TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2025 – How galaxies assemble their stars and grow over billions of years remains one of the central questions in astronomy. Recent results from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), including reports of surprisingly massive and evolved galaxies in the early Universe, have only deepened the mystery. Understanding how our own home galaxy, the Milky Way, built itself over time provides a crucial piece of this broader cosmic puzzle.

led by 91��ɫ PhD graduate Vivian Tan, who studied under the supervision of Faculty of Science Associate Professor Adam Muzzin, provides the most detailed reconstruction yet of how the Milky Way may have evolved from its earliest phases to the structured spiral we see today. Tan and her colleagues examined 877 “Milky Way twins” — galaxies whose masses and properties closely match what astronomers expect the Milky Way would have looked like at different ages across cosmic time. By observing more distant, and therefore progressively younger examples of these galactic look-alikes, the team effectively charted a timeline of our galaxy’s life, with surprising results. Our Milky Way’s history started from a remarkably tumultuous youth before its more settled adulthood.

The findings were recently published in The Astrophysical Journal and were undertaken with the financial support of the Canadian Space Agency.

Rewinding the Milky Way’s cosmic clock

The galaxies in the sample span a remarkable range of cosmic time, from when the Universe was just 1.5 billion years old (12.3 billion years ago) to 10 billion years old (3.5 billion years ago). This period covers as far back as when the Universe was only 10 per cent its current age, a crucial epoch when galaxies transformed from small, irregular systems into the stable disk galaxies familiar today.

To carry out this work, the team combined high-resolution imaging from JWST and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The JWST observations come from the Canadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS), a major Canadian observing program that uses five massive galaxy clusters as natural gravitational lenses. These clusters magnify background galaxies, revealing faint structures that would otherwise be too distant and too dim to study in detail.

CANUCS takes advantage of Canada’s hardware contributions to the JWST mission through the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument, built for the mission by the Canadian Space Agency in partnership with the Université de Montréal, the National Research Council Herzberg Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Honeywell. In return, Canadian astronomers received valuable guaranteed observing time on JWST, including the data that enabled this study.

Building galaxies from the inside out

JWST’s exceptional spatial resolution allowed the researchers to create detailed maps of the stellar mass and star formation activity across each galaxy. These maps show where stars were already in place and where new stars were forming at different phases in a galaxy’s life.

Across the entire sample, the results point to a clear pattern: galaxies like our Milky Way grow from the inside out. The earliest Milky Way twins are dominated by dense, compact central regions. Over time, their outer parts — the regions that will later become the disk — rapidly gain mass and become the primary sites of star formation. This gradual expansion outward creates the extended spiral structures we see in present-day galaxies.

“Astronomers have been modeling the formation of the Milky Way and other spiral galaxies for decades,” says lead author Tan. “It's amazing that with the JWST, we can test their models and map out how Milky Way progenitors grow with the Universe itself."

Turbulent teenage years

The most exciting results of the study also reveal that young Milky Way-like galaxies lived through far more chaotic conditions than their older, more evolved counterparts. The youngest, most distant systems show highly disturbed shapes, asymmetric features, and evidence of frequent galaxy–galaxy interactions and mergers. These disturbances are signatures of a dynamic environment where galaxies were constantly colliding, accreting material, and triggering intense bursts of star formation.

By contrast, the Milky Way twins at later cosmic times appear much more stable and orderly. Their structures are smoother, their star formation is more evenly distributed, and signs of major interactions become far less common. Overall, they point to a more chaotic past for our Galaxy than we had expected.

Comparing observations and simulations

Tan and her collaborators compared their observations to state-of-the-art computer simulations that track the evolution of Milky Way–like galaxies. The simulations broadly agree with the observed inside-out growth and early clumpy, merger-driven activity. However, they sometimes fail to reproduce the high central compactness seen in the earliest galaxies, and they underestimate how quickly mass accumulates in the outer regions between 8 and 11 billion years ago.

These differences provide important constraints on feedback, merger rates, and disk formation models, and highlight the need to refine theoretical predictions in the era of JWST.

