...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.
The Gustav Bakos Observatory houses a twelve-inch telescope, which is located on the roof of the Physics building. The observatory, in operation since 1967, has been used for research on and teaching about visual binary stars.
News
XRISM early science data release
The XRISM early science data release features early science data of WCA's Brian McNamara and co-workers. An x-ray spectrum of the Perseus Cluster core shows off the capabilities of the Resolve instrument onboard XRISM.
WCA Outreach 2023: By the numbers
2023 was a big year for outreach in the WCA!
In the last year the WCA's outreach program has expanded into several new areas. Find out what we've been up to!
XRISM has launched!
The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), and the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), were sucessfully launched onboard the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 47 (H-IIA F47) at 8:42:11 am on September 7, 2023 (Japan Standard Time, JST)/ 7:42:11 pm on September 6, 2023 (EDT) from the Tanegashima Space Center.
Events
Astroseminar - Juna Kollmeier - VIA ZOOM
Kollmeier joined the staff at Carnegie Institution for Science in 2008 and is the Founding Director of the Carnegie Theoretical Astrophysics Center. In 2017 she assumed the position of Director of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Phase 5 (SDSS-V) which is a robotic spectroscopic exploration of the sky in optical and near-IR bands. From 2021-2024 she was the Director of Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA).
Astroseminar - Shokoufeh Faraji - IN PERSON
Shokoufeh Faraji is a Postdoc in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Waterloo Center for Astrophysics at the University of Waterloo. She finished her PhD at ZARM Institute at the University of Bremen, Germany. Her research areas include but not limited to the general theory of relativity, accretion discs, and quasi-periodic oscillations with (semi-) analytical methods.
Astroseminar - Niko Šarčević - IN PERSON
Niko Šarčević is a cosmologist working at Newcastle University, and is part of the LSST DESC. Her research focuses on modelling and mitigating the intrinsic alignment of galaxies in weak lensing measurements. Niko is also interested in the statistical problems for late-time cosmology.