SPIRou, the new planet-hunting spectropolarimeter developed for the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), has successfully recorded its first starlight. Ten years after it was first designed and following four intensive months of installation at CFHT, this international instrument in which France has played a leading role is on the point of initiating its scientific operations, namely the detection of exoplanets around nearby red dwarf stars and the study of newborn stars and planets. The design and construction of SPIRou involved a number of French laboratories. It was then integrated at IRAP (CNRS/CNES/Université de Toulouse III—Paul Sabatier) before being shipped to Hawaii.
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