Ask an Astronomer

RASC Toronto Centre - David Dunlap Observatory 

Sunday, March 13, 2022 | 1:00-2:00 PM EDT | Online
Register here! 
Explore the Universe - from the comfort of your home! During these family-friendly sessions, a DDO Astronomer will answer your questions about the observatory, astronomy and space, telescopes, and the motions of the sky using powerful astronomy software and eye-catching visuals! Only one registration per household is required. Deadline to register for this program is Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 3pm.
 

Out of this World: The Solar System

March Break Activities!

RASC Toronto & DDO

Monday, March 14, 2:00 - 4:00 PM EDT, online

Join the David Dunlap Observatory from the comfort of your home with our family-friendly Spring Break virtual programming! The Solar System with all its planets, moons, and asteroids are all around us! We will provide a tour of our Solar System and share fun stories about each planetary body in our cosmic neighbourhood. Participants will get the chance to paint and design their own planets with materials they have available to them at home: 8-10 Styrofoam balls or round objects, colouring materials (acrylic paint, markers, crayons, etc.), glue, and bristol board. Only one registration per household is required. Prior to the start of the program, you will be emailed information on the virtual program links and any other information relating to your program.

Register HERE (Note: This is paid programming)

Stellarium advanced course (ONLINE)

Monday 14 March 2022

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eastern time

Stellarium is a powerful planetarium application available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers. 

Participants will learn how to adjust sidereal time, view star alignments (Arc to Arcturus), filter for deep sky objects from additional catalogues, use custom landscapes create by others, and make a custom landscape using photos of ones environment. We will also explore the powerful planning features in Stellarium using the Astronomical Calculations window. This will provide an amateur astronomer a deep understanding of the Stellarium program and allow for customisation of the application.

FOR MEMBERS ONLY.

Class sizes are limited. A waiting list is maintained for when courses are full.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-level-3

Part of the Stellarium Training Series.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-training

Who can attend: active RASC members
Fee: Free
Registration: Required
Organized by: RASC national office

Live from the David Dunlap Observatory

Hosts Chris Vaughan and Samantha Jewett

with Guests from RASC Toronto Centre

In this special edition of Insider's Guide, we’ll team up with members of the RASC Toronto Centre to stream live from the David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) in Richmond Hill, the home of Canada’s largest optical telescope. We will tour the observatory, talk about the site's history and discoveries, and demonstrate the 74” telescope in action – including some pre-recorded views through it. And we’ll tell you how you can visit DDO yourself and view through its massive telescope!

Including Messier Minutes!

We will be reviewing the Messier objects visible in the sky in the next two weeks, including tips and tricks on how to find them. Follow us along in observing the 110 targets from one of the most famous lists of Deep Sky Objects and work towards your RASC Messier Observing Certificate!

Register for all Insider Guide to the Galaxy webinars HERE or view on our YouTube Channel

Check out future episodes on our webpage HERE!

Sun Fun

March Break Activities!

RASC Toronto & DDO

Tuesday, March 17, 12:00 - 1:30 PM EDT, online

Join the David Dunlap Observatory from the comfort of your home with our family-friendly March Break virtual programming! Learn about the sun and practice safe solar observing! In this interactive virtual session, participants will see live and pre-recorded telescope views of the solar surface, learn about our nearest star, and practice safe solar observing by making their own pinhole projector. Supplies needed (per participant): One large cereal box (or similar), Aluminum foil, One thumbtack or pin, tape, and scissors. Adults are required to help and supervise children too young to use sharp tools (scissors, tacks) alone. Only one registration per household is required. Prior to the start of the program, you will be emailed information on the virtual program links and any other information relating to your program.

Register HERE! (Note: This is paid programming)

How to Get the Most from RASC's Listservs/Forums

RASC National Office

RASC’s new listserv / forum system is a hybrid system that allows a lot of flexibility for users.  However, due to that flexibility it can be somewhat intimidating for new users, and somewhat frustrating for users with a lot of experience in our old listserv system.  In order to help members get the most out of this new system, we are offering new online training sessions.

Join Outreach Coordinator, Samantha Jewett, and Executive Director, Phil Groff, as they take you through this tour of the discussion forum / listserv system, providing tips and tricks to allow you to customize your experience and master these powerful communications tools.

We will be offering this Webinar live, on three different occasions. The sessions will also be recorded and available on demand, afterwards.  Note that this is the same session offered three times, not a three session course.

Please register in advance for this Zoom webinar:

Session 1: March 2, 2022 3:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_leOZL0DTTm2ds_FoAKH1GA

Session 2: Mar 17, 2022 03:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0XV9AVbbSaKV0I5rPRCEZA

Session 3: Apr 1, 2022 12:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j5erwKXOSbSV35Zjce9qLg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

10 years of ALMA: transforming our understanding of planet formation in circumstellar disks

Presented by:  Dr. Brenda Matthews

RASC Calgary

Thursday March 17, 2022 @ 7:30 pm MDT ( 9:30 pm EDT)

As ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array) reaches 10 years of operations, it has clearly delivered on its key science goal to image planet-forming disks in nearby star-forming regions. High resolution imaging of entire disk populations have now been made, and these striking images have revealed a diversity in disk structures. These diversities have led to a picture linking these young disks and their more evolved counterparts, called debris disks, to the exoplanet population.  I will share many of these breathtaking ALMA images and describe the hypothesis of a recent paper regarding how the most structured disks drive massive planet populations and significant belts of comets and asteroids around stars.

Bio: 

Dr. Brenda Matthews has been with the NRC since 2004, when she joined the organization as a Plaskett Fellow. She completed her PhD in 2001 at McMaster University and was a BIMA Fellow in the Radio Astronomy Lab at UC Berkeley until moving to Victoria. Since 2019, she has been the Millimetre Astronomy Group Lead and, as such coordinates the MAG support for the ALMA telescope as part of the North American ALMA Science Center. She is an expert in mm and submm astronomy, polarization of star-forming regions and interferometry. Since 2002, much of her research has focussed on debris disks, circumstellar disks around main sequence stars, produced via collisions of comets and asteroids, and has authored two reviews on debris disks. She was the PI of a key program on the Herschel Space Observatory, is a member of the disks team of the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey and is a member of an Early Release Science team targeting exoplanets and disks with JWST. Dr. Matthews was also a member of the Canadian Astronomical Society’s  2020 Long Range Plan panel and is a long-standing member of the Science Advisory Committee for the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA)

Join via Zoom Here!