2024 is drawing to a close, and it's been a big year for outreach in the WCA!
The centrepiece of the WCA's community outreach program is the Astro-Bubble, our portable inflatable planetarium, which we bring to local schools to teach young people about planets, constellations, black holes, and how astronomers have studied the night sky throughout history.
In September we hit a major milestone, as the 5,000th person took part in an Astro-Bubble show since it was launched in November 2022! This capped off a very busy 12 months: over the 2023-24 school year, WCA members shared the Astro-Bubble with over 4,000 students from 23 local schools, both on-campus and in the community -- a huge achievement.
That's not all though! Here, we've taken a look back at some of the other highlights of the WCA's public outreach program over 2023-24:
28th October 2023: Kids' Science Open House
The 2023-24 academic year started off with Kids' Science Open House, when thousands of members of the public visited the Waterloo campus to learn about the science happening at UW.
Several hundred of these took a trip through the Solar System inside the Astro-Bubble, kicking off a bumper year in which we ran some 170 planetarium shows!
11th November 2023: PhysiX: Girls Matter
Every year the Department of Physics and Astronomy opens up for PhysiX, an event dedicated to teaching Grade 7-8 girls and non-binary people about physics.
Members of the WCA showed off the Astro-Bubble to attendees, spoke to them about being an astronomer, and taught them how to use telescopes (which is harder than it sounds!).
28th February 2024: Dr. Brian McNamara at Kitchener Library
On the final Wednesday of each month, WCA members share their research with an open audience at Kitchener Public Library, through the WCA-KPL astronomy seminar series. A highlight of the year was our February event, when UW's Chair of Physics Dr. Brian McNamara gave a fabulous seminar on the Biggest Black Holes in the Universe.
Our Astronomy on Tap events have also continued to run throughout the year, where a mix of grad students, researchers and faculty have shared their research (and a beer!) in a cozy local spot.
8th April 2024: Total solar eclipse
Undoubtedly the astronomical event of the year was the total solar eclipse, visible in April across Mexico, the US, and Eastern Canada. We celebrated with dedicated WCA-KPL and Astronomy on Tap nights, eclipse-themed Astro-Bubble shows, and our wonderful cross-disciplinary "Eclipse Perspectives" event, supported by researchers from the departments of English, Mathematics, Environment and Optometry.
Our preparation culminated with an eclipse viewing party in Niagara on April 8th, which was a fantastic occasion, even though the weather wasn't quite as we'd hoped. Not a problem though -- we'll try again in 2144!
10th August 2024: Solar System Scavenger Hunt
The warm summer months brought astrophysics to Victoria Park in Kitchener, where our pop-up Solar System Scavenger Hunt could be found for one day only on August 10th.
Local families put on their explorer hats and walking boots, and searched for the planets of our Solar System, scaled down 30 billion times smaller and scattered throughout the park.
12th August 2024: Perseids meteor shower
We wrapped up the year with the annual Perseids meteor shower watch party on the North edge of the Waterloo campus. WCA postdoctoral researcher Dr. Liza Sazonova gave an extremely well-received lecture on the history of astronomy, from 300,000 years ago to the present day.
Hundreds of eager stargazers then headed out to watch for meteors, and hear from members of the KW Astronomical Society about the astronomical objects visible above us. Clear skies, and a great show!
What's next?
Almost 5,500 people have taken part in outreach activities run by the WCA over the last 12 months, and we can't wait to share astronomy and astrophysics with even more people over the next year. The WCA has more public lectures, stargazing nights, Astro-Bubble shows and other events coming up in 2024-25, so look out for those!
You can stay up to date with our public outreach events through the WCA website, as well as through our Instagram and LinkedIn pages.