Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics / en ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ astronomers and KĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw ā€“ Wandering Spirit School collaborate on science programming for Indigenous students /news/u-t-astronomers-and-kapapamahchakwew-wandering-spirit-school-collaborate-science-programming <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ astronomers and KĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw ā€“ Wandering Spirit School collaborate on science programming for Indigenous students</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-05/Chiefswood-crop.jpg?h=be4eabf6&amp;itok=IQCB-RK5 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-05/Chiefswood-crop.jpg?h=be4eabf6&amp;itok=-ou4A1L9 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-05/Chiefswood-crop.jpg?h=be4eabf6&amp;itok=sxquJYEe 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-05/Chiefswood-crop.jpg?h=be4eabf6&amp;itok=IQCB-RK5" alt="several people sit in a park to view the 2024 total eclipse in Chiefswood Park"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rahul.kalvapalle</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-05-14T14:23:37-04:00" title="Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - 14:23" class="datetime">Tue, 05/14/2024 - 14:23</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Students, teachers and caregivers from KĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw ā€“ Wandering Spirit School gather with ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ astronomers to watch the April 8 total solar eclipse&nbsp;at Chiefswood Park on Six Nations of the Grand River (photo by Suresh Sivanandam)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/michael-pereira" hreflang="en">Michael Pereira</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/indigenous-initiatives" hreflang="en">Indigenous Initiatives</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dunlap-institute-astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/indigenous" hreflang="en">Indigenous</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/truth-and-reconciliation" hreflang="en">Truth and Reconciliation</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The groundwork is currently being laid for a coding club and mentoring programs, among other initiatives</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A group of astronomers from the University of Toronto and students, teachers and caregivers from Torontoā€™s <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Find-your/Schools/schno/5909" target="_blank">KĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw ā€“ Wandering Spirit School</a> recently shared a once-in-a-lifetime experience: witnessing a total solar eclipse.</p> <p>The April 8 gathering, which took place in Chiefswood Park on Six Nations of the Grand River, saw the astronomers bring telescopes with solar filters that allowed viewers to observe sunspots and watch as the moon slowly eclipsed the sun. The event also served as a forum for young learners and community members to share traditional knowledge and ask plenty of questions.</p> <p>It was one of many engagements planned as part of a partnership between ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ā€™s <a href="https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a> and the KĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw ā€“ Wandering Spirit School, which was founded in 1977 and gives students from kindergarten to Grade 12 the opportunity to learn about Anishinaabe cultural traditions.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2024-05/IMG_3352-1-225x300.jpg" width="225" height="300" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Totality at Chiefswood Park (photo by Kara Manovich)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>In the future, there are also plans for a coding club, mentoring and tutoring programs, and training for teachers.&nbsp;</p> <p>ā€œKĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw ā€“ Wandering Spirit School is grateful for the growing partnership with Dunlap because it provides an opportunity to practise reciprocity in knowledge sharing,ā€ said&nbsp;<strong>Elise Twyford</strong>, the schoolā€™s principal. ā€œThe students and community learned about ā€“ and experienced ā€“ astrophysics and astronomy, and also had the opportunity to build their skills in sharing traditional knowledge and world views.</p> <p>ā€œI appreciate the care and thoughtfulness of the Dunlap and University of Toronto team in collaborating with KĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw students as partners in learning.ā€</p> <p>The roots of the partnership stretch back to 2022 when&nbsp;<strong>Emma Stromberg</strong>, Indigenous partnership adviser at the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, and Associate Professor&nbsp;<strong>Susan Hill</strong>, director of the Centre for Indigenous Studies, approached Dunlap with an opportunity to work with teachers and students from KĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-right"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2024-05/DSC_6784-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>A close-up photo of the moon totally eclipsing the sun on April 8 above Chiefswood Park (photo by Suresh Sivanandam)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>ā€œWe wanted to see if we could match up the needs and interests of the school to resources at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„, to build something that can be sustained,ā€ Stromberg says. ā€œConsistent with ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ā€™s commitments to reconciliation, it is incumbent on all of us to think of ways to redress, in small and big ways, the impacts of settler colonialism and push resources into the community wherever possible.ā€</p> <p>Some 20 members of the Dunlap community have since volunteered to help, with many of them recently participating in a workshop with&nbsp;<strong>John Croutch</strong>&nbsp;from the Office of Indigenous Initiatives to learn about the continued impacts of settler colonialism and what it means to be an ally to Indigenous Peoples.</p> <p>The ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ astronomers said the opportunity to share a total solar eclipse was a memorable moment for everyone involved.</p> <p>ā€œYou could hear lots of kids screaming in excitement and people gasping in awe at seeing totality,ā€ said Associate Professor&nbsp;<strong>Suresh Sivanandam</strong>, interim director of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science.&nbsp;ā€œWhen I walked out of there, I thought, ā€˜These are the moments in my job where I feel completely fulfilled because I helped other people experience the joy of astronomy.ā€™ā€</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2024-05/Eclipse-6-225x300.jpg" width="225" height="300" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Students recreate the total solar eclipse with paint and pastels on black paper (photo by Emma Stromberg)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Professor&nbsp;<strong>Roberto Abraham</strong>, chair of the facultyā€™s David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics, said he was the same age as some of the students when he first saw a total solar eclipse.&nbsp;</p> <p>ā€œIt was magic,ā€ he said. ā€œOnce you see a total solar eclipse, you wonā€™t be the same person afterwards.ā€&nbsp;</p> <p>Earlier this year, Sivanandam and Abraham visited the school to meet students, teachers and staff and hear about how astronomers at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ can best support them.&nbsp;</p> <p>For Twyford, the relationship with ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ immerses KĆ¢papĆ¢mahchakwĆŖw students in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics in ways that wouldnā€™t be possible in the classroom.</p> <p>ā€œI know that many students now see the wonder and possibility of these sciences and are even more motivated to continue their learning,ā€ Twyford said.&nbsp;ā€œIt also helps to complement the traditional and cultural.ā€</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 14 May 2024 18:23:37 +0000 rahul.kalvapalle 307841 at 'A black box in astronomy knowledge': PhD researcher probes the earliest stars in the universe /news/black-box-astronomy-knowledge-phd-researcher-probes-earliest-stars-universe <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">'A black box in astronomy knowledge': PhD researcher probes the earliest stars in the universe</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-03/Astronomy-on-Tap-2023-130-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=qnIBf4vm 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-03/Astronomy-on-Tap-2023-130-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=MPZkmyQq 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-03/Astronomy-on-Tap-2023-130-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=YZ4K9qyl 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-03/Astronomy-on-Tap-2023-130-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=qnIBf4vm" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-03-26T14:20:25-04:00" title="Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - 14:20" class="datetime">Tue, 03/26/2024 - 14:20</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>PhD researcher Margaret Ikape presents at the Astronomy on Tap T.O. event (photo by Alicia Richardson)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/michael-pereira" hreflang="en">Michael Pereira</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dunlap-institute-astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/space" hreflang="en">Space</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Margaret Ikape is working to determine the properties of the first stars and how they influenced everything that followed</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>As a child, <strong>Margaret Ikape</strong> had a prime view of the stars from her hometown of Lagos, Nigeria.