home has cool science to do at home
The Future:
CHFT is planning an upgrade to the MSE
The Maunakea Observatories are working together to connect with the community and to protect the rare Maunakea environment
Going forward the Maunakea observatories plan to integrate more Hawaiian names into new astronomical discoveries such as Oumuamua
Special thanks to Colin Vendromin for the music, also thanks to Zac Kenny for the logo!