Building on Webb’s early insights

This study marks a significant milestone for Canada’s growing leadership in JWST galaxy research. With NIRISS and CANUCS continuing to deliver exceptionally deep, high-resolution data, astronomers will be turning to even larger samples of Milky Way–like systems and extending their analysis to include gas content, dust, and kinematic structure.

“This study is a significant step forward in understanding the earliest stages of the formation of our Galaxy,” says Muzzin, co-author of the study. “However, this is not the deepest we have pushed the telescope yet.  In the coming years, with the combination of JWST and gravitational lensing we can move from observing Milky Way twins at 10 per cent their current age to when they are a mere 3 per cent of their current age, truly the embryonic stages of their formation.”

Other co-authors from 91��ɫ are Ghassan Sarrouh, Visal Sok, Naadiyah Jagga, and Westley Brown. Other co-authors include researchers from the University of Toronto, the University of Ljubljana, Saint Mary’s University, Kyoto University, the University of Groningen, Columbia University, Wellesley College, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and the National Research Council Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Centre.

This team and several international teams already have future JWST observations scheduled to do this. Combined with updated simulations, they will help determine precisely when galaxies like our Milky Way settle into stable disks, how long turbulent phases last, and what physical processes drive the transition between them. By expanding this work, the team aims to build an increasingly complete picture of how galaxies like our own assembled their stars and evolved from the early Universe to the present day.

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91��ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91��ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. �۴ǰ���’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:

Emina Gamulin, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

Nathalie Ouellette, JWST Outreach Scientist, Université de Montréal,  nathalie@astro.umontreal.ca

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Director of 91��ɫ U’s Allan I Carswell Observatory available to speak to media on astronomical events 

TORONTO, Mar. 11, 2025 – This month, the Allan I Carswell Observatory at 91��ɫ is looking forward to not one but two special celestial events. Director Elaina Hyde is available to speak to media on the significance of these events, best times and places for viewing and public viewing opportunities. The observatory also invites members of the public to join them for their Wednesday night viewing sessions.

Thursday March 13: Total Lunar eclipse, visible across Canada 

Eclipses on Earth come in two main sorts, lunar and solar eclipses. Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon moves into Earth's shadow: Sun-Earth-Moon. Starting on March 13 just before midnight going into the 14th, a total lunar eclipse will occur and will be visible across the entire country. 

“This lunar eclipse is truly an event for everyone,” says Hyde, also an associate professor in the Faculty of Science, Physics and Astronomy department. “Since this eclipse is a large event, covering the entire moon, it does not need any special equipment to be able to see it – you can view it nearly anywhere if the skies are clear, However, you will always get a better show if you can get out to a park or dark sky site.” 

The Observatory will be posting images from across Ontario, , clear skies permitting. 

Sunday March 23: The disappearing and reappearing rings of Saturn

In an event called a “ring plane crossing” Saturn's famous rings, one of the most popular views in all of astronomy, will appear to disappear starting on March 23. “Saturn's rings are very thin compared to the planet itself,” explains Hyde. “The rings will be very close to exactly aligned to Earth in an 'edge on' position, since both Earth and Saturn have a tilt to their planetary axis.” 

Hyde says the rings will slowly start to become visible again in April. 

Hyde is available to speak on:

• Lunar versus solar eclipses 
• The relative rarity of these cosmic events, how and where to view them
• Safety tips 
• What astronomers will be looking out for
• Why scientists believe Saturn’s rings really will disappear one day 

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About 91��ɫ:

91��ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91��ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. �۴ǰ���’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact: Emina Gamulin, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

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CTV News reports on a new study by Professor Sapna Sharma and Postdoctoral Fellow Joshua Culpepper. The study has found that warmer winter weather has impacted the quality of lake ice, making Canada’s frozen rivers and lakes potentially treacherous for skaters, hockey players, snowmobilers, ice anglers and others. Total ice thickness has been getting thinner over time, with less black ice being formed, causing unstable and unsafe conditions. "" says Sharma.

Professor Vijay Setlur comments on the Argonauts' uncertain future with Rogers gaining control of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment with an acquisition — pending approval — from Bell. "Rogers is a quintessential Canadian company, yet ," Setlur tells Toronto Star.