</p> <p>ā€œWhen I was really young, I saw a shooting star. And that got me looking up at the night sky a lot more,ā€ Ikape says. She recalls thinking: ā€œCan I count all the stars? Can I really go to a star? What would it be like if I could really go to a star? How long would it take?ā€</p> <p>Today, Ikape is still looking at stars with the same curiosity, albeit ones that are much farther away. <a href="https://astro.utoronto.ca/~ikape/">A PhD researcher</a>&nbsp;at the University of Torontoā€™s Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics and David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics, sheā€™s working to tell the story of the first stars in the universe, and how they influenced everything that followed.</p> <p>Theory predicts that ultraviolet light from the first stars was so powerful that it ionized ā€” or split ā€” some of the first hydrogen atoms back into protons and electrons. This period of cosmic history is known as the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). During this time, the first stars and galaxies began to form, and with them, the universe as we know it today.</p> <p>Ikape is working to determine the properties of these first stars, like how big they were and how long the reionization took. ā€œThat period is like a black box in astronomy knowledge. We know it happened, because the universe is ionized today, but we donā€™t know many details about it,ā€ Ikape says.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-03/060915_CMB_Timeline300-crop.jpg?itok=uilAbd6Z" width="750" height="540" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>A representation of the evolution of the universe over 13.77 billion years (image by NASA / WMAP Science Team)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Current optical telescopes cannot see back far enough to capture the EoR, so Ikape uses thousands of computer simulations to reimagine it and test theories in a kind of virtual sandbox shaped by what we know of the universe. Some of these simulations require significant processing power and must be run through the ā€œHelenā€ computing cluster, named after renowned Canadian astronomer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.astro.utoronto.ca/about/history/helen-sawyer-hogg/"><strong>Helen Sawyer Hogg</strong></a>.</p> <p>Ikape also learns about the EoR by studying the first light emitted in the universe, the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). As light from the CMB travels to Earth, it passes through all that is between us and the point in cosmic history at which the CMB was emitted, approximately 380,000 years after the Big Bang. Ikape can isolate how light from the CMB was impacted by the EoR and analyze it to tell us more about this time.</p> <p>ā€œMargaretā€™s work connects models and simulations of how the first stars in the universe lit up and ionized the surrounding gas with our observations of the cosmic microwave lightā€”so she is the detective piecing the story together,ā€ says Associate Professor <strong>RenĆ©e Hložek</strong>, Ikapeā€™s PhD supervisor.</p> <p>Ikape has forecasted that a new generation of telescopes will unlock more details about this mysterious period and the universeā€™s first stars, including the Simons Observatory and the fourth-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background experiment, or CMB-S4. She co-authored research that predicts that the CMB-S4 will help scientists close in on when the EoR began and how long it lasted.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-03/Ilc_9yr_moll4096-crop.jpg?itok=uZw1dWfx" width="750" height="375" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>A nine-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) heat map of temperature fluctuations in the CMB (photo by NASA/WMAP)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>When she isnā€™t unpacking the mysteries of distant stars, Ikape is involved in outreach initiatives on the ground.</p> <p>Sheā€™s an instructor with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.paseaafrica.org/home">Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers</a>, a bi-annual school for emerging astronomers in Africa that aims to introduce astronomy undergraduate students to research practices and career avenues in the field, and participated in its inaugural program in Zambia in 2022.</p> <p>In Toronto, Ikape was recently a speaker at <a href="https://astronomyontap.org/locations/astronomy-on-tap-t-o/">Astronomy on Tap</a> and has given presentations on astronomy at libraries, high schools and even a long-term care home.</p> <p>ā€œWe are lucky to have students like Margaret at the Dunlap Institute; she combines her scientific curiosity with a passion for sharing what she learns with the broader community and training the next generation of bright minds,ā€ Hložek says.</p> <p>ā€œThe universe fascinates me a lot and Iā€™m super excited every time I think about it," Ikape says. "So I think that everybody should know about it.ā€&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 26 Mar 2024 18:20:25 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 307020 at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ researcher seeks out new insights on the universe's oldest galaxies /news/u-t-researcher-seeks-out-new-insights-universe-s-oldest-galaxies <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ researcher seeks out new insights on the universe's oldest galaxies</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-02/antwidanso-crop.jpg?h=6a72a64b&amp;itok=v-kU7tvD 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-02/antwidanso-crop.jpg?h=6a72a64b&amp;itok=3eP-rPl9 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-02/antwidanso-crop.jpg?h=6a72a64b&amp;itok=E4URDz-b 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-02/antwidanso-crop.jpg?h=6a72a64b&amp;itok=v-kU7tvD" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-02-08T14:27:46-05:00" title="Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 14:27" class="datetime">Thu, 02/08/2024 - 14:27</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Jacqueline Antwi-Danso, a postdoctoral researcher with the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics, is studying massive galaxies that formed ā€œwhen the universe was still just a babyā€ (supplied image)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/chris-sasaki" hreflang="en">Chris Sasaki</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/black" hreflang="en">Black</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dunlap-institute-astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/indigenous" hreflang="en">Indigenous</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/space" hreflang="en">Space</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/statistical-sciences" hreflang="en">Statistical Sciences</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">"We're trying to understand why these galaxies formed the way they did and how they became so big so quickly"</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Jacqueline Antwi-Danso</strong>&nbsp;remembers a book from her junior high school library describing how stars are born and how the most massive stars die in gigantic explosions called supernovae.</p> <p>ā€œThe book explained that there were objects out in space that gave off so much energy we could see and study them and make precise observations of their physical properties,ā€ says Antwi-Danso, who credits her parents for nurturing her interest in education and reading while growing up in Ghana. ā€œThat just blew my mind.ā€</p> <p>Today, Antwi-Danso is an NSERC Banting postdoctoral fellow at the University of Torontoā€™s David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. Her work focuses on&nbsp;studying massive galaxies that formed ā€œwhen the universe was still just a baby.ā€</p> <p>She is also active in supporting Black, Latinx and Indigenous women who are interested in a career in science.</p> <p>She recently spoke to ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ā€™s <strong>Chris Sasaki</strong> about her career, research and goals.</p> <hr> <p><strong>Was there an important milestone in your journey to becoming an astronomer?</strong></p> <p>After high school, my plan was to take a gap year to figure out if I wanted to stay in Ghana and do something in the sciences at the university level or go elsewhere.</p> <p>Thatā€™s when an opportunity came my way. There was a&nbsp;program run by the American Embassy in Accra for Ghanaian high school students&nbsp;interested in studying in the U.S. It provided mentorship for things like how to apply to schools in the U.S., how to write a good college application and how to select courses. They also helped you think about what you wanted to do in your career.</p> <p>It was a big turning point in my life when I was selected to join the program. Thatā€™s how I learned about opportunities outside of Ghana and realized that if I was going to study astronomy, I would have to leave because we don't have astronomy at the collegiate level. And so, I made my decision to study astronomy at Texas Christian University.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-02/NGC7038-galaxy-crop.jpg?itok=cbMQ226c" width="750" height="713" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Large, relatively nearby galaxies like this one took billions of years to form. Antwi-Danso is trying to determine how large galaxies in the very distant universe formed in a small fraction of that time (photo by ESA/Hubble &amp; NASA, D. Jones Acknowledgement: G. Anand, L. Shatz.)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>As an astronomer, what questions are you trying to answer?</strong></p> <p>I study massive galaxies in the very distant universe ā€“ some of the very first structures that formed after the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago. We're trying to understand why these galaxies formed the way they did and how they became so big so quickly. Weā€™re finding them at increasingly earlier times, as far back as when the universe was just four per cent of its current age.</p> <p>This goes against our understanding of the hierarchical formation of large structures ā€“ where massive galaxies like our Milky Way galaxy were formed from the merger of galaxies that were formed from stars, which, in turn, formed from clouds of gas and dust.