UofT AstroTour: Special Earth Hour Event – In the Darkness There is Light

Speaker: Prof. Suresh Sivanandam, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

We often don’t realize that we can sense more than visible light. We feel infrared radiation as heat, which is also another form of light that is invisible to our eyes. Over the past few decades, there has been an explosion of technological innovation in the detection of infrared light. This has opened up huge discovery spaces in astronomy. It has enabled us to see the effects of our galaxy’s central supermassive black hole and take pictures of planets in nearby star systems. Stardust in our galaxy and other more distant galaxies also lights up in the infrared, allowing us to track the evolution of galaxies from very early times. The technology required to detect infrared light is quite unique and presents difficult engineering challenges.

In this talk, the Dunlap's Prof. Suresh Sivanandam will present an overview of the great new discoveries in infrared astronomy and the associated technological breakthroughs that have ushered in this new and exciting era of astronomy. Prof. Sivanandam will end with the pinnacle of space engineering, the James Webb Space Telescope, which is going to be the largest space telescope ever built. When this telescope is launched next year, it is going to completely revolutionize astronomy as we know it. 

Join us before the lecture for planetarium shows (register through the event page) and after the lecture for telescope observing and astronomy activities and exhibits, including 3D printed space telescopes and the Oculus Rift.

Planetarium Shows: 6:00pm to 6:30pm (register online)
Lecture: 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Telescope Observing, Planetarium Shows, and Astronomy Activities & Exhibits: 8:00pm to 10:00pm

Who can attend: Everyone
Fee: Free
Reservations: Only required for Planetarium Shows (available March 18th at noon)
Organized by: U of T Graduate Astronomy Students Association. The AstroTours are generously financed by the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Location: Earth Sciences Centre (5 Bancroft Avenue and 33 Willcocks Street, Room ES1050, University of Toronto)

http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/astrotours/?page_id=1778
https://www.facebook.com/events/419444708400763/