Professor Yvonne Su writes about rising xenophobia, fuelled by false narratives about immigrants, in an op-ed for Toronto Star. "We have to ask ourselves — who benefits from this rhetoric? The answer is no one. Blaming migrants for crimes doesn't make us safer; it distracts from the real issues of inequality, underfunded public services, and the need for affordable housing. ," says Su. In a separate op-ed for The Conversation, Su writes, ": it legitimizes discrimination, dehumanizes immigrants — especially racialized people — and often turns them into scapegoats for broader societal problems and collective anger."

Blaming migrants for crimes doesn't make us safer; it distracts from the real issues of inequality, underfunded public services, and the need for affordable housing.

Su writes for The Conversation

Following comments by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accusing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh of supporting the government until February so that he can become eligible for his MP pension, Professor Shanker Trivedi for CBC, saying Poilievre's pension is much larger than Singh's because he's been an MP for over 20 years. Singh has been in the House of Commons for almost six years.

Professor Alison Macpherson weighs in on a study that found kids started walking and biking to school more after the proliferation of clean air zones — designated regions within a city where vehicles must meet strict pollution standards or pay a fee to operate within them. In London, which has the largest ultra-low emissions zone in the world, two out of every five students in the study switched from "passive" to "active" ways of getting to school, reports Grist. "Walking and biking and scootering to school is ," says Macpherson.

Professor and Dean of the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design Sarah Bay-Cheng and a former student (BFA '24) pen an op-ed for The Conversation about the future of moviegoing, a topic of debate at the Toronto International Film Festival Industry conference. Despite declining box office sales, . This is a demographic that values immersive, multi-sensory experiences. The future of cinema may rely on blending traditional moviegoing with new, embodied experiences to attract audiences.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explicitly ruled government intervention in the Air Canada labour dispute. It's perhaps unsurprising then that the airline reached a tentative agreement with the pilots’ union on Sunday.  In an op-ed for The Globe and Mail, Professor Steven Tufts wrote about Air Canada misjudging the government's willingness to refer negotiations to arbitration to avoid a strike. " — and politicians know it," writes Tufts. In an article by The Canadian Press, Professor David J. Doorey weighs in on in sectors like transportation during this era of increased strike activity, and union power and popularity.

Tufts writes in The Globe and Mail

In an op-ed for The Conversation, Professor Jack L. Rozdilsky writes about Donald Trump being the target of an alleged second assassination attempt. "With this second act of political violence directed towards Trump, to begin to interpret this troubling turn of events," writes Rozdilsky.

Professor Paul Delaney speaks to CTV News about Comet C/2023 A3. Known as the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, it will make an appearance in the night sky this fall. Delaney says . “In and around October 15, 16, 17, in evening twilight, when the sun has set and the sky is getting somewhat darker, that’s going to be our first opportunity to see it, if it is, in fact this bright,” says Delaney. “As October stretches on, it will get more visible in darker skies.” Professor Elaina Hyde talks to Toronto Star about Tuesday night's partial lunar eclipse and supermoon. "Remember that when you look at the shadow being cast on the moon, ," says Hyde.

Do you have a new research study or an academic achievement to share? Contact media@yorku.ca with details. For daily 91��ɫ in the News highlights, follow on X.

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Former music professor Bill Westcott, who taught at 91��ɫ for over three decades, died on July 20. An accomplished and versatile pianist and composer, he was a master of ragtime and stride. Westcott came to 91��ɫ in 1979 and retired from full-time teaching in 2010. Rob Bowman, a Grammy Award-winning professor of ethnomusicology at 91��ɫ, was among Westcott's early students. "He was instrumental in my life," says Bowman. "He went the extra mile for students. He spent hours with me."

Mary Henderson, another early student of Westcott, joined a student choir he led. She says she was challenged and impressed by the range of music he chose: "We did Mozart, Gregorian chant, gospel music," she recalls. "It was incredible."

Brenna MacCrimmon, a mentee and bandmate of Westcott, says some of his former students told her, "He gave me a crappy mark, but he was my favourite prof," which she says fits with her understanding of her friend. "When he saw potential and ability in someone, he wasn't going to coddle them."