</p> <p>For our galaxy, it took billions of years to attain its current stellar mass. These distant, massive galaxies had only a fraction of the time to go through this process, so we have no idea how they formed so quickly. So, one of two things is happening: either there's something wrong with our observations or we need to revise our current models. That's the big problem I'm working on and Iā€™m actually looking for <a href="https://www.astro.utoronto.ca/2024-surp-projects/">a&nbsp;summer undergraduate&nbsp;student</a>&nbsp;to work on this project.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-02/LUMA_AAS-crop.jpg?itok=fBbTP1gD" width="750" height="563" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Jacqueline Antwi-Danso speaks to students at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (supplied image)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Youā€™re working to support Black, Indigenous and Latinx women in science. Can you tell me more about that?</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.lumamentoring.com/" target="_blank">The League of Underrepresented Minoritized Astronomers (LUMA)</a> is a peer mentoring organization for women in astronomy, physics and the planetary sciences&nbsp;that was formed in 2015 by <strong>Catherine Espaillat</strong>,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>who is the director of the Institute for Astrophysical Sciences at Boston University. She started LUMA because, as a Dominican American grad student, she felt isolated.</p> <p>There werenā€™t many people in her field who looked like her, with whom she shared backgrounds. So, she created LUMA to be a community of people with similar experiences who could provide each other with support. I joined because I also realized there weren't many people in my field who looked like me. There were even fewer African astronomers. And, like Catherine, I wanted a place where we could come together as a community and support each other.</p> <p><strong>Do have you have plans to do the same type of work here in Canada?</strong></p> <p>I would like to continue this work, so I've been learning about and trying to understand what the Canadian science landscape looks like. I think the challenge in Canada is similar to the challenge that LUMA faces in the U.S. ā€“ there are very few Black, Indigenous or Latinx women in science in either country. So, yes, I would like to do similar work here. I just don't know what that looks like yet.</p> <p><strong>What about in Ghana?</strong></p> <p>One thing that I had in mind was trying to create some sort of pipeline for students in Ghana who might be interested in astronomy and might want to study in the U.S. or Canada. There are challenges, of course, but Iā€™m talking to people who have been involved in similar projects and have found solutions to these challenges. For example, it might mean helping by providing mentorship to students who are already interested in physics and to students who are a little further along in their studies. I'm hopeful there are a number of ways to make this work.</p> <p><strong>How do you feel about receiving the NSERC Banting fellowship?</strong></p> <p>Iā€™m very grateful and humbled to receive it. For me, it represents an exciting opportunity to work independently on my research, especially at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ with all the people in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/">Dunlap Institute (for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics)</a>, the&nbsp;department of astronomy and astrophysics,&nbsp;CITA (<a href="https://www.cita.utoronto.ca/">Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics</a>) and the&nbsp;department of statistical sciences. I feel like ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ is the perfect place for me because Iā€™m combining astronomy with statistics and cosmological simulations to understand these really massive, distant galaxies. Iā€™m having the time of my life, and Iā€™m looking forward to seeing what the next few months will bring.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 08 Feb 2024 19:27:46 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 305969 at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ astronomers discover first population of binary stripped stars /news/u-t-astronomers-discover-first-population-binary-stripped-stars <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ astronomers discover first population of binary stripped stars</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-12/Stars-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=RTyKGVJf 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-12/Stars-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=RLknA1wL 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-12/Stars-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SuJx6ao5 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-12/Stars-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=RTyKGVJf" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rahul.kalvapalle</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-12-20T10:22:31-05:00" title="Wednesday, December 20, 2023 - 10:22" class="datetime">Wed, 12/20/2023 - 10:22</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Artist's impression of a massive star stripping the hydrogen envelope of its companion star in a binary system (illustration by Navid Marvi, courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/michael-pereira" hreflang="en">Michael Pereira</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dunlap-institute-astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-and-innovation" hreflang="en">Research and Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/space" hreflang="en">Space</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">New findings confirm the existence of hot helium stars long thought to be at the heart of hydrogen-poor supernovae and neutron star mergers</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Astronomers at the University of Toronto have discovered a population of massive stars that have been stripped of their outer hydrogen layer by companion stars.</p> <p>For over a decade, scientists have theorized that approximately one in three massive stars are stripped of their hydrogen envelope in binary systems (systems where two stars are gravitationally bound to one another). Yet, until now, only one possible candidate had been identified.</p> <p>The findings, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade4970">published in&nbsp;<em>Science</em></a>, shed light on the hot helium stars that are believed to be the origins of hydrogen-poor core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers.</p> <p>ā€œIf it turned out that these stars are rare, then our whole theoretical framework for all these different phenomena is wrong, with implications for supernovae, gravitational waves and the light from distant galaxies,ā€ said <strong>Maria Drout</strong>, assistant professor in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.astro.utoronto.ca/">David A. Dunlap department of Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a>&nbsp;at the University of Toronto and an associate at the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a>.</p> <p>ā€œThis finding shows these stars really do exist.ā€</p> <p>It also opens up possibilities for more detailed research going forward. ā€œFor example, predictions for how many neutron star mergers we should see are dependent on the properties of these stars, such as how much material comes off of them in stellar winds," Drout says. "Now, for the first time, weā€™ll be able to measure that, whereas people have been extrapolating it before."</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/5_Drout_Magellan-crop.jpg?itok=jVp5lV8H" width="750" height="563" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Assistant Professor Maria Drout with the Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (photo by Tom Holoien/Maria Drout)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Drout and her colleagues propose that these newly discovered stars will eventually explode as hydrogen-poor supernovae. These star systems are also thought to be necessary to form neutron star mergers.</p> <p>In fact, the researchers believe that a few objects in their current sample are stripped stars with neutron star or blackhole companions. These objects are at the stage immediately before they become double-neutron-star or neutron-star-plus-blackhole systems that could eventually merge.</p> <p>ā€œMany stars are part of a cosmic dance with a partner, orbiting each other in a binary system. Theyā€™re not solitary giants but part of dynamic duos, interacting and influencing each other throughout their lifetimes,ā€ says&nbsp;<strong>Bethany Ludwig</strong>, a PhD student in the David A. Dunlap department of Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics&nbsp;and third author on the paper. ā€œOur work sheds light on these fascinating relationships, revealing a universe that is far more interconnected and active than we previously imagined.</p> <p>ā€œJust as humans are social beings, stars too, especially the massive ones, are rarely alone.ā€</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/4_ObservingLasCampanas.jpg?itok=3tzQLP6z" width="750" height="563" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>(Left to right):&nbsp; Bethany Ludwig, Anna Oā€™Grady, Maria Drout and Ylva Gƶtberg (all authors on the paper) at the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile (photo by Ylva Gƶtberg)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>As stars evolve and expand to become red giants, the hydrogen at the outer edges of one can be stripped by the gravitational pull of its companion star ā€“ leaving a very hot helium core exposed. The process can take tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years.</p> <p>Stripped stars are difficult to find because much of the light they emit is outside of the visible light spectrum and can be obstructed by dust in the universe or outshone by their companion stars.