UVic Presentation: Observing the Cold Universe with ALMA – Dr. Gerald Schieven

ALMA array under a night sky

Date/Time: Wednesday December 10, 2025 starting at 7:30PM Location: University of Victoria, Elliott 162. Park in Lot 1 (pay parking) and cross Ring Road – please note the room change!

Much of the universe is very cold, more than 100 degrees below zero Celsius, and cannot be seen by even giant optical or infrared telescopes like Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope. Instead, we need specially designed telescopes that can detect the cold universe. In this talk we’ll learn about how we can detect cold matter, Canada’s pioneering work in this field, and finally the Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array (ALMA), a giant telescope in northern Chile, what it’s like to work there, and some of the really cool stuff it’s discovered.

President’s Message – October 2025

David Dunlap Observatory telescope

As fall settles over Victoria and we are faced with what may be the last stretches of clear evening skies (for a time at least), I hope everyone has a chance to wind up any lingering observing projects.

Looking back at the summer there was so much activity from our society that I failed to share a summer highlight of my own: a visit to the David Dunlap Observatory in July.

For those who haven’t had a chance to work with one of these large telescopes up close, I’m pleased to announce our next Plaskett Night, scheduled for October 25. As always, it’s a special opportunity to use the 1.8m telescope and chase down some faint targets.