Past Colloquia
Colloquium with Rebecca Jensen-Clem
Cody Hall, AB 107, University of Toronto
Rebecca Jensen-Clem
February 13, 2019
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
In the last thirty years, over 3000 planets have been discovered orbiting nearby stars. This flood of new worlds includes planets unlike any found in our own Solar System, from Jupiter-mass planets with years as short as our day to exotic rocky worlds twice as…
Colloquium with Adam Anderson
MP 202, University of Toronto
Adam Anderson
February 11, 2019
11:00am - 12:00pm
Rapid advances in superconducting detector technology and readout electronics are enabling a new generation of significantly more sensitive measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background. These measurements will provide constraints on inflation, the nature of neutrinos, and a broad range of astrophysical topics….
Measuring CMB Polarization with SPIDER, Taurus, and CMB-S4
Cody Hall, AB 107, University of Toronto
Johanna Nagy, Dunlap Institute
February 06, 2019
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is a powerful probe of the composition and evolution of the Universe. Recent advances in instrumentation are enabling measurements with unprecedented precision and exquisite control of systematic errors. In this talk, I will discuss what we can…
Probing the early universe: mm-wavelength cosmology from inflation to the epoch of reionization and beyond.
MP 202, University of Toronto
Abigail Crites, California Institute of Technology
February 04, 2019
11:00am - 12:00pm
I will describe how I use mm-wavelength instruments (both spectrometers and photometers) to explore our universe across cosmic time. I will discuss instrument projects such as SPT, CMB-S4, TIME, and future even more powerful mm-wavelength spectrometers that will allow us to probe the universe, from…
Precision Cosmology with the Cosmic Microwave Background
MS3153, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King's College Circle
Sara Simon, University of Michigan
January 31, 2019
2:00pm - 3:00pm
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) provides unparalleled views into the early universe and its later evolution. Recent and ongoing experiments have contributed to our understanding of neutrinos, dark energy, and dark matter through measurements of large-scale structure imprinted on the CMB and constrained the conditions…
Directly Imaging Exoplanetary Systems in Polarized Light
MP202
Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
January 28, 2019
11:00am - 12:00pm
In the past twenty years we have discovered nearly 4000 extrasolar planets, allowing us to begin to answer fundamental questions about our place in the universe. These discoveries have largely been fueled by the development and refinement of planet detection techniques such as the transit,…
Dark Matter Throughout Cosmic History
Cody Hall, AB 107
Vera Gluscevic (University of Florida)
January 16, 2019
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Ours is a dark Universe: its astrophysical systems are but a minor addition to dark matter, whose abundance six times outweighs all other particles in the Universe. The physical nature of dark matter is a pressing question, whose answer will likely lead to discovery of…
The Transient Universe: Cosmic Explosions and Dark Energy
Cody Hall, AB 107
Mark Sullivan (University of Southampton)
December 12, 2018
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Type Ia supernovae have long been used as probes of the expansion history of the universe. Their standardisable luminosities make them very attractive as distance measures, and they remain indispensable in constraining the properties of dark energy. In this talk, I will give an update…
Planet Formation as told by Kepler
Cody Hall, AB 107
Eve J. Lee (California Institute of Technology)
December 05, 2018
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
One of the key results from the Kepler mission is that super-Earths and sub-Neptunes abound in the universe, outnumbering their larger counterparts. Their radii (~1–4 Rearth) and masses (~2–20 Mearth) are consistent with the bulk solid-to-gas mass ratio of 100:1. Basic astrophysical considerations of gas…
Joint Colloquium presented by The Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
Cody Hall, AB 107
R. Peter Broughton and Andrew Oakes (IHPST, University of Toronto)
November 28, 2018
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
“The UofT and J.S. Plaskett” by R. Peter Broughton Abstract: John Stanley Plaskett (1865-1941) did not show any interest in astronomy until 1903 when he embarked on a career that would blossom into one of the most illustrious of his time. By 1913, he convinced the Canadian…