RASC Vancouver Monthly Meeting - at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre

Join us for our monthly meeting. All of our monthly meetings are free and open to the public. Please note this event takes place on Friday, September 19th.

Please obtain free tickets here (we only have them to track attendance and make sure we don't run out of seats!): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rasc-vancouver-monthly-meeting-at-hr-macmillan-space-centre-tickets-1677106062379

Location: H.R. MacMillan Space Centre Auditorium (Basement Level)

Topic: Bringing the Night Sky to Life: The Vera Rubin Observatory

Speaker: Brett Gladman

Bio: Professor Brett Gladman's astronomical career has been heavily involved with studying moving objects in the Solar System. Having worked in the United States, France, and Canada, he has used many of the world's best telescopes. He is currently a professor of astronomy at the University of British Columbia.

Abstract: Historically, astronomers have explored to Solar System and more distant universe in two ways. The first is to peer at a tiny fraction of the night sky where some object of interest is, but then what is happening elsewhere remains undetected. Alternately, a very large fraction (or all) of the night sky is 'surveyed', but due to the vast area of the sky, there are only a few different times a given location is observed; this results in an inability to see how things might be changing in time. A major leap forward is about to occur in astronomy with the start of the 'Legacy Survey of Space and Time' (LSST) that is about to begin using the newly constructed Vera Rubin telescope in Chile. This large (8-meter class) telescope has the goal of imaging the ENTIRE visible night sky (from Chile) during a 3-day interval and then repeating over and over again.This will essentially generate a 'movie in time' of the night sky with a 3-day cadence to much fainter depths than have been ever been possible. I will discuss some of the scientific goals that will be made possible by this unique facility.

About our Events:

All RASC lectures and observing events are open to the public, family friendly, and there is no charge for admission. Our organization is run entirely by volunteers who love astronomy and astrophysics. Whether you're a complete beginner, a seasoned astronomer, or you hope to work for NASA some day, anyone fascinated by space exploration is welcome and will enjoy our events