...where the Universe is our laboratory.
The Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics (WCA) looks to the cosmos to solve the greatest mysteries of the universe. Here, world-class researchers and students come together in an atmosphere of curiosity, creativity and collaboration; exploring our cosmic origin to truly understand the physical processes at work in the Universe. From black holes to cosmology, we aim to understand what lies beyond the Earth. The possibilities for new discovery are limitless.
News
Prof. Robert Mann elected to Royal Society of Canada
Prof Robert Mann has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Roman Telescope launches
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the start of a landmark mission to explore dark energy, dark matter, and distant exoplanets. The observatory lifted off on August 30, 2026, and is now traveling toward the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, roughly one million miles from Earth.
How an Oddball Hot Jupiter Is Reshaping What We Know About Planets Beyond Our Solar System
A distant, scorching planet with its hot spot in the wrong place has puzzled astronomers for nearly a decade. New research led in part by the Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics's Assistant Professor Lisa Dang and her PhD student Ying (Zoe) Shu has turned up the strongest evidence yet for what's behind it, and a hint that our models of these extreme worlds may need to change.
Image credit: Artistic impression of CoRoT-2b | Keith Miller (Caltech/IPAC - SELab)
Events
Astroseminar - Skylar Grayson
"Feedback Mechanisms and Diffuse Gas: What Can We Learn from Hydrodynamic Simulations?"
Skylar Grayson is a postdoctoral fellow at the Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics. Her research focuses on understanding how feedback from active galactic nuclei impacts diffuse gas reservoirs around galaxies. . Beyond research, she is currently serving as the Outreach Coordinator for the WCA and does science communication on social media with her “Space According to Skylar” accounts.
WCA-KPL Public talk — From One Galaxy to Trillions: A History of Extragalactic Astronomy (Skylar Grayson)
A hundred years ago, astronomers believed the Milky Way to be the only galaxy in the Universe. In this month's KPL astronomy talk, Skylar Grayson will take us on an adventure through history, exploring how the discoveries of the early 20th century expanded our understanding of the scale of the Universe, and created the new scientific field of extragalactic astronomy. We'll learn about the cutting edge research happening in that field today, and the ways in which anyone can contribute to actual scientific research!