Professor Mike Cadó, a colleague of Westcott towards the end of his full-time teaching career, says he was inspired by, among other things, Westcott's unique method of demonstrating at the piano while teaching. "It was thrilling to see him play. He really drew you into the performance," he says. "It was like seeing a world-class European classical pianist. There was the same level of intensity."

Although he was a trained musician who could read music, it was not from the page, but from his body and soul. It was a great pleasure to be in the room with that.

MacCrimmon speaking to The Globe and Mail

Professor Jack L. Rozdilsky writes about the 2024 Democratic National Convention in an op-ed for The Conversation and how the fast-changing political landscape and recent political violence has reawoken , also held in Chicago. In their op-ed, Professor Idil Boran and her co-author write about how is still lacking, despite years of calls for a co-ordinated global policy. Referencing their recent paper published in the , they argue a joint work program between the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity is the best approach.

Professor Kenzie Allen is reclaiming her Indigeneity through poetry. Speaking to The Canadian Press, she says her poems are a way for her to take her Haudenosaunee identity back from those who labelled her too much or not enough. , and transmutes the British Empire into a reminiscing dude-bro desperate to hold onto his glory days.

Pilots at Air Canada have voted in favour of walking off the job as soon as mid-September. While the travel industry is seasonal, Professor Steven Tufts tells Toronto Star, adding that many pilots don’t just carry people but also cargo.

91��ɫ alumni and Canadian beach volleyball Olympic medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson confirmed .

Professor Emeritus Paul Delaney talks to CBC about . The term supermoon isn't a scientific one. It comes from astrology and refers to the moon at its perigee — the closest point of its orbit to Earth. Blue moon refers to a second full moon in a month or the fourth in one season. Both happening concurrently is what made last week's full moon a super blue. "None of these, by the way, are true astronomical terms," Delaney tells .

Everybody likes the moon. You can see detail with the unaided eye and easily with binoculars. It's a fan favourite. Poetry has been written about, stories, murder, mysteries, I mean, you name it. Everybody has got a story about the moon.

Delaney speaking to CTV News

Do you have a new research study or an academic achievement to share? Contact media@yorku.ca with details. For daily 91��ɫ in the News highlights, follow on X.

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TORONTO, March 7, 2024 – Your mother probably told you to never look at the Sun or you would go blind, but that is particularly true when it comes to the upcoming solar eclipse, says Elaina Hyde, director of 91��ɫ’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory.

Hyde, an assistant professor in �۴ǰ���’s Faculty of Science, is available for media interviews in the lead up to the eclipse to talk about what an eclipse is and how to safely view it.

Although it will only be a partial eclipse in Toronto, 99.6 per cent, it is still strong enough to cause eye damage, even blindness, if anyone looks directly at it, adds Hyde, an assistant professor in �۴ǰ���’s Faculty of Science.

For those wanting the full experience, the total eclipse will be viewable in other areas of Ontario – Niagara Falls, Hamilton and St. Catharines. In Toronto (timing varies depending on location), the partial solar eclipse will at 2:04 p.m. and end at 4:31 p.m. on April 8 with the maximum at 3:19 p.m.

“People, especially young children, may be tempted to look up during the eclipse, but it’s not safe to do so without proper protection,” says Hyde. “And, sunglasses are definitely not protective and shouldn’t be used when viewing the eclipse, but there are safe ways to do it.”

How do you look at the eclipse safely? Use solar viewing glasses, a pin hole camera or special solar filters on a telescope or binoculars.

A solar eclipse, which is fairly rare, is when the moon casts its shadow on the Earth. It is different from a lunar eclipse, which occurs when the moon moves into Earth’s shadow.

The post Safe solar and eclipse viewing tips and tricks ahead of the main event appeared first on News@91��ɫ.

TORONTO, Dec. 8, 2023 – It maybe wintertime, but the night sky is still alight with star gazing possibilities this holiday season, starting with the Geminid meteor shower.

“This winter leading up to the new year looks to be a great one for astronomy. Although it gets quite chilly in Ontario, if you wrap up carefully there are a few events this winter to look forward to,” says 91��ɫ Assistant Professor , director of the Allan I. Carswell Astronomical Observatory, who is available to comment on the last astronomical wonders of 2023.

