Past Colloquia
From Pixels to Parameters
Cody Hall
Prof. Stephen Portillo, Concordia University
September 27, 2023
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Much of astronomy uses pixelized data, but the size and complexity of these data often strain the capability of existing data analysis techniques. I will present algorithms built on advances in statistics and machine learning that allow more science to be done with the same…
U of T Astronomy Jamboree
BA 1130
Various Speakers from UofT Astro Units
September 20, 2023
2:00pm - 4:00pm
More information coming soon.
Transcending the Limits of Astrostatistics with Machine Learning Methods
Virtual Colloquium
Yuan-Sen Ting, Australian National University
April 11, 2023
9:00 am - 10:00am
Astronomy has undergone a profound transformation in recent years, as the acquisition of ever-growing amounts of data through increasingly powerful instruments has opened up a wealth of new avenues of exploration. However, this boon is not without its own set of challenges, as astronomical observations…
Astro Colloquium: Witnessing the Universe with ACT
Cody Hall
Suzanne Staggs
March 29, 2023
3:00pm - 4:00pm
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) made measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) for fifteen years, with a series of three cameras. ACT was designed to complement Planck, the latest and most sensitive CMB satellite. To compete with the powerful data set provided from a …
DADDAA Faculty Search: “Atomic Gas in Nearby Galaxies as a Cosmological Probe”
AB88
Dr. Kristine Spekkens
March 28, 2023
2:00pm - 3:30pm
The atomic gas (HI) content of nearby galaxies provides important insight into how they form and evolve within the standard cosmology. In this talk, I will highlight some of my group’s recent progress towards building statistical samples of HI detections for nearby galaxies to use…
Astro Colloquium: The formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes. Early results from JWST.
Cody Hall
Prof. Tommaso Treu, UCLA
March 22, 2023
3:00pm - 4:00pm
In just a few months, JWST has revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Its unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution have given us a new view of the cosmos, enabling new discoveries in many areas of astronomy. I will describe first results from my GLASS-JWST Early…
Astro Colloquium: Fast flares and furious transients: exploring the deep, high-speed sky
Cody Hall
Nick Law
March 15, 2023
3:00pm - 4:00pm
Current sky-survey telescopes’ limited fields of view hinder the rapid detection of rare fast events, including superflares capable of rendering exoplanets uninhabitable, fast stellar dips from Oort-cloud occultations, and electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves. I will discuss the impacts of stellar superflares on planet habitability…
DADDAA Faculty Search: “From Blips to Bits: FRB cosmology, Radio Cameras, and Astroinformatics”
UC179
Dr. Liam Connor
March 09, 2023
2:00pm - 3:30pm
Modern radio telescopes have seen tremendous gains in sensitivity, field of view, and frequency bandwidth, thanks largely to advances in signal processing. This has allowed us to uncover entirely new source classes, such as fast radio bursts (FRBs). Beyond the mystery of their origin, FRBs…
Astrophysical Lessons from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA’s Black Holes
Cody Hall
Prof. Maya Fishbach
February 15, 2023
3:00pm - 4:00pm
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration has observed over 70 gravitational-wave sources to date, including mergers between black holes, neutron stars, and mixed neutron star—black holes. Focusing on the black hole mergers, I will describe some recent lessons into how, when, and where black holes are made. These…
Milky Way Stellar Stream Heating
AB107, 50 St. George Street
Raymond Carlberg, University of Toronto
January 25, 2023
3:00pm - 4:00pm
A key prediction of LCDM is that galactic halos are filled with sub-halos orbiting within them, whereas warm dark matter models would have few. Studies of individual Milky Way star streams find evidence of a few sub-halos, but the sub-halo population properties are unclear. Current…