The Hubble Space Telescope has completely revolutionized our understanding of the universe, and has become a beloved icon of popular culture. As revolutionary as Hubble has been, we have pushed it to its scientific limits in many ways. Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, has been in the works for almost two decades and is scheduled to launch in late 2018. It will be 100 times more powerful than Hubble.

If humans hope to ever get to Mars or farther, we will need to be able to grow food in space. The space travel environment produces unique challenges to growing food, including microgravity, limited water, artificial light sources and many more. Research at the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility at the University of Guelph is showing us how to grow food in space and, in the process, is developing beneficial technologies for earth-bound farming.

SEDS-Canada's annual conference is back with the theme "Paving the Way Beyond Earth." Ascension 2017 will be hosted by the University of Toronto Aerospace Team (UTAT). Join SEDS-Canada at the University of Toronto, St. George Campus from March 3rd to 5th, 2017 for a weekend packed with workshops and talks given by international and local speakers from the space industry, academia, government and media.

A science-based variety show aimed at blending knowledge, music and comedy

Quench your thirst for astronomy! On Friday, March 10th, at The Great Hall! It'll be another fun evening of pints, astronomy news, mind-expanding talks, games, prizes, and Dunlap mechandise for sale! Plus, following all the talks, there will be plenty of time for you to have all your cosmic questions answered by astronomers from the University of Toronto.

The explosion of a star, or supernova, is one of the most extreme events in the universe, responsible for creating the heavy elements essential for life. The resulting fast moving shock wave, the supernova remnant, produces super high-energy particles called cosmic rays. Understanding the nature of the magnetic fields is crucial to understanding the extreme processes that produce these cosmic rays. This talk will describe Jennifer West's PhD research, which investigates the magnetic fields of supernova remnants and how they are connected to the magnetic field of our Galaxy.

Speaker: Prof. Ue-Li Pen, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics The Algonquin Radio Observatory (ARO), built in 1965, along with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) are the first to achieve long baseline interferometry (VLBI), whereby two single-dish telescopes are combined to provide the same resolution as a telescope the size of Canada.

Speaker: Prof. Suresh Sivanandam, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

This talk will focus on the past, present, and future of big data in astronomy.

In Toronto, the Commercial Space Blog will be sponsoring a Yuri's Night Party at the Polish Combatants' Hall.