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. Check our homepage for GO/NO-GO calls as this event is weather dependent.

Families will be introduced to the wonders of astronomy through a presentation on a variety of exciting astronomy topics, followed by age-appropriate celestial activities and a demonstration of the 74" telescope. If the sky is clear the dome will be opened and the telescope pointed to an interesting celestial object for the visitors to view. All participating family members must be registered and any participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a registered adult.

After five years at the helm, Randy Attwood has announced that he will step down as the Executive Director of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. To celebrate Randy’s tenure, we are hosting an open house on October 26th.

Watch the recorded video: https://youtu.be/q353hzMM9E4

Albert Einstein predicted a century ago the existence of gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of spacetime moving at the speed of light. It was believed that these ripples were so faint that no experiment would ever be precise enough to detect them. But in September 2015, LIGO did exactly that. The teams working with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors in Louisiana and Washington measured a loud gravitational wave signal as it traveled through the Earth after a billion-year journey from the violent merger of two black holes.

Come view the 2019 Orionid Meteor Shower with the Allan I. Carswell Observatory Team at York University! With up to 15 meteors visible every hour, multiple telescopes available for viewing celestial objects and a constellation tour, it will be a fun, astronomy filled night! Weather updates will be posted by 4:00pm on social media. Hope to see you there!

This Fall and Winter, spend a Sunday afternoon in the OTHER dome at the DDO! Join us in the Starlab Digital Planetarium and take an interactive journey through the Universe, led by a DDO astronomer. Tour the night sky and see close-up views of galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters, view our Solar System's Planets and alien exo-planets, land on the moon, Mars - and the Sun, travel home to Earth from the edge of the Universe, hear Indigenous starlore, and watch immersive fulldome movies!

Speaker: Roberto Abraham 

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched 29 years ago in 1990. After overcoming problems caused by a defective main mirror, Hubble has made discoveries that have revolutionized our view of the universe we live in. This talk will cover the history of HST based on a history book the speaker is writing for NASA.

How did the universe originate and evolve? What can science tell us about the origin of life and biological evolution? And what are the chances of extraterrestrial life?

Watch the recorded video: https://youtu.be/72gRvP0RT8Q

Have you ever looked through a telescope? Take a tour of the night sky through a telescope and snap a photo or two of your favourite celestial body. Learn about the phases of the Moon, get an up-close look at the planets, and gaze at the brightest stars (weather permitting). It’s also International Observe the Moon Night. Contemplate the Earth indoors then head outdoors to consider the Moon, stars and neighbouring through a high-tech telescope.