</p> <p>Drout and her collaborators began their search in 2016. Having studied hydrogen-poor supernovae during her PhD, Drout set out to find the stripped stars thought to be at the heart of these supernovae during a NASA Hubble postdoctoral fellowship at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science.</p> <p>The researchers, who include co-author <strong>Ylva Gƶtberg</strong>, assistant professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, later designed a survey to look in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum where extremely hot stars emit most of their light. Using data from the Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope, they collected brightness data for millions of stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two of the closest galaxies to Earth.</p> <p>Ludwig, who developed the first wide-field UV catalogue of the Magellanic Clouds, used UV photometry to detect systems with unusual UV emissions ā€“ signaling the possible presence of a stripped star.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-12/3_LMC_UV_image-crop.jpg?itok=00_wMzrp" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹The researchers used this ultraviolet dataset of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the two closest major galaxies to our own, to identify the candidate systems (image by&nbsp;NASA/Swift/S. Immler (Goddard) and M. Siegel (Penn State)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The team carried out a pilot study of 25 objects, obtaining optical spectroscopy with the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory between 2018 and 2022, and demonstrated that the stars were hot, small, hydrogen-poor, and in binary systems ā€“ all consistent with their model predictions.</p> <p>Currently, the researchers are continuing to study the stars identified in the paper and expanding their search to find more. They will be looking both within our own Milky Way and nearby galaxies with approved programs on the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Telescope, the Magellan Telescopes and the Anglo-Australian Telescope.</p> <p>As part of this publication, all theoretical models and data used to identify these stars have been made public and available to other scientists.</p> <p>Collaborating institutions include the University of Toronto, the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Max-Planck-Institut fĆ¼r Astrophysik, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics and Steward Observatory.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 20 Dec 2023 15:22:31 +0000 rahul.kalvapalle 305043 at In search of other worlds: Astronomer explores how planets form and evolve /news/search-other-worlds-astronomer-explores-how-planets-form-and-evolve <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">In search of other worlds: Astronomer explores how planets form and evolve</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-07/GettyImages-1354937085-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=aurBOIuJ 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-07/GettyImages-1354937085-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=FVLfi3HU 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-07/GettyImages-1354937085-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=l2qqINfX 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-07/GettyImages-1354937085-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=aurBOIuJ" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>siddiq22</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-07-20T15:16:57-04:00" title="Thursday, July 20, 2023 - 15:16" class="datetime">Thu, 07/20/2023 - 15:16</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by&nbsp;rbkomar/Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/dan-falk" hreflang="en">Dan Falk</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/planets" hreflang="en">Planets</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/solar-system" hreflang="en">Solar System</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/university-toronto-mississauga" hreflang="en">University of Toronto Mississauga</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Assistant Professor Marta Bryan is studying the properties of exoplanets to better understand how our planet and species fit into the larger universe</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>It wasnā€™t that long ago that astronomers only knew of eight planets&nbsp;(nine before Plutoā€™s demotion back in 2006) ā€“ those here in our own solar system. Now we know of nearly 10,000 planets orbiting stars beyond our sun ā€“ known as exoplanets&nbsp;ā€“ and that flood of new worlds has ushered in something of a golden age for planetary scientists.</p> <p>For astronomers like <a href="https://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~marta.bryan/"><strong>Marta Bryan</strong></a>, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga and in the <a href="http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/">David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics</a> in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, it means thereā€™s no better time to be studying these distant worlds.</p> <p>ā€œThis is such a dynamic field,ā€ says Bryan, who joined ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ in January after four years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. Studying the properties of exoplanets provides ā€œa unique opportunity to put ourselves and our world in the broadest of contexts ā€“ how does our solar system, our planet and our species fit into our universe?ā€</p> <p>Bryan, who specializes in the study of&nbsp;planetary formation and evolution, was recently awarded the <a href="https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/annie-jump-cannon-award-astronomy">Annie Jump Cannon Award</a> from the American Astronomical Society for her work on exoplanets.</p> <p>As the tally of exoplanets began to grow, astronomers noticed how diverse planetary systems appear to be, with planets varying widely in size, composition and surface temperature. Some orbit very close to their host stars, while others follow orbits comparable to the Earthā€™s, or to the giant outer planets in our solar system.</p> <p>ā€œWeā€™ve found thousands of exoplanets, with a huge diversity of properties,ā€ Bryan says. ā€œFor me, one of the driving goals in the field is to understand where that diversity comes from. What does the process of planet formation and evolution look like?ā€</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-07/0512MartaBryan006-crop.jpg?itok=CckTnCuH" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Marta Bryan uses a range of observational techniques to detect and characterize gas giant planets outside our solar system to explore how planetary systems form and evolve (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>While much research on exoplanets has focused on the search for Earth-like worlds, Bryan is interested in gas giant planets, analogous to Jupiter and Saturn in our own solar system. Thatā€™s because their sheer heft means they play an important role in determining how smaller planets in the same system evolve.</p> <p>As Bryan puts it, gas giant planets ā€œdominate the dynamicsā€ of whatever system theyā€™re in. Which means that learning about gas giants can, in fact, help us understand something about Earth-like planets ā€“ worlds whose evolution may have been affected by the presence of these much more massive bodies.</p> <p>As a result, Bryan says, ā€œgas giant planets are an obvious place to start if we want to understand the physics of planet formation.ā€</p> <p>The gas giant planets in our own solar system are thought to have played a crucial role over the past five billion years. Jupiter, for example, is believed to have migrated inward before reversing direction and ending up in its current position. Jupiterā€™s foray into the inner part of the solar system is thought to have stunted the growth of the inner planets, particularly Mars, by scattering some of the gas and dust that might otherwise have been gravitationally pulled toward the red planet.</p> <p>ā€œWe think that Jupiter and Saturn played a dominant role in the early history of our solar system, helping to shape the formation and evolution of our terrestrial planets,ā€ Bryan says.&nbsp;ā€œAs a result, we want to understand in the broader extrasolar context what role gas-giant analogs to Jupiter and Saturn have played in shaping the lives of terrestrial worlds.ā€</p> <p>The future looks bright&nbsp;ā€“ data from the <a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/">James Webb Space Telescope</a> is already pouring in. Bryan is especially excited about large, ground-based telescopes with mirrors up to 30 metres across, which are currently being planned. These next-generation telescopes may even reveal ā€œbiosignaturesā€ on other worlds ā€“ signs of life that can be inferred from the composition of a planetā€™s atmosphere.</p> <p>And if astronomers do end up finding conclusive evidence of life beyond our own planet, such a discovery&nbsp;ā€œwould definitely be transformational,ā€ Bryan says.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 20 Jul 2023 19:16:57 +0000 siddiq22 302318 at Astronomers discover new link between dark matter and 'clumpiness' of the universe /news/astronomers-discover-new-link-between-dark-matter-and-clumpiness-universe <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Astronomers discover new link between dark matter and 'clumpiness' of the universe</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-06/The_cosmic_web_artist_s_impression-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=tn6wT2cI 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-06/The_cosmic_web_artist_s_impression-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=TfdU8sLm 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-06/The_cosmic_web_artist_s_impression-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=TvaQyKOZ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-06/The_cosmic_web_artist_s_impression-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=tn6wT2cI" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-06-28T13:30:06-04:00" title="Wednesday, June 28, 2023 - 13:30" class="datetime">Wed, 06/28/2023 - 13:30</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(image by&nbsp;Volker Springel (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics) et al)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/chris-sasaki" hreflang="en">Chris Sasaki</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy" hreflang="en">Astronomy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dunlap-institute-astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Researchers at the University of Toronto have revealed a theoretical breakthrough that may explain both the nature of invisible dark matter and the large-scale structure of the universe known as the cosmic web.