Title: The Next Generation CFHT: A Wide-Field Spectroscopic Facility for the Coming 
Decade

Author: Patrick Cote (HIA) on behalf of the Next Generation CFHT Concept Study 
Team

The 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii telescope (CFHT) saw first light in 1979. Since that 
time, it has proved to be a highly productive and versatile research facility, making 
excellent use of one of the world's premier astronomical sites. Since 2003, CFHT has 
enjoyed success by focusing on wide-field optical and IR imaging.  However, the 
coming decade will see an explosion of new wide-field imaging facilities, both on the 
ground and in space, as well as the launch of the GAIA astrometric telescope. At 
present, there is no large aperture, wide-field telescopic suitable for a comprehensive 
spectroscopic follow up of these missions and surveys, which will be essential for 
maximizing their scientific impact. In this poster, I describe a plan to upgrade CFHT, by 
2020, to a 10m segmented mirror telescope equipped with a highly multiplexed, 
wide-field (1.5 sq. deg.) spectrograph. Dedicated to high- and low-resolution 
spectroscopy of faint stars and extragalactic sources, this "Next Generation CFHT" 
would  build upon the many imaging and astrometric surveys planned for the coming 
decade and enable a comprehensive investigation of two of the most pressing scientific 
questions of our time: the nature of dark energy and the formation history of the Milky 
Way.