The first sky-watching spectacle will be the Geminid meteor show, which will peak Dec. 14 and 15, and is considered one of the best displays with as many as 120 meteors (or shooting stars) per hour. It owes its name to the constellation Gemini where the shooting stars seem to originate from.

The Geminids are associated with the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, and when Earth zips through its debris trail, the resulting dust grains appear as shooting stars. There will be many chances to see this one, and although dark skies are recommended for viewing, no binoculars or telescopes are needed.

The winter solstice is up next. Anyone watching the sunrise on winter solstice may notice that the sun is quite far to the south. “This is the southernmost latitude for the sun during the day due to the 23.4-degree tilt of the Earth,” says Hyde. “After the solstice, the sun begins moving north again as it goes across the sky.”

The points between the December (winter) and June (summer) solstices are important for anyone looking to place a sundial in their backyard or solar panels, says Hyde. This year’s winter solstice is marked at 10:27 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21 with the solstice sunset at a very easy to catch 4:41 p.m. in Ontario.

The next noteworthy event is on Dec. 26 when what is known as the “Cold Moon” or full moon is in the night sky. It will be at its fullest at 7:33 p.m. in Toronto.

“Since it is the closest full moon to the winter solstice, in ancient times it would be used to mark solstice celebrations. ‘Cold Moon’ is an accurate name for the full moon on the shortest day and is a bit of ancient astronomy we can appreciate in the modern day,” says Hyde.

The full moon occurs when the sun and moon are aligned on opposite sides of Earth. When you see the full moon directly overhead in the sky, the sun is beneath your feet on the other side of the planet. Rising at 4:09 p.m. ET and setting at 7:54 a.m. ET on Dec 26, this full moon will be widely visible for the whole night and well worth gazing through a pair of binoculars, says Hyde.

That rounds up 2023 for astronomical events, but the New Year brings Earth the closest to the sun it can get – called Earth’s perihelion – at 7:38 a.m. ET on Jan. 2, 2024. At that time, Earth will be only 147,100,632 km away from the Sun.

Just into the new year, the Quadrantids meteor shower will begin Jan. 3, 2024, but it’s challenging to see and its peak lasts only a few hours. Interestingly, the constellation it was named for, Quadrans Muralis, no longer exists, says Hyde. Today, the region of the sky to look towards for this meteor shower is known as the Bootes constellation.

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TORONTO, Jan. 13, 2023 – A rare, recently discovered comet with a greenish tint is expected to whiz by Earth over the next few weeks, but sky gazers may need binoculars or a small telescope to see it.

“It will be going past the constellation Corona Borealis just before sunrise here in Toronto with Feb. 1st being the best day to view it,” says 91��ɫ Assistant Professor , director of the Allan I. Carswell Observatory in the Faculty of Science. “The Allan I. Carswell Observatory plans to target this interesting object with our one-metre telescope.”

The last time this comet (discovered last year by astronomers in southern California and named C/2022 E3) swooped by Earth was about 50,000 years ago. It may never return.

It will be the closest to Earth, some 42-million kilometres away, on Feb. 1 at 1:11 p.m. EST, but just how bright it will be, no one is quite sure.

“Right now, you definitely need good binoculars or a small telescope to see this comet, but towards the end of the month it might​ be possible to view it with the naked eye,” says 91��ɫ Assistant Professor Sarah Rugheimer, the Allan I. Carswell Chair for the Public Understanding of Astronomy. “It will also depend on light pollution in your area and whether we have clear or cloudy skies.”

�۴ǰ���’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory hosts a Monday night 91��ɫ Radio Show and online public viewing, from 9 to 10 p.m. in addition to a Wednesday night online live teletube, starting at 7:30 p.m. Weather permitting, this may be one of the best ways to observe the comet.

Hyde and Rugheimer are available for media requests.

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Old roof was successfully pulled off by crane this morning at 91��ɫ’s Keele Campus

TORONTO, June 14, 2022 – Two new observatory domes were lifted into place today at 91��ɫ’s , replacing the original 1960s ones.