</p> <p>Their study, published in the<em>&nbsp;<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2023/06/023">Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics</a></em>, establishes a new link between these two longstanding problems in astronomy, opening new possibilities for understanding the cosmos.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_250_width_/public/2023-06/keir_rogers.png?itok=UT7W_5ze" width="250" height="250" alt="Keir Rogers" class="image-style-scale-image-250-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Keir Rogers (supplied image)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The research suggests that the ā€œclumpiness problem,ā€ which centres on the unexpectedly even distribution of matter on large scales throughout the cosmos, may be a sign that dark matter is composed of hypothetical, ultra-light particles called axions.</p> <p>The implications of proving the existence of hard-to-detect axions extend beyond understanding dark matter and could address fundamental questions about the nature of the universe itself.</p> <p>ā€œIf confirmed with future telescope observations and lab experiments, finding axion dark matter would be one of the most significant discoveries of this century,ā€ says lead author&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/dunlap-people/keir-rogers/"><strong>Keir Rogers</strong></a>, Dunlap Fellow at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a>&nbsp;in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science .</p> <p>ā€œAt the same time, our results suggest an explanation for why the universe is less clumpy than we thought ā€“ an observation that has become increasingly clear over the last decade or so, and currently leaves our theory of the universe uncertain.ā€</p> <p>Dark matter, comprising 85 percent of the universeā€™s mass, is invisible because it does not interact with light. Scientists study its gravitational effects on visible matter to understand how it is distributed in the universe.</p> <p>A leading theory proposes that dark matter is made of axions, described in quantum mechanics as ā€œfuzzyā€ due to their wave-like behaviour. Unlike discrete point-like particles, axions can have wavelengths larger than entire galaxies. This fuzziness influences the formation and distribution of dark matter, potentially explaining why the universe is less clumpy than predicted in a universe without axions.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-06/with_without_axions_comparison-image-crop.jpg?itok=usiB7uQf" width="750" height="375" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>A computer simulation of a section of the universe with and without axions, showing how the dark matter cosmic web structure is less clumpy if containing axions. For scale, the Milky Way galaxy would sit inside one of the small green dots that are called halos (image by Alexander Spencer London/Alex LaguĆ«)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>This lack of clumpiness has been observed in large galaxy surveys, challenging the other prevailing theory that dark matter consists only of heavy, weakly interacting sub-atomic particles called WIMPs. Despite experiments like the Large Hadron Collider, no evidence supporting the existence of WIMPs has been found.</p> <p>ā€œIn science, itā€™s when ideas break down that new discoveries are made and age-old problems are solved,ā€ Rogers says.</p> <p>For the study, the research team&nbsp;ā€“ led by Rogers and including members of associate professor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/dunlap-people/prof-renee-hlozek/"><strong>RenĆ©e Hložek</strong></a>ā€™s research group at the Dunlap Institute, as well as from the University of Pennsylvania, the Institute for Advanced Study, Columbia University and Kingā€™s College London&nbsp;ā€“ analyzed observations of relic light from the Big Bang, known as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), obtained from prior telescope surveys.</p> <p>The researchers compared these CMB data with galaxy clustering data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which maps the positions of approximately a million galaxies in the nearby universe. By studying the distribution of galaxies, which mirrors the behaviour of dark matter under gravitational forces, they measured fluctuations in the amount of matter throughout the universe and confirmed its reduced clumpiness compared to predictions.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-06/galaxy_map.jpg?itok=W4BbrW5t" width="750" height="746" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>A map of galaxies in the local universe as seen by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which the researchers used to test the axion theory. Each dot is the position of a galaxy and the Earth sits in the middle of the map<br> (image courtesy Sloan Digital Sky Survey)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The researchers then conducted computer simulations to predict the appearance of relic light and the distribution of galaxies in a universe with long dark matter waves. These calculations aligned with CMB data from the Big Bang and galaxy clustering data, supporting the notion that fuzzy axions could account for the clumpiness problem.</p> <p>Future research will involve large-scale surveys to map millions of galaxies and provide precise measurements of clumpiness, including observations over the next decade with the Rubin Observatory. The researchers hope to compare their theory to direct observations of dark matter through gravitational lensing&nbsp;ā€“ an effect where dark matter clumpiness is measured by how much it bends the light from distant galaxies, akin to a giant magnifying glass. They also plan to investigate how galaxies expel gas into space and how this affects the dark matter distribution to further confirm their results.</p> <p>Understanding the nature of dark matter is one of the most pressing fundamental questions and key to understanding the origin and future of the universe.</p> <p>Presently, scientists do not have a single theory that simultaneously explains gravity and quantum mechanics&nbsp;ā€“ a theory of everything. The most popular theory of everything over the last few decades is string theory, which posits another level below the quantum level, where everything is made of string-like excitations of energy. According to Rogers, detecting a fuzzy axion particle could be a hint that the string theory of everything is correct.</p> <p>ā€œWe have the tools now that could enable us to finally understand something experimentally about the century-old mystery of dark matter, even in the next decade or so ā€“ and that could give us hints to answers about even bigger theoretical questions,ā€ Rogers says.</p> <p>ā€œThe hope is that the puzzling elements of the universe are solvable.ā€</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 28 Jun 2023 17:30:06 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 302079 at Astronomers double number of known 'repeating fast radio bursts' using new data tools /news/astronomers-double-number-known-repeating-fast-radio-bursts-using-new-data-tools <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Astronomers double number of known 'repeating fast radio bursts' using new data tools</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-05/Radio-lrg-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=bicWL0VJ 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-05/Radio-lrg-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=VjSLjDx_ 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-05/Radio-lrg-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Q3DCTdT6 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-05/Radio-lrg-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=bicWL0VJ" alt="An artistā€™s impression of the CHIME telescope"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-05-01T11:35:57-04:00" title="Monday, May 1, 2023 - 11:35" class="datetime">Mon, 05/01/2023 - 11:35</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p>An artistā€™s impression of the CHIME telescope, used by researchers from the CHIME/FRB Collaboration in detecting flashes of radio waves known as 'fast radio bursts' (illustration by CHIME/FRB Collaboration, with artistic additions by Luka Vlajić)</p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/meaghan-macsween" hreflang="en">Meaghan MacSween</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy" hreflang="en">Astronomy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dunlap-institute-astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/space" hreflang="en">Space</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Astronomers in the Canadian-led <a href="https://www.chime-frb.ca/">CHIME/FRB Collaboration</a> ā€“&nbsp;including researchers from the University of Toronto ā€“&nbsp;have doubled the number of known repeating sources of mysterious flashes of radio waves, known as fast radio bursts (FRBs). Through the discovery of 25 new repeating sources (for a total of 50), the team has also solidified the idea that all FRBs may eventually repeat.</p> <p>FRBs are considered one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy, but their exact origins are unknown.</p> <p>Astronomers do know that they come from far outside of our Milky Way, and are likely produced by the cinders left behind after stars die. Most of the thousands of FRBs that astronomers have discovered to date have only ever been seen to burst once, but there is a small subset that have been seen to burst multiple times.