Past Colloquia
South Pole Telescope-selected protoclusters and the early emergence of hot cluster atmospheres
AB107, Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
Prof. Scott Chapman, Dalhousie University
February 11, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: The South Pole Telescope (SPT) has discovered a large sample of millimetre point sources in the 2500 deg^2 SPT-SZ survey, and the recently completed ‘SPT-3G’ third generation survey has dramatically expanded this sample through almost 5x deeper surveys. Follow-up observations with ALMA show that…
Astro backpack2Briefcase Panel Discussion
Sid Smith 1084
Professional Alumni Panel
February 04, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Are you an undergrad in Astronomy & Astrophysics wondering what life looks like beyond academia? Join us for a special Astro backpack2Briefcase Panel Discussion—an event specifically designed for Astro undergrads to illuminate career paths outside of academia. Hear from accomplished alumni who leapt straight from their…
Imaging the Sky with the Dark Energy Camera
AB107
Alex Drlica-Wagner, University of Chicago
December 03, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: Over the past twelve years, the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the 4-meter Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, has imaged more than 20,000 square degrees of the sky at unprecedented depth. I will discuss several scientific highlights…
Have quantum Transport, Will Travel: Entropy in a Coherent Universe
SS2135
Dick Bond, University of Toronto
November 26, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: I will cover much history, of ancient cosmic ideas, of nuclear astrophysics, of CMB@75 in theory, of the golden age transition from murky subject to the high precision one now, with the data flood of cosmic information on the cosmic microwave background and the interconnected…
Dark Matter Clues from the Faintest Galaxies
Julio F. Navarro, Victoria University
November 19, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) is the most successful theory for the formation of structure in the Universe. Although its predictions have been verified on large scales, they are still contested on the scale of dwarf galaxies, whose dynamical properties are often cited as…
*Cancelled*: Fast flashes from far-far away
AB107
Prof. Jason Hessels, McGill University
November 12, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: In the past decade, we’ve learned that the sky is buzzing with fast radio bursts (FRBs) that last for mere milliseconds and originate from galaxies at millions to billions of parsecs. These remarkable bursts are trillions of times more luminous than Galactic pulsars, and…
WST – The Wide Field Spectroscopic Survey Telescope * Special Date/Time/Location*
MP137
Prof. Roland Bacon, Observatoire De Lyon
November 06, 2025
3:00pm - 4:00pm
Summary: The WST project aims to design and construct an innovative 10-metre class wide-field spectroscopic survey telescope (WST) in the southern hemisphere. It will feature the parallel operation of two cutting-edge instruments: a high-multiplex (30,000), large field-of-view (3 square degrees) multi-object spectrograph (MOS) operating in…
Hot rocks and host stars: terrestrial exoplanets and the M dwarfs they orbit
CodyHall AB88
Dr. Hannah Diamond-Lowe
October 22, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: Exoplanets outnumber stars in the Milky Way, and small worlds with radii less than 4x Earth’s radius are the most common. Despite being all around us, terrestrial exoplanets are the most difficult planetary type to study because they produce small signals with techniques we…
New Insights from Polarized Images of Black Holes
Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
Andrew Chael, Princeton
October 15, 2025
Abstract: Relativistic jets throughout the universe transport energy from small scales near a galaxy’s central supermassive black hole to extragalactic distances. These jets may be powered by the spin energy of the black hole via the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) mechanism; however, BZ energy extraction has not…
“Is There a Significant Hubble Tension?”
Cody Hall
Prof. Wendy Freedman, University of Chicago
October 01, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
The question of whether there is new physics beyond our current standard model, Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) remains an unresolved issue in cosmology today. Recent measurements of the Hubble constant (Ho) using Cepheids and Type Ia supernovae (SNe) appear to differ significantly, with claims…