The Department of Physics invites faculty, students and the public to its 42nd annual celebration of physics. The Welsh Lectures in Physics have been held annually since 1975 in honour of H.L. Welsh, a distinguished former faculty member in the Physics Department. They are the major public event in the life of the Department of Physics and are intended to celebrate discoveries in physics and their wider impact. They are intended to be broadly accessible to an audience drawn from across the university, other academic institutions and the interested public.

Speaker: Dr. Parshati Patel, Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, Western University Massive stars, young or old, are interesting celestial objects with fascinating mysteries. In this talk, we will explore some of the mysteries of the disks around massive stars and how their formation, dissipation and structure affect our understanding of not only the planet formation but also the star formation process.

We have evidence that billions of years ago the universe we live in was much smaller in size. This evidence comes in the form of light that has been travelling for about 13 billion years. In this talk Darsh Kodwani will describe how we have come to understand this light and why we believe this would imply that the universe started in a big bang. Even though the evidence for the big bang is very strong we do not believe it can be the full story of the universe.

This spring, SkyShed is launching POD MAX, a “mid sized” observatory at 12.5' in diameter, and the POD MAX funding program – The Starships Project. Wayne will be focusing on these endeavors and how they will further aid the astro community, and STEM education. Wayne Parker When not performing as the bassist in Glass Tiger, Wayne spends his time pursuing his other passion – Astronomy.

“The most incomprehensible thing about the Universe is that it is comprehensible.” — Albert Einstein

Everyone is invited to join us and Durham Skies on May 19 for stargazing at the edge of Lake Ontario. Take a free look through different kinds of telescopes to get close-up views of craters on the Moon and spectacular Jupiter! Learn the names of the stars of spring and the constellation patterns they form. Peer deep into space and try your hand at spotting faint star clusters and nebulae. You can even bring your own telescope along and we'll give you advice on how to use it better.

This event has been postponed to the fall. A new date will be set at a later time.

Everyone is invited to join us and Durham Skies on June 2 for stargazing at the edge of Lake Ontario. Take a free look through different kinds of telescopes to get close-up views of craters on the Moon and spectacular Jupiter! Learn the names of the stars of spring and the constellation patterns they form. Peer deep into space and try your hand at spotting faint star clusters and nebulae. You can even bring your own telescope along and we'll give you advice on how to use it better.

Spend an evening with the planets at U of T Scarborough! A free event for four nights only. Take a guided tour of our brand new scale model of the solar system that spans our entire campus, with markers representing the planets placed in the exact locations as they would have been on Canada's confederation, July 1, 1867. Next, listen to an engaging talk from one of University of Toronto's astrophysicists.

Everyone is invited to join us and Durham Skies on July 28 for stargazing at the edge of Lake Ontario. Take a free look through different kinds of telescopes to get close-up views of craters on the Moon and spectacular Saturn and its rings! Learn the names of the stars of summer and the constellation patterns they form. Peer deep into space and try your hand at spotting faint star clusters and nebulae. You can even bring your own telescope along and we'll give you advice on how to use it better.