“It’s really exciting. These new domes will give us so much more functionality and ease of use, but even more importantly, we will have a larger opening that will allow observers to see more of the sky through the telescopes,” says Assistant Professor , director of �۴ǰ���’s observatory in the Faculty of Science. “This will allow us to increase our research and public outreach”

It took a week of on-the-ground preparation to assemble the new 6.24-metre diameter domes on-site before they were ready to be craned into place beginning at 7 a.m. this morning, following the removal of the old ones.

One dome covers the one-metre telescope, the largest on a university campus, while the other covers the 60-cm telescope.

“This is going to be a massive improvement in many ways as they are a different design of dome, which will allow us to view the whole of the sky,” says Hyde.

With the old domes, the bottom shutter was always blocking a portion of the sky, but with the new ones the bottom shutter is hydraulically operated and flips out, making the opening larger for viewing with a 1.8-metre aperture width. Viewing objects such as supernovas, asteroid transits, exoplanets and more will now be possible.

They are also technologically superior to the original domes. They are automated so the top and bottom shutters are controlled through a computer and can even be operated remotely. They can be programmed to automatically rotate as the telescope moves to track any celestial object, which means multiple objects can be imaged in one night.

“It means we can collaborate with other astronomers and teachers anywhere in the world for research and outreach,” says Hyde. “In addition, as the interfaces for class observing will also be better, more classes and labs can be scheduled every night.”

Unlike the previous domes, these new ones will have little outside maintenance requirements and will never need painting. They are aluminum-zinc alloy-coated using a hot-dip process.

“The whole process today went really smoothly and was amazing to watch. My colleagues and students are all super exited to start using them,” says Hyde.

and chat sessions will continue every Monday night between 9 and 10 p.m. via Zoom, along with the 91��ɫ Universe radio show on astronomy.fm at the same time. Live-streamed and Q&A sessions will happen every other Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. on YouTube.

Video of domes going on and off:

Photos of the domes being lifted off and craned on:

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More fun in astronomy

Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Venus will be visible all in a row to the southeast. With binoculars or a clear view, Mercury may also be just visible with Uranus just next to Venus at about 5 a.m.

There will also be super full moon, also known as a strawberry moon rising at about 10:30 p.m. tonight.

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91��ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91��ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. �۴ǰ���’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:
Sandra McLean, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca

The post New observatory domes will allow for global astronomy research collaboration and more public outreach appeared first on News@91��ɫ.

State-of-the-art, remote-controlled domes will replace old ones from the 1960s

TORONTO, June 9, 2022 – Two new state-of-the-art domes will replace the original 1960s domes at the Allan I. Carswell Astronomical Observatory at 91��ɫ, opening the night sky for better viewing of planets, stars, nebulas and more.

Preparation for the new domes is happening now on �۴ǰ���’s Keele Campus. On the morning of Tuesday, June 14 (weather permitting), the old domes will be craned off and the new ones craned on. The time of the event will be decided Monday morning depending on the weather forecast, but media are welcome to watch from one of the designated safe areas.

“These new domes will be a functional and technological improvement, the likes of which the observatory hasn't seen since its construction. Unlike the old domes, the new domes will have an automatic control system that goes to a computer where you can tell the dome to follow the telescope. Not only is this a huge timesaver, it means we can collaborate with other astronomers and teachers anywhere in the world for research and outreach,” says Assistant Professor , observatory director. “To get the best use out of the recent one-metre telescope, plus the 60cm telescope, which we already had, it was well time we replaced the domes.”

As the old domes are some 50 years old, the system that controls them has been a patchwork of various electronic fixes over the years.

“These new domes will give us a massive upgrade in terms of our technology. We can come at the beginning of the night, set up the telescope, and then operate them from home, which is something we can’t do right now with the dome for the one-metre telescope,” says grad student Sunna Withers of the Faculty of Science.

The design of the new domes will allow for a larger viewing area as the top part of the shutter opens up and the bottom part flips down, exposing more of the sky. It will also now follow the telescope as it moves. One of the main advantages will be the ability to expand research and public observing activities.

