Victoria Silman | Assistant News Editor
Featured Image: The telescope will the largest on campus, allowing viewers to see much further into outer space. | Fatema Ali
In November, York staff and students can expect (with much anticipation) a new telescope for their space-viewing pleasure. The telescope, developed by PlaneWave Instruments—a California-based telescope engineering company—has been under construction since November 2017, and will be delivered and installed in November of this year.
According to the director of the Allan I. Carswell Observatory, Professor Paul Delaney, the telescope is going to be much larger than the ones in the current collection, allowing for a better view of space.
“We currently have 40 cm and 60 cm reflecting telescopes, as well as a small cluster of more portable telescopes. The new telescope will be 100 cm—or one metre—and capable of collecting nearly three times as much light as our 60 cm telescope and six times more light than our 40 cm telescope,” he explains.
“In astronomy, light gathering power is critical to see fainter objects and discern more detail. The 100 cm telescope should be quite amazing in what it can see! Bright objects can be very far away and faint objects can be deceivingly close.
“The one metre will allow us to see fainter objects in general— galaxies, for example—and thus reach further into space and further back in time. The detail we will see will also be much higher and improved,” he says.
As for the location of the telescope, Delaney says: “We are using one of the existing domes on campus, formerly the home of the 40 cm telescope. While this may sound strange, the new telescope, while having a larger mirror, is an optically faster and somewhat more compact type of telescope, and the seven-metre diameter Ash Dome is more than large enough to accommodate it.”
The public is able to attend viewings in the observatory, and with the arrival of the new instalment, a wider outreach is expected. “The plan has always been to use the new telescope for public outreach to the York community and the Toronto community in general. Our Wednesday Public Viewing nights, Monday Online Public viewing, booked tours, and undergraduate courses in astronomy will all be supported by the one metre telescope,” Delaney says.
Approximately 20 undergraduate students run the tours and presentations. As Delaney explains: “I think of them as science ambassadors, enlightening everyone who visits of the joys and wonder of astronomy. They get lots of time to use the telescopes for their own use, and this will not change when the one metre telescope commences operation.
“These students also get a taste of astronomy research, enhancing their own studies and helping them decide if a future in research and/or astronomy is for them. Some even get a chance to author scientific papers while still in their undergrad,” he continues.
Public viewings are free, and occur every Wednesday between 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. from April to September, and 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. from October to March. In addition, online viewings are made available every Monday from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and, according to the website, allows viewers to “see live images from four telescopes/cameras and chat with the staff who will be more than happy to answer your questions.”
As for scheduled tours, Delaney says: “Any tour requests should be sent to our website, and we will discuss what type of tour experience they want and when. Best of all, there is no charge for these activities.”