</p> <p>One of the big questions is whether the repeating FRBs, and those that donā€™t repeat, have similar origins. One key clue is that the two populations seem to have different characteristics&nbsp;ā€“&nbsp;such as the durations of the bursts they produce and the range of frequencies emitted. This has led to the consensus that there are possibly two distinct categories of FRBs: repeaters&nbsp;and one-offs,&nbsp;with different origins.</p> <p>Finding more repeating sources is key to answering this question ā€“ and in&nbsp;new <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/acc6c1">research published&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<em>Astrophysical Journal</em></a>,&nbsp;the CHIME/FRB Collaboration presents 25 new sources. While the team&nbsp;had previously established repeating FRBs as a class of sources, this is the first time they have combed through the data to find every repeating source detected so far, including the less obvious ones. To make this happen, the group&nbsp;developed a new set of statistics tools.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2023-05/CHIME-edited--768x432.jpeg" width="768" height="432" alt="An artistā€™s impression of the CHIME telescope"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>The CHIME telescope in Penticton, B.C. (photo by Andre Renard/CHIME/FRB Collaboration)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>ā€œWe can now accurately calculate the probability that two or more bursts coming from similar locations are not just a coincidence,ā€ explains&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/~ziggy.pleunis/"><strong>Ziggy Pleunis</strong></a>, a Dunlap postdoctoral fellow at the&nbsp;Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics&nbsp;and corresponding author of the publication. ā€œThese new tools were essential for this study, and will also be very useful for similar research going forward.ā€</p> <p>Thanks to radio telescopes like the&nbsp;<a href="https://chime-experiment.ca/en">Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment</a>&nbsp;(CHIME), the number of detected FRBs has grown from less than a hundred&nbsp;to thousands in recent years&nbsp;due to CHIMEā€™s capacity to scan the entire northern sky every day.</p> <p>ā€œThatā€™s how CHIME has an edge over other telescopes&nbsp;when it comes to discovering FRBs,ā€ Pleunis says.</p> <p>In their new research, the CHIME/FRB Collaboration has demonstrated that many repeating FRBs are surprisingly inactive, producing less than one burst per week of observing time.</p> <p>ā€œMany apparently one-off FRBs have simply not yet been observed long enough for a second burst from the source to be detected,ā€ Pleunis explains.</p> <p>Repeating sources of FRBs are uniquely valuable to astronomers. First, knowing that a source is a repeater creates an opportunity to observe that same source with other telescopes in more detail. Secondly, more bursts offer more information on the diversity of emission that a source can produce.</p> <p>ā€œIt is exciting that CHIME/FRB saw multiple flashes from the same locations, as this allows for the detailed investigation of their nature,ā€ says&nbsp;<a href="http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~ibik/"><strong>Adaeze Ibik</strong></a>, a PhD student in the&nbsp;David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics&nbsp;in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science.</p> <p>Ibik has led the search for the galaxies in which some of the newly identified repeating FRBs are embedded, as reported in an accompanying research publication currently under review. ā€œWe were able to hone in on some of these repeating sources and have already identified likely associated galaxies for two of them.ā€</p> <p>Pleunis notes that this new discovery brings astronomers&nbsp;closer to understanding what FRBs are ā€“ leading to even further-reaching implications.</p> <p>ā€œFRBs are likely produced by the leftovers from explosive stellar deaths.ā€ Pleunis says. ā€œBy studying repeating FRB sources in detail, we can study the environments that these explosions occur in and better understand the end stages of a starā€™s life.ā€</p> <p>ā€œWe can also learn more about the material thatā€™s being expelled before and during the starā€™s demise, which is then returned to the galaxies that the FRBs live in.ā€</p> <p>The CHIME project is co-led by the University of British Columbia, McGill University, University of Toronto&nbsp;and the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, with collaborating institutions across North America.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">CHIMEā€™s research is funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovationā€™s Leading Edge Fund, by contributions from the province of British Columbia and Quebec,&nbsp;and by ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ā€™s Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, among other sources.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 01 May 2023 15:35:57 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 301477 at First space images captured by balloon-borne telescope /news/first-space-images-captured-balloon-borne-telescope <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">First space images captured by balloon-borne telescope</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-04/SuperBIT_tarantula_full-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=QrkUeR1b 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-04/SuperBIT_tarantula_full-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=J4fGbp3h 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-04/SuperBIT_tarantula_full-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KXmP2q2T 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-04/SuperBIT_tarantula_full-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=QrkUeR1b" alt="A false-colour image of the ā€œTarantula Nebulaā€ taken in visible and ultraviolet light by the SuperBIT telescope shortly after launch."> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>siddiq22</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-04-21T09:34:16-04:00" title="Friday, April 21, 2023 - 09:34" class="datetime">Fri, 04/21/2023 - 09:34</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p>A false-colour image of the ā€œTarantula Nebulaā€ taken in visible and ultraviolet light by the SuperBIT telescope shortly after launch (image courtesy of SuperBIT)</p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy" hreflang="en">Astronomy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dunlap-institute-astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-staff" hreflang="en">Faculty &amp; Staff</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Astronomers have successfully launched a balloon-borne telescope that has begun capturing images of the universe on its first flight&nbsp;above the Earthā€™s atmosphere.&nbsp;</p> <p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://sites.physics.utoronto.ca/bit">Super Pressure Balloon-Borne Imaging Telescope</a>&nbsp;(SuperBIT) was flown to the edge of space by a helium-filled NASA scientific balloon the size of a football stadium. There, it will help researchers investigate the mystery of dark matter.</p> <p>SuperBIT has already taken its first images on this flight, showing the ā€œTarantula Nebulaā€ ā€“ a&nbsp;bright cluster of gas and dust in a galaxy neighbourhood near our Milky Way ā€“&nbsp;and&nbsp;the collision between the two galaxies NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, known as ā€œthe Antennae.ā€</p> <p>SuperBIT is a collaboration between the University of Toronto, Princeton University, Durham University and NASA.</p> <p>ā€œA dedicated team of students developing one of the worldā€™s great telescopes ā€“ itā€™s inspiring,ā€ says&nbsp;<a href="https://sites.physics.utoronto.ca/barthnetterfield"><strong>Barth Netterfield</strong></a>, a professor in ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„'s David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics and the department of physics in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, and an associate at the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics</a>.</p> <p>ā€œAfter a decade of tremendous effort, we are getting these exquisite images with a wide range of science goals, which will help us to better understand the universe.ā€</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2023-04/SuperBIT_antennae_full-crop.jpeg" width="1140" height="760" alt="A false-colour image taken by the SuperBIT telescope shows of a pair of galaxies smashing into each other."> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>A false-colour image taken by the SuperBIT telescope shows of a pair of galaxies smashing into each other&nbsp;(image courtesy of&nbsp;SuperBIT)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The balloon aunched from Wānaka, New Zealand&nbsp;earlier this week, following a two-year delay due to the COVID pandemic.</p> <p>Carried by seasonally stable winds for about three months, SuperBIT will circumnavigate the southern hemisphere several times ā€“ imaging the sky all night, then using solar panels to recharge its batteries during the day.</p> <p>SuperBIT flies at an altitude of 33.5 kilometres, above 99.5 per cent of the Earthā€™s atmosphere. It takes high-resolution images like those from the Hubble Space Telescope, but with a much wider field of view.</p> <p>The scientific&nbsp;goal for the&nbsp;first flight is to measure the properties of dark matter, a heavy but invisible type of material.</p> <p>SuperBIT will test whether dark-matter particles can bounce off each other, by mapping the dark matter around clusters of galaxies that are colliding with neighbouring galaxy clusters.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2023-04/Untitled%20design%20%287%29.png" width="1300" height="900" alt="The SuperBIT telescope in New Zealand prior to the launch"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>The SuperBIT telescope in New Zealand prior to the launch&nbsp;(photo courtesy of Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p><em>The SuperBIT telescope in New Zealand prior to the launch&nbsp;(photo courtesy of Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility)</em></p> <p>Various theories suggest that&nbsp;some dark matter might either slow down, spread out,&nbsp;or get chipped off during a collision.