Events are free for members and by donation for guests / non-members unless otherwise noted.
UPCOMING DATES:
April 27: Regular Meeting, 6:30pm at the Whitehorse Public Library.
Kipp Cannon will talk about “Listening to Space: the Unusual but Familiar World of Gravitational-Wave Astronomy”: When masses are accelerated, a wave of gravity, of space time distortion, is created. The wave moves away from the sources through the Universe at the speed of light, just like an electromagnetic wave generated by an antenna, and a very sensitive strain meter can detect the warping of space as the gravitational wave passes by. And so, by building what is essentially an extraordinarily sensitive microphone we find that we can hear black holes colliding far away in the Universe. This is gravitational-wave astronomy: instead of looking, we listen. I’ll speak about the history of gravitational-wave astronomy, about the various antennas we use today and the facilities being constructed for the future. I’ll talk about some of the discoveries that have been made already, and what future discoveries to listen for as we search farther out into the Universe.
May 25: Regular Meeting, 6:30pm at CPAWS Yukon (301 Hawkins St #101). Topic TBD.
June ?: Regular Meeting.
July ?: Regular Meeting.
August ?: Regular Meeting.
August ?: Into Darkness Star Party.
Don’t see a date that works for you? We have limited availability for private tours. See Bookings.
REGULAR PROGRAMMING:
Night at the Observatory: Public open night. Join us for night sky observing at the observatory. Everyone from the beginner to the expert welcome. Bring your own telescope or binoculars, or learn how to use one of ours. Night at the Observatory will resume in September.
Regular Meeting: We meet to socialize and discuss astronomy. The meeting usually includes a talk or lecture.
Observers Night: For observers to come do some observing (or to chat about observing if the weather is not cooperative). We will usually meet at the Observatory, but occasionally we may meet at another location. You are expected to be an observer (learning or advanced). This is not a public open night. Observers Night will resume in September.
Star Party: In August and March we hold a “star party” event. Over two evenings we gather for night sky observing, weather permitting. Most often each evening will also feature some event, e.g a talk or a space-related movie, that will happen weather regardless.
HOW TO GET TO THE OBSERVATORY:
See the Observatory page.