A reminder that Eldon House, in collaboration with the Department of Physics and Astronomy’s Exploring the Stars program,  the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX), and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada London Centre, is hosting a unique stargazing party.

As board member Mark Tovey describes in this Rogers TV interview, Sunday evening will  not only celebrate Eldon House founder John Harris’ involvement with astronomy, but will also provide a unique perspective into evolution of the astronomical telescope all way from the one Galileo used to first view the moons of Jupiter, to the modern telescopes of today.

See the article in The Londoner.

This event takes place on an evening named Yuri’s Night (named after first human in space, Yuri Gagarin), which is a worldwide celebration of humanity’s achievements in space.

Space music will lend atmosphere. Hot chocolate will be served.

Space-themed attire is encouraged, and please dress warmly!

Date:  Sunday, April 12, 2015, beginning at 8:00p.m.

Registration is required.

Cost : $15.00 (incl. HST) per person.

To register please call 519-661-5169.
481 Ridout Street N.
London, ON, N6A 1P6
www.eldonhouse.ca

 

A black minivan was seen speeding away from a bizarre scene that unfolded near the entrance of the Engineering Building this morning.

Representatives of the Faculty of Engineering, The Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) deny any involvement.

It is also denied that this marked the arrival of Dr. Suzanne Bell who will be giving a talk on Friday in the Department of Psychology . Dr. Bell is working with NASA on crew selection for long duration missions – see this news article “DePaul Professor’s Work Could Help Determine Who Goes to Mars” http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140721/lincoln-park/depaul-professors-work-could-help-determine-who-goes-mars.

 

We got the big news last night that Canada has signed on to the Thirty Meter Telescope. This is exciting stuff; Canadians have been involved with the project for quite some time and have done quite a bit of the preliminary design work. But the only mechanism for funding such a large project in Canada is to go directly to the relevant federal government department, and while the Coalition for Canadian Astronomy had been working hard on making the case, it wasn’t clear whether we would be able to sell the project or not. It’s a big deal: the TMT is one of three Extremely Large Telescopes currently in the planning stages. These facilities will be at the forefront of astronomical research in the 2020s and beyond.

So what will Canadians get for their quarter-billion dollars? Much of it will go to Dynamic Structures who will build the building that holds the telescope, aka the “enclosure” or “dome”. Some will go to companies building other components including the adaptive optics system. And of course, for our money we also get access to telescope time, although I expect this to be extremely competitive just like ALMA is. As the CASCA press release notes, TMT “will examine the first stars to form in the universe, the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way and the atmospheres and other properties of planets within the habitable zones of other stars.” Pretty cool stuff, and as Ray Jayawardhana noted many of us are hoping that TMT will be an inspiration to all Canadians, not just the few who are priveleged to get to do astronomy on a regular basis.

I suddenly find myself with lots more to think about. It’s an exciting day!

[Republished from Pauline’s blog.]

 

On Thursday, April 2, 2015, Scott Jones successfully defended his PhD thesis. Scott is  shown at right in above photo along with adviser Prof. Martin Houde.

Scott gave a public lecture entitled “Methods and results toward measuring magnetic fields in star-forming regions“.

Shown below, Scott’s friends presented him with his own Scott ‘Indiana’ Jones hat. Also shown in the photo is Dr. Tim Robishaw (4th from left) of the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory. Tim was colloquium speaker on the same day.

 

 

Five outstanding honours thesis papers were presented on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. The course was taught by Prof. Eugene Wong.