</p> <p>Although dark matter is invisible, SuperBIT will map where it is by the way it bends passing rays of light&nbsp;ā€“&nbsp;a technique known as gravitational lensing.</p> <p>While telescopes on the ground must squint through the Earthā€™s atmosphere ā€“ meaning their view can become blurred ā€“ space-based telescopes get a clear view of the light that has travelled billions of years from the distant universe.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2023-04/IMG_0659%20%281%29.jpg" width="2016" height="1512" alt="Members of the SuperBIT team prepare for&nbsp;a flight test"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Members of the SuperBIT team prepare for&nbsp;a flight test (photo courtesy of&nbsp;SuperBIT)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>SuperBIT is the first balloon-borne telescope capable of taking wide-field images&nbsp;ā€“&nbsp;its sharpness of vision is not affected by the atmosphere, but only by the laws of optics.</p> <p>During its final test flight in 2019, SuperBIT demonstrated extraordinary pointing stability.</p> <p>ā€œImagine youā€™re trying to thread a needle thatā€™s 2.5 kilometres&nbsp;away ā€“ so roughly 30 city blocks,ā€ explains&nbsp;<a href="https://www.emaadparacha.com/"><strong>Emaad Paracha</strong></a>, a PhD candidate in&nbsp;the department of physics.</p> <p>ā€œSuperBIT has the ability to point to the exact spot youā€™d need that needle to be thread, while keeping that thread from touching the sides of the needle for up to 60 minutes.ā€</p> <p>SuperBIT cost about US$5 million ā€“ almost 1,000 times less than an equivalent satellite. Not only is helium cheaper than rocket fuel, but the ability of SuperBIT to return to Earth via parachute meant the team could tweak its design over several test flights.</p> <p>ā€œA successful SuperBIT launch paves the way to a future in which individual academic institutions are able to design, develop and operate world-class space instruments at a low cost, while also providing the training opportunity for instrument development and data analysis for the students,ā€ says&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ajaygill.com/"><strong>Ajay Gill</strong></a>, a PhD candidate at the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics and the Dunlap Institute.</p> <p>SuperBIT can also be upgraded on a regular basis.&nbsp;For example, the development team buys a new camera shortly before each launch, because modern detectors are improving so rapidly.</p> <p>The team already has funding to upgrade SuperBITā€™s 0.5-metre&nbsp;telescope to 1.6 metres, which would boost light gathering power tenfold, with a wider-angle lens and more megapixels.</p> <p>The relatively cheap cost may even make it possible for a fleet of balloon-borne telescopes to offer time to astronomers around the world. Interested members of the public can&nbsp;track SuperBIT's flight status&nbsp;<a href="https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon10/flight728NT.htm">on NASA's website</a>.</p> <p>The mission was funded by NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, the Royal Society&nbsp;and ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„'s Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics.</p> <p><em>With notes from&nbsp;Meaghan MacSween</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-add-new-author-reporter field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Add new author/reporter</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/leighton-kitson" hreflang="en">Leighton Kitson</a></div> </div> </div> Fri, 21 Apr 2023 13:34:16 +0000 siddiq22 301285 at Canadian researchers will have access to next-generation radio astronomy observatory /news/canadian-researchers-will-have-access-next-generation-radio-astronomy-observatory <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Canadian researchers will have access to next-generation radio astronomy observatory</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/SKAO-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=I3xKYs_7 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/SKAO-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=jT2WplOq 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/SKAO-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ocw0ZaJ8 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/SKAO-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=I3xKYs_7" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-01-27T10:10:58-05:00" title="Friday, January 27, 2023 - 10:10" class="datetime">Fri, 01/27/2023 - 10:10</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">A composite image of the future SKAO telescopes co-located in Australia and South Africa, blending what already exists on site with artistsā€™ impressions (photo courtesy of SKAO)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/faculty-arts-science-staff" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science Staff</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/leah-cowen" hreflang="en">Leah Cowen</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dunlap-institute-astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/space" hreflang="en">Space</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Canada intends to&nbsp;proceed to full membership in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.skao.int/en/partners/prospective-members/388/canada">Square Kilometre Array Observatory</a>&nbsp;(SKAO),&nbsp;a next-generation radio astronomy observatory bringing together nations from around the world to build and operate cutting-edge radio telescopes.</p> <p>SKAO will operate two telescopes ā€“ one in Australia and one in South Africa ā€“ with headquarters in the United Kingdom. The facility will enable discoveries that will advance our understanding of the universe, the fundamental laws of physics and the prospects for life on other planets. Membership in the SKAO will allow Canada to develop strong scientific, technical&nbsp;and industrial capabilities and collaborations well into the future.</p> <p>The decision to proceed with full membership,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/national-research-council/news/2023/01/canada-announces-intention-to-become-full-member-of-international-skao-radio-astronomy-project.html">announced this week by Innovation, Science and Industry Minister FranƧoisā€‘Philippe Champagne</a>, is expected to provide Canadian astronomers with a six per cent use-share of the SKAO and support establishing a domestic regional centre. The centre will provide direct connections to data collected with the SKA telescopes and science support to enable ground-breaking discoveries.</p> <div class="image-with-caption left"> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/Gaensler_2019_standing2_0.jpg" alt><em>Bryan Gaensler</em></p> </div> <p>ā€œThis is tremendously exciting news,ā€ says&nbsp;<strong>Bryan Gaensler</strong>, director of the University of Torontoā€™s&nbsp;Dunlap Institute for Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science and former science director of the Canadian Square Kilometre Array, a global radio observatory. ā€œCanadian membership in the SKAO was one of the marquee priorities in the Canadian Astronomy Long Range Plan for 2020-2030. Membership will open new opportunities for University of Toronto leadership at an international scale.ā€</p> <p>With full membership, ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ envisages significant involvement in a Canadian SKA Regional Centre as part of its recently established&nbsp;<a href="https://datasciences.utoronto.ca/">Data Sciences Institute</a>.</p> <p>ā€œThe SKAO is a key part of ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ā€™s Strategic Research Plan for 2018 - 2023 and an important institutional priority,ā€ says&nbsp;<strong>Leah Cowen</strong>, ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ā€™s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. ā€œIt is a brilliant example of a high-impact, interdisciplinary research collaboration that is a reflection of our incredible research community.ā€</p> <p>ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ also leads the $10-million&nbsp;Canadian Initiative for Radio Astronomy Data Analysis&nbsp;(CIRADA), a consortium of six Canadian universities, the National Research Council Canada and many international partners, whose goal is to establish Canadian capability for processing, archiving and sharing the enormous scientific data sets anticipated for the SKA.</p> <p>ā€œIā€™m thrilled to congratulate everyone at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ for their work over many years in bringing us to this historic commitment,ā€ says&nbsp;<strong>Melanie Woodin</strong>, dean of the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. ā€œItā€™s rewarding&nbsp;to know that the SKAO involves researchers from five Arts &amp; Science units: the Dunlap Institute, the&nbsp;David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cita.utoronto.ca/">Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics</a>, the&nbsp;Department of Physics&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Department of Statistical Sciences.ā€</p> <p>The initial phase of the SKAO consists of 197 radio dishes located in South Africa and 131,072 antennas located in Australia. Construction on Phase 1 began in June 2021 and is expected to be completed by 2029.</p> <p>Canada was one of six founding members of the initial SKAO consortium in 2000 and has maintained substantial involvement and engagement in the SKAO project to date. Canadian astronomers are playing leading roles in designing marquee SKA science programs&nbsp;ā€“ including tests of gravity, low-frequency cosmology, cosmic magnetism, dark energy and detecting transient systems. They have multi-wavelength expertise in galaxy evolution, multi-messenger astronomy and planetary system formation.