...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
WCA-KPL Public Talk - CASTOR: Canada's Flagship Space Telescope (Cam Morgan)
Canada has made significant contributions ever since the early days of space-based astronomy, and now the prospect of a flagship Canadian-led space telescope as a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is alive and well. At this month's KPL astronomy talk, Cam Morgan will speak about the CASTOR mission, an ultra-violet telescope that promises to compliment other cutting-edge missions, such as Euclid and the Roman Space Telescope, throughout the 2030s.
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.
Astroseminar - Lucas Valenzuela - IN PERSON
Lucas Valenzuela is interested in galaxy formation and evolution, and how present-day properties of galaxies can be used as indicators for their formation history. To study these, he works on cosmological hydrodynamical simulations and models of globular clusters and planetary nebulae, which he also uses to compare with observations.