Report on Construction of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope

A progress report is given concerning the construction of the 3.6-meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, which is scheduled for initial operation in late 1978 or early 1979. The site, mounting optics, dome, building, and instrumentation of the telescope are described. Preprogrammed digital computers will be used to control the functions of the telescope, and a variety of optical configurations will be possible because the portion of the telescope tube that carries the secondary optics can be removed and replaced. It is noted that the telescope is driven in hour angle through a large gear fixed to the horseshoe and that the declination and hour-angle axes do not intersect.