Quasars are the brightest objects in our Universe and are formed when matter spirals into supermassive black holes. They contain rotating disks as big as our solar system and hotter than the Sun. Professor Patrick Hall discusses these fascinating objects and how they tap the strong gravity of black holes. Chronicles of a Peculiar Universe is a series of talks presented in collaboration with York University's Faculty of Science.

Fifty years ago, two radio telescopes across Canada were combined to achieve the resolution of a telescope 3000 km across, a technique now known as VLBI. Interstellar plasma lenses bend light from sources like pulsars, creating multiple images of the same source on the sky. When we combine these images in the same way as radio telescope on Earth, we can measure the position and motion of their source. Since instead of being telescopes separated by 3000km these images are separated by billions of km, this results in remarkably high precision.

Showtimes: 7:00pm, 8:00pm, and 9:00pm Often, when we think of the Solar System, we think of the planets and the Sun and nothing more. But what about all the other stuff? There are millions of asteroids in the asteroid belt, tens of millions of objects in the Kuiper belt, and probably trillions of objects in the Oort cloud—not to mention the hundreds of moons and dozens of dwarf planets that are members of the Sun’s extended family.

Showtimes: 7:00pm, 8:00pm, and 9:00pm Often, when we think of the Solar System, we think of the planets and the Sun and nothing more. But what about all the other stuff? There are millions of asteroids in the asteroid belt, tens of millions of objects in the Kuiper belt, and probably trillions of objects in the Oort cloud—not to mention the hundreds of moons and dozens of dwarf planets that are members of the Sun’s extended family.

Showtimes: 7:00pm, 8:00pm, and 9:00pm Often, when we think of the Solar System, we think of the planets and the Sun and nothing more. But what about all the other stuff? There are millions of asteroids in the asteroid belt, tens of millions of objects in the Kuiper belt, and probably trillions of objects in the Oort cloud—not to mention the hundreds of moons and dozens of dwarf planets that are members of the Sun’s extended family.

Join us as Dr. John Percy discusses how and why astronomy was important to early civilizations ranging from the seagoing Polynesians, to the builders of Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids, to our own First Nations. He will also briefly discuss the important roles of Chinese, Indian, and Islamic astronomy.

Quench your thirst for astronomy! On Friday, July 14, 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.

Woodhouse Brewing Co. presents the latest round of Solar System Social, Toronto's planetary science speaker series.

“Is there life elsewhere” is one of the key questions that Astronomers face today. Join us as Prof. Michael De Robertis presents the latest scientific findings and techniques.

The stars of the night sky appear gentle, peaceful and unchanging. But this is a lie. The Universe is a violent and catastrophic place, with dozens of tools at its disposal to wipe out all life on Earth with almost no warning. Astronomers are still only beginning to appreciate the true scope of the dramatic forces that drive the Universe's evolution.