Join Professor Emeritus John Percy for a look at how Toronto has become a world centre for astronomy research, education, and public outreach, in parallel with the development of our country, our city, and the University of Toronto.

What would happen to you if you fell into a black hole? Why is Dark Matter so mysterious? These are some questions that will be explored with a visual showcase of cartoons and comics. A presentation by Rina Piccolo.

Showtimes: 7:00pm, 8:00pm, and 9:00pm

River Place Park, Aytonhttp://www.nyaa.ca/starfest.html

See RAC's NEAF website rocklandastronomy.com/neaf.

Join Dr. John Percy, Professor Emeritus, Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto as he discusses the amazing universe. Learn about alien worlds, extraterrestrial life, the birth and death of stars, cosmic catastrophes, black holes, dark matter and dark energy. The real universe, and the study of it.

Pulsars are magnetized spinning neutron stars that emit a beam of radiation. Since the first pulsar was discovered in 1967, thousands have been detected since, and they continue to be one of the most interesting objects in the sky. In this talk, Nikhil Mahajan will go over the history of pulsar astronomy, the reasons why we care about pulsars, and of course, what pulsars really are. Hopefully, this talk will leave you with an understanding of what current pulsar research is all about, and what it may lead to in the future.

Almost a century ago, Edwin Hubble discovered that galaxies appear to be moving away from us and that farther galaxies moved at faster rates. This discovery revolutionized our view of the Universe and started the field of modern cosmology. Ever since, astronomers have been trying to better measure the expansion of the Universe, the Hubble constant, using numerous standard candles.

Elizabeth Muir, author of Canadian Women in the Sky: 100 Years of Flight, tells the story of how women in Canada first boarded planes, then became pilots and eventually astronauts. For more information, call Business, Science & Technology Dept. 416-395-5613

Presenter: Heather Fong, Graduate Student, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics. The direct detections of gravitational waves mark a monumental breakthrough in physics and astronomy. Gravitational waves - ripples in the fabric of spacetime - were first predicted to exist by Albert Einstein in his theory of general relativity.