2026-09-16
      19:30

RASC Speaker Night and Member Awards Presentation (Simulcast)

Speaker's Night - Radio astronomy in the land ‘down under’

Join us for another in-person simulcast of our Speaker's Night with Dr Karen Lee-Waddell who is a Project Scientist for WALLABY, an all-sky survey that aims to detect and image the gas distribution in hundreds of thousands of galaxies using CSIRO’s ASKAP telescope. An alumnus of Queen's and McMaster University, she has been living and working in Australia since 2015.

Dr. Lee-Waddell will present an overview of the amazing radio telescopes that drew her to a continent where kangaroos outnumber people. Along the way, she will introduce her research on the gas in galaxies and describe Australia’s role in preparing for the world’s largest radio astronomy observatory.

Radio telescopes such as the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) allow us to map hydrogen gas across vast areas of the sky. She will discuss some of the science being undertaken with ASKAP, including the observations of hydrogen that are helping us investigate how galaxies form, evolve, and interact with their surroundings.

The SKA Observatory (SKAO) is an international organisation building the world’s largest radio telescopes: one in Western Australia and one in South Africa. These telescopes will produce an enormous volume of data that must be processed, stored, and made accessible to astronomers around the world. She currently leads the Australian SKA Regional Centre (AusSRC), which is helping to build the global computing and data network that will connect the SKA telescopes with the scientific community and enable discoveries that will transform our understanding of the Universe.

RASC Toronto Awards Presentation

The annual awards presentation for the Toronto Centre will take place after the presentation by Dr. Lee-Waddell. The awards to be presented include:

  • The Charline Norgrove Award for member and public communications
  • The Andrew Elvins Award is for members whose efforts have contributed significantly to the promotion of interest in astronomy and the Society among the general public.
  • The Bertram J. Topham Award for observing activities.
  • The Jesse Ketchum Award for development and construction of astronomical equipment.
  • The Ray Thompson Award for Astronomical Imaging including CCD, film, sketching and other techniques.
  • The Bert Winearls Award for exceptional service to the Centre and 
  • The Ostrander-Ramsay Award for astronomical writing.

Meeting after the Meeting

The "meeting after the meeting" will be held at a local pub to be announced.

Who can attend: Everyone

Location: RASC Office and Museum, 489 College St., Suite 203, Toronto, ON  M6G 1A5

 

Organized by: RASC, Toronto Centre

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