Past Colloquia
From Accretion to Architecture: Giant Planets Across Space and Time
Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
April 29, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Planets exhibit extraordinary diversity in physical properties and orbital architectures, spanning more than four orders of magnitude in mass, separation, and age. Interpreting this landscape is challenging as observational biases and orbital migration obscure the pathways of planet formation and evolution across both space and…
What did ancient astronomers know? When and how did they acquire this knowledge? How did they understand the universe?
Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
Laurie Rousseau-Nepton, University of Toronto
April 22, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Recently, I have studied the astronomical design of two medicine wheels (MW) stone circles, one in Alberta, known as the Majorville/Iniskim Umaapi site and the other in Wyoming, the Bighorn MW. Although their Astronomical purpose is still debated, I hope to shed some light into…
The First Billion Years, According to JWST
Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street, Room AB107
Prof. Seiji Fujimoto and Prof. Pratika Dayal, University of Toronto
April 08, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has rapidly transformed our view of galaxy and black hole formation within the first billion years of cosmic history, revealing a population of surprisingly luminous, chemically evolved galaxies and abundant accreting black holes at very early times. These…
Lessons from the JWST for Star and Galaxy Formation in the Early Universe
Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
Volker Bromm, Department of Astronomy, UT Austi
April 01, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
The JWST has revolutionized our understanding of star and galaxy formation during the first billion years of cosmic history. Among the main surprises is the abundance of UV-bright, massive galaxies already at these early times. An even bigger puzzle is the presence of supermassive black…
Young Stars and Planetary-Mass Objects in the Solar Neighborhood
Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
Prof. Jonathan Gagne
March 25, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
I will present our recent efforts to discover and characterize nearby young stellar associations, and how we leverage them to identify new isolated planetary-mass objects (“planemos”). Because planemos are not overwhelmed by the bright light of a host star, they provide ideal laboratories for characterizing…
The Properties of the Earliest Galaxies: What are we learning from JWST?
Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
Casey Papovich, Texas A&M University
March 18, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
JWST has transformed our ability to understand the properties of the first stars and galaxies that formed in the universe following the Big Bang. These objects are important because they provide the first ionizing radiation in the universe. As this radiation permeates from the galaxies…
Why do we do astrophysics?
Prof. David W. Hogg, New York University
March 11, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: Currently, large language models (LLMs) are beginning to obtain the ability to design, execute, write up, and referee scientific projects on the data science side of astrophysics. What implications does this have for our profession? In this talk, I will discuss—and argue for—a set…
The Science of Finding “Intelligent” Life in the Universe
Room 150, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, 144 College St Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Pinchen Fan, Penn State University
March 05, 2026
7:00pm - 8:00pm
AstroTours Presents: The Science of Finding “Intelligent” Life in the Universe Since the dawn of our civilization, humanity has looked beyond the horizon, driven by curiosity and a desire to find company in this vast universe. Throughout history, we have developed new technologies to travel…
South Pole Telescope-selected protoclusters and the early emergence of hot cluster atmospheres
AB107, Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
Prof. Scott Chapman, Dalhousie University
February 11, 2026
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: The South Pole Telescope (SPT) has discovered a large sample of millimetre point sources in the 2500 deg^2 SPT-SZ survey, and the recently completed ‘SPT-3G’ third generation survey has dramatically expanded this sample through almost 5x deeper surveys. Follow-up observations with ALMA show that…
Astro backpack2Briefcase Panel Discussion
Sid Smith 1084
Professional Alumni Panel
February 04, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Are you an undergrad in Astronomy & Astrophysics wondering what life looks like beyond academia? Join us for a special Astro backpack2Briefcase Panel Discussion—an event specifically designed for Astro undergrads to illuminate career paths outside of academia. Hear from accomplished alumni who leapt straight from their…