Hot off the press “CFHT - IYA2009 imaging contest for amateur astronomy clubs in Canada”  

It is with great pleasure that we can announce that, as a part of IYA2009, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) has decided to give something back to the amateur astronomical community here in Canada. Announced during the Canada Post stamp unveiling and launched during the global cornerstone project of “100 hours of astronomy” from the NRC’s Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, in Victoria BC, the CFHT contest will award up to two hours to the winning group(s). 

Established in 1979, CFHT is a world-class, 3.6 meter optical/infrared telescope. The observatory is located atop the summit of Mauna Kea, a 4200 meter, dormant volcano located on the island of Hawaii. Long a favourite in the public eye, CFHT has produced some of the most awe inspiring, ground-based astronomical images to-date.

Good luck!

 Eligibility:

    All amateur astronomy clubs in Canada are permitted to submit up to two  proposals (maximum of one per instrument). Multiple submissions from the same club will result in disqualification from the contest. It is left up to the individual clubs to decide how best to compose and select their proposal(s)

Constraints on Targets:

I) Proposals should be limited to a single target
II) Any object or target can be selected. However, the chosen target has to be observable in good conditions (air mass smaller than 2) sometime in the period between August 1st and November 31st.

•    The 340 megapixel MegaCAM wide-field imager has a 1 degree x 1 degree F.O.V
•    The wide-field near infrared WIRCam imager has a 20 arcminute x 20 arcminute F.O.V
    
    Additional information (in English) can be found at:
    http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/index.php
   

Constraints on the proposals:

    I) Proposals are welcome in either English or French
    II) Proposals must be typed documents and must be limited to 500 words
    III) A second page may be submitted and may include diagrams and images
    
The content of the proposals must address the following three question(s): Why is your request particularly well suited to CFHT? Why have you chosen the instrument in question? What is your justification for choosing this target?

Deadline:

    6:00 p.m. PST, Friday July 3rd 2009

Image release and usage:

    All applicants agree that the images will be placed in the public domain and will be made freely available to any media and/or groups as decided by the evaluating committee. Furthermore, winning clubs must agree to participate in any media  interviews related to these observations. The winning images shall be jointly credited to the winning club and CFHT.

Evaluation:

A committee will make the final selection of the winning proposal(s) based on their originality, their scientific value, or their potential impact on the public. The decision shall be final. The announcement of the winning proposal(s) shall take place late July 2009 at the ‘Centre of the Universe’ outreach centre, located at the National Research Council of Canada’s Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, BC.

Entries and enquiries should be directed to:

All enquiries and/or proposals should be directed to the contact person as listed  under the contact heading. Staff at CFHT should not be contacted by interested applicants. Proposals must be submitted via mail and will NOT be returned after the close of the competition. Please note all correspondence should include “CFHT - IYA imaging contest” in the subject line and/or title.

Contact us:

    Eric Chisholm This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
    NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics
    5071 West Saanich Rd, Victoria, BC
    V9E 2E7