Past Colloquia
WST – The Wide Field Spectroscopic Survey Telescope * Special Date/Time/Location*
MP137
Prof. Roland Bacon, Observatoire De Lyon
November 06, 2025
3:00pm - 4:00pm
Summary: The WST project aims to design and construct an innovative 10-metre class wide-field spectroscopic survey telescope (WST) in the southern hemisphere. It will feature the parallel operation of two cutting-edge instruments: a high-multiplex (30,000), large field-of-view (3 square degrees) multi-object spectrograph (MOS) operating in…
Hot rocks and host stars: terrestrial exoplanets and the M dwarfs they orbit
CodyHall AB88
Dr. Hannah Diamond-Lowe
October 22, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: Exoplanets outnumber stars in the Milky Way, and small worlds with radii less than 4x Earth’s radius are the most common. Despite being all around us, terrestrial exoplanets are the most difficult planetary type to study because they produce small signals with techniques we…
New Insights from Polarized Images of Black Holes
Cody Hall, 50 St. George Street
Andrew Chael, Princeton
October 15, 2025
Abstract: Relativistic jets throughout the universe transport energy from small scales near a galaxy’s central supermassive black hole to extragalactic distances. These jets may be powered by the spin energy of the black hole via the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) mechanism; however, BZ energy extraction has not…
“Is There a Significant Hubble Tension?”
Cody Hall
Prof. Wendy Freedman, University of Chicago
October 01, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
The question of whether there is new physics beyond our current standard model, Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) remains an unresolved issue in cosmology today. Recent measurements of the Hubble constant (Ho) using Cepheids and Type Ia supernovae (SNe) appear to differ significantly, with claims…
Special Seminar: “Dust obscured galaxies and AGN — new insights from JWST data
MP1318A
Prof. Anna Sajina, Tufts University
September 30, 2025
11:00am - 12:00pm
DADDAA Seminar with Prof. Anna Sajina Title: “Dust obscured galaxies and AGN — new insights from JWST data” Abstract: I will start with a broad overview of the importance of dust obscured galaxies and AGN and the role of mid-infrared observations in their study. I will…
Measuring H0 and dark energy with DESI
AB107
Prof. Will Percival
September 24, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is the first of a new generation of Dark Energy experiments, and probes evolution in the universe using galaxy clustering. Within the galaxy clustering signal, the projected location of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) acts as a standard ruler…
DADDAA & Dunlap Institute Astronomy Jamboree
MS4171
Various UofT Astro Community Members
September 17, 2025
4:00PM
Join us for an engaging gathering where our graduate students, postdocs, and faculty will each be given a brief opportunity to share their exciting work and research aims with one another. 📅 Wednesday, September 17 🕓 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM 📍 Medical Sciences Building (MS4171)
Steacie Prize for Natural Sciences: Lecture by Professor Jo Bovy
May 07, 2025
The Milky Way in the era of large surveys For over a hundred years, the Milky Way has been the nexus between many fields of astrophysics, linking together investigations into the formation of planetary systems and stars to studies of galactic evolution, cosmology, and…
Models and Software Infrastructure for Galaxy Cluster-based Cosmology
Cody Hall
Camille Avestruz, University of Michigan
April 30, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: Galaxy clusters are visible across the electromagnetic spectrum. Observations of their structure, abundance, and evolution provide constraints to cosmology and astrophysical processes that govern their growth. We are in a golden age of statistical power for galaxy clusters, where observations will provide multiwavelength data for tens…
Near, far, wherever you are: Dwarf galaxies across a range of distances and resolutions
Cody Hall
Mia de los Reyes, Amherst College
April 23, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Abstract: Low-mass “dwarf” galaxies were probably the first galaxies in the universe to form, and they are the most numerous type of galaxy today. However, due to dwarf galaxies’ low luminosities, much of our understanding of low-mass galaxy evolution has been based on the dwarf galaxies…