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.

Speaker: Keavin Moore, York University

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

Hover above the moon like an astronaut and get eye-to-eye with the planets. Find colourful stars, star clusters, bright nebulae and even another galaxy. Our monthly City Star Party is the place to catch universe from within the city limits at Bayview Village Park. If you don't have a telescope then you will find many astronomers who would love to share a view. If you are thinking of buying a telescope, viewing with other people's equipment is the best way to make a good choice. If you have a telescope or binoculars, please bring it!

Join us at the Ontario Science Centre for our monthly Solar Observing on the TELUSCAPE observing pad. This is the area in front of the Science Centre's entrance. We use specialized telescopes that are safe to aim at the Sun. Check our home page on the Friday prior for go/no-go calls as this event is weather dependent.

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.

Throughout its 4.5 billion year history, life on Earth has been threatened by cataclysmic events such as extreme volcanic eruptions and asteroid impacts which have caused mass extinction of species. While events like these can drastically alter the face of the Earth, the planet still remains. So what would it take to completely obliterate the Earth? Starting from birth, the evolution of solar systems and the environments they exist in can put planets towards catastrophic fates. In this talk, we will explore some of the incredible ways that nature can destroy planets.

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.

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.

See the milky way and galaxies with the unaided eye. Point your telescope to find the many dim deep space objects that sprinkle the sky. Away from Toronto's light polution, there is so much to see. We observe from the Long Sault Conservation area, an hour outside of Toronto. We meet around dusk once a month in the parking lot for views only seen in dark sky conditions. We hold this event on the first clear night of our week-long window, so the date and time are determined closer to.

The moon is between us and the sun. Without the moon in the sky at night, deep sky objects are easier to observe.

Annular Eclipse in parts of Africa and South America. See: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Feb26Agoogle.h…