Photos of original domes: /news/wp-content/uploads/sites/242/2022/06/DSC00021-scaled.jpg

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91��ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91��ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. �۴ǰ���’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:
Sandra McLean, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca

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Why cluster’s galaxies are unlike those in all other known protoclusters is a mystery

TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2021 – The discovery of a massive dead cluster of galaxies in a young universe full of star producing galaxies, close to 12 billion light-years away from Earth, has surprised an international team, including researchers from 91��ɫ.

91��ɫ researchers discovered a large galaxy structure, also known as a protocluster, and partnered with international collaborators and researchers at the University of California, Riverside, who led the effort to explore it in further detail using the largest telescope in the world at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

“The Universe is filled with these clusters of galaxies. They’re everywhere,” says Professor Adam Muzzin of the Faculty of Science, 91��ɫ. “One of things we were looking at was these galaxies very far in the past and when you look at them in the past, they are all still forming stars, but this one is really different. It was no longer forming stars, while all its neighbours were.”

The newly discovered growing galactic metropolis, named MAGAZ3NE J095924+022537, is a massive newborn galaxy cluster consisting of at least 38 member galaxies. When viewing the galaxy, scientists are looking back in time to when this universe was less than two billion years old.

“What we were trying to do initially is see how far in the past can we see these massive galaxies and whether or not they have started forming or accumulating this cluster like structure,” says 91��ɫ Visiting Professor Cemile Marsan. “What we found is surprising. Not only do we see an over density of galaxies around this one massive galaxy, we also found that they have already advanced quite a bit in their evolution.”

Researchers weren’t expecting to see this dying out of galaxies at this epoch in time. Galaxy clusters grow over time under gravity and, in the present-day universe, can contain hundreds or even thousands of galaxies, as well as hot gas and dark matter. As time goes by, their galaxies burn through the fuel available and evolve from vigorously star-forming galaxies into red and dead galaxies.

“In the early universe, all protoclusters discovered until now are full of vigorously star-forming galaxies,” said Ian McConachie, a graduate student at the University of California, Riverside, and the lead author of the research paper. “But incredibly, unlike all of the other protoclusters which have been found at this epoch, many galaxies in MAGAZ3NE J0959 appear to have already stopped forming stars.”

The finding raises many questions and could test the current paradigm of how protoclusters are formed, especially if more dead cluster galaxies are found. In the future, Muzzin and Marsan hope to be able to explore further using the new as there could be others like it out there that have yet to be found.

How do you find something like this?

The team used spectroscopic observations from the W. M. Keck Observatory’s Multi-Object Spectrograph for Infrared Exploration, or MOSFIRE, to make detailed measurements of MAGAZ3NE J0959 and precisely quantify its distances.

“There is a degree of serendipity about it. It’s like with archeologists – you see a building sticking out and you start digging, and sometimes it’s just a wall and sometimes it’s an entire city with pots and pans,” says Muzzin. “You don’t know until you actually start digging and that’s the same with astronomy. Sometimes you look and there isn’t much there, and then other times you find something surprising and different.”

Closely associated to the question of how ultramassive galaxies (UMGs) form, is the question of the environment in which they form. Are they always found in over dense environments like protoclusters or can they also form in isolation? Next, the team plans to study the neighbourhood of all of the other UMGs in the MAGAZ3NE (Massive Ancient Galaxies At z>3 NEar-infrared) survey to answer this question.

“We don’t think we’ve mapped out the whole structure. We’ve kind of looked at one corner of it and saw an over density of galaxies, but there are the other sides of it we haven’t looked at,” says Marsan, adding, “It’s one of the most distant structures discovered – and the oldest in such a young universe by far – so that’s what sets it apart.”

The paper, “,” is published in the Astrophysical Journal.

Other researchers involved in the study are Gillian Wilson of University of California, Riverside; Benjamin Forrest of University of California, Davis; Michael Cooper of UC Irvine; Marianna Annunziatella and Danilo Marchesini of Tufts University; Jeffrey Chan and Mohamed Abdullah of UCR; Percy Gomez of Keck Observatory; Paolo Saracco of the Astronomical Observatory of Brera, Italy; Julie Nantais of Andrés Bello National University, Santiago, Chile.

The study was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA.

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91��ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91��ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. �۴ǰ���’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contact:
Sandra McLean, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca

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