Astro on Tap Victoria: The Golden Age of Astronomy & How to Build a Planet

Astronomy on Tap in Victoria returns on Thursday, November 19th to showcase the incredible science and research of local astronomers! Doors open @6:30pm and talks begin @7pm at the Vicious Poodle, a fantastic LGBTQ+ safe bar downtown. Stick around for space-themed trivia afterwards, and of course, enjoy the food and drinks served by our incredible host!

The speakers of the night will be Marielle Eduardo of the University of Victoria and Dr. Wes Fraser of the NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre. Their research seeks to understand the formation and evolution of the Solar System by using cutting-edge telescopes to investigate the icy outer reaches beyond the orbit of Neptune.

First, Dr. Fraser will present, “The Golden Age of Astronomy“

~Celebrate! Roman Space Telescope didn’t blow up the launch pad! Built from spare spy parts and using technology that allows it to operate at such a far distance from the Earth – the L2 Lagrange Point, the start of Roman observing will mark a key moment in astronomy, opening up imaging with Hubble-like resolution, but a very wide field of view like with ground-based imagers. Roman is going to revolutionize many fields of astrophysics, from cosmology, to stellar physics, and Solar System science. But Roman isn’t the only space telescope! In this talk I will discuss Roman, Euclid, and the veritable James Webb Space Telescope. We are witnessing what I call the start of the Golden Age of astronomy. I will put all three of these amazing facilities in context, show how they are complementary, and will work together to be greater than the sum of their parts.~

Afterwards, Marielle Eduardo will present, “How to Build a Planet (and Why It’s Harder Than You Think)”

~How do planets form? The simplest picture is that cosmic dust bumps and sticks together, gradually building up from dust, to pebbles, to rocks and finally into a planet. Unfortunately, it turns out reality is not so simple. In this talk we’ll explore how planets get their start, and why the icy rocks beyond Neptune (known as Kuiper Belt Objects or KBOs) offer a unique window into this process. We used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to make the deepest search of the outer solar system to date, revealing a number of icy rocks each as small as a city. We’ll investigate what these relatively tiny objects tell us about how planets form, and look ahead to future observations that could bring us closer to understanding how the building blocks of planets first came together.~

Come on out to learn some exciting science with us! We hope to see you all there!