</p> <p>ā€œCanada's commitment to the SKA secures our position at the forefront of astrophysics for the next few decades. Everybody at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ that has the slightest interest in astronomy should prepare to get absolutely blown away by what the SKA is going to find,ā€ says&nbsp;<strong>Roberto Abraham</strong>, chair of the&nbsp;David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics. ā€œAnd what makes it extra exciting is that ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„'s leadership in the national consortium means that many of the most amazing discoveries will get made right here. What an exciting time to be an astronomer. To all the young people just getting into the subject: Hold on to your hats ā€“ it's going to be a wild ride!ā€</p> <p>As well as working on many aspects of the SKA project itself, Canadian astronomers are developing a variety of new facilities and experiments aimed at testing the technology needed for the SKAO. Foremost amongst these is the&nbsp;<a href="https://chime-experiment.ca/en">Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment</a>&nbsp;(CHIME) of which ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ is a member. CHIME is a unique radio telescope that can detect fast radio bursts and&nbsp;is making a three-dimensional map of the dark energy that is accelerating the expansion of the universe.&nbsp;</p> <p>The NRC points out that for the SKAO, respecting Indigenous cultures and the local populations has been a key consideration from the start: ā€œThese core principles are fully aligned with the priorities of the Canadian astronomical community as expressed in the Canadian Astronomy Long Range Plan 2020-2030.ā€</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 27 Jan 2023 15:10:58 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 179442 at A night of big ideas: Celebrating 50 years of the Connaught Fund at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ /news/night-big-ideas-celebrating-50-years-connaught-fund-u-t <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">A night of big ideas: Celebrating 50 years of the Connaught Fund at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-22-Edit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=aALu6s5p 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-22-Edit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=oCS_6RTR 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-22-Edit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=_xaVd1sq 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-22-Edit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=aALu6s5p" alt="view of the stage during the roundtable"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>mattimar</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2022-12-12T14:15:26-05:00" title="Monday, December 12, 2022 - 14:15" class="datetime">Mon, 12/12/2022 - 14:15</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">From left: RenĆ©e Hložek, Maydianne Andrade and Ronald Deibert discuss the importance of university research and the next big ideas to influence our society, with journalist Mary Ito (all photos by Polina Teif)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/mariam-matti" hreflang="en">Mariam Matti</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/department-biological-sciences" hreflang="en">Department of Biological Sciences</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/leah-cowen" hreflang="en">Leah Cowen</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/vice-president-research-and-innovation-and-strategic-initiatives" hreflang="en">Vice-president of Research and Innovation and Strategic Initiatives</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy-0" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/astronomy-astrophysics" hreflang="en">Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/citizen-lab" hreflang="en">Citizen Lab</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/connaught-fund" hreflang="en">Connaught Fund</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/political-science" hreflang="en">Political Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/president-meric-gertler" hreflang="en">President Meric Gertler</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-and-innovation" hreflang="en">Research and Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ Scarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The dangers of international digital espionage. The earliest moments of the universe. How scientists can also be activists and changemakers. &nbsp;</p> <p>These were some of the topics University of Toronto researchers delved into at a recent event celebrating the impact of the Connaught Fund, which has supported research excellence and innovation across the university for 50 years.</p> <p>Members of the community gathered at Convocation Hall to hear<b> Ronald Deibert</b>,<b> RenĆ©e Hložek</b> and <b>Maydianne Andrade </b>discuss the impact of their research and the role of university researchers in society. A professor in the department of political science in&nbsp;the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, Deibert is also director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Hložek is a cosmologist and associate professor at the Dunlap Institute and the David A. Dunlap Department for Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. Andrade, <a href="https://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards-funding/university-professors/complete-list-university-professors/">a University Professor</a> in the department of biological sciences at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ Scarborough and an expert on the black widow spider, is a leading advocate for equity and inclusion.</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-1-Edit.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p>Over the years, the Connaught Fund has supported the pathbreaking work of all three researchers ā€“ part of what President<b> Meric Gertler </b>called the fundā€™s ā€œextraordinary legacyā€ in his opening remarks.</p> <p>ā€œNot only does the Connaught Fund support research excellence from diverse disciplines and across different career stages&nbsp;it also supports inclusive excellence,ā€ he said.</p> <p>President Gertler said the <a href="https://irn.utoronto.ca/funding/internal/connaught-indigenous-funding-stream">Connaught Indigenous Funding Stream</a>, which supports Indigenous community-driven research at ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„, and the <a href="https://brn.utoronto.ca/opportunity/connaught-challenge/">Connaught Major Research Challenge for Black Researchers</a>, which will strengthen the research capacity of ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ā€™s Black academics, are two initiatives that deepen the universityā€™s commitment to education and discovery.</p> <p>Created in 1972 from the sale of the Connaught Laboratories, the Connaught Fund has since given out more than $179&nbsp;million to researchers across myriad disciplines ā€“ and is Canadaā€™s largest internal university research funding program.</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-2-Edit.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p>ā€œThe program supports global challenges, community partnerships and offers dedicated funding streams to help increase the research impact of PhD students, Black and Indigenous researchers and ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„-led startup companies,ā€ said <b>Leah Cowen</b>, ĄĻĖ¾»śÖ±²„ā€™s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.</p> <p>Andrade, renowned for her research on sexual selection, mating behaviour and the biology and ecology of black widow spiders, focused her presentation on activism in science and how she has leveraged her platform to create change.</p> <p>ā€œScientists should stay in their lane ā€“ Iā€™ve heard this a lot,ā€ she said. ā€œOur job is to create solutions and knowledge that other people who understand policy will then apply. But of course, advising solutions is not the same as solving a problem.ā€</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-7-Edit_0.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p>As the co-founder and president of the Canadian Black Scientists Network and founder and co-chair of the Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence, Andrade has worked to increase inclusion within institutions across Canada through education and advocacy.</p> <p>Deibert, meanwhile, has contributed to the publication of more than 120 reports covering research on cyber espionage, commercial spyware, internet censorship and human rights. His talk explored Citizen Labā€™s research into targeted digital espionage against civil society, outlining major cases that have received international attention and have prompted scandals in countries such as Greece, Spain and Mexico.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-18.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p>In her work, Hložek uses statistical methods and precise observations to answer cosmic questions.</p> <p>ā€œIā€™m interested in what the universe is made of, how itā€™s changing over time and then eventually how itā€™s going to end,ā€ she said.</p> <p>Hložek presented some of the observations used to put together the puzzle pieces of the universe and emphasized the importance of telescopes in her research.</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2022-11-30-Big-Ideas-at-U-of-T---Connaught_Polina-Teif-4.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p>The presentations were followed by a roundtable discussion hosted by broadcast journalist Mary Ito. Audience members had a chance to ask questions and the researchers discussed the importance of university research and the next big ideas to influence our society.</p> <p>ā€œIā€™m really encouraged by the growth of the field which Iā€™m a part of,ā€ said Deibert. ā€œWe are seeing a healthy community worldwide of people who are involved in this type of digital accountability work. The hope I have is that the field continues to grow.ā€</p> <p>ā€œI think itā€™s a responsibility of the universities to do this type of public accountability research.ā€</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 12 Dec 2022 19:15:26 +0000 mattimar 178483 at