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On Wednesday January 14th, 2026 we will hold our first monthly meeting of the year by ***Zoom only***.
NO inperson meeting and NO dinner at the pub beforehand.
The zoom link will be send out a few days in advance of the meeting. This meeting will be recorded and made available on our Youtube channel in the days after.
Agenda
- Welcome and Announcements
- Feature Presentation: Dr. Gerald Schieven
Title: Observing the Cold Universe with ALMA
Bio: Dr. Gerald Schieven, a native of southwestern Ontario, got his MS in Physics at Queen’s University and his PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, before returning to Queen’s for his first post-doc/faculty position. He then moved to the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (Pasadena, CA), the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (Penticton, BC), and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (Hawaii), before moving in 2008 to the Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre in Victoria to manage Canada’s involvement with the ALMA Observatory. Gerald has been a member of the RASC since 1975. In addition to stargazing, Gerald is an avid gardener and sings in the chorus of Pacific Opera Victoria.
Title: Observing the Cold Universe with ALMA
Abstract:
Much of the universe is *very* cold, more than 100 degrees below zero Celsius, and cannot be seen by even giant optical or infrared telescopes like Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope. Instead, we need specially designed telescopes that can detect the cold universe. In this talk we’ll learn about how we can detect cold matter, Canada’s pioneering work in this field, and finally the Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array (ALMA), a giant telescope in northern Chile, what it's like to work there, and some of the really cool stuff it’s discovered.
- 5 minute break
- What's Up in the Sky, Rick Wagner
- Members Reports (If you would like to present a member's report after the break, please let us know.)