May 20, 2009
Daytime activities: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Eastern time)
Evening activities: 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Eastern time)

Planetarium Presentations

Star Struck

7 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

Explore the wonders of the night sky in the Museum’s inflatable Starlab Planetarium. Sign-up at the planetarium. Limit: 20 people per presentation.

Star Party

8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

If the skies are clear, learn about the night sky by studying it yourself! Observe using a variety of telescopes.

CSA Science Demonstrations

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Meet Canadian Space Agency's team and try a series of hands-on experiments and interactive games to learn more about the science behind the James Webb Space Telescope.

Lectures

From the Big Bang to the Nobel Prize and the James Webb Telescope with Dr. John C. Mather, cosmologist, Nobel Prize winner in Physics

7 p.m. (Presentation in English only)

Peering through dusty clouds where stars and planetary systems are formed has helped us learn more about the formation of the Milky Way and our own solar system. Now, scientists want to peer back into the beginning of time. Successor of the famous Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope will allow us to search for the first galaxies that formed in the early universe after the Big Bang, determine how galaxies evolved and investigate whether planetary systems hold the potential for life. Join Dr. John C. Mather, cosmologist, Nobel Prize winner in Physics and leading scientist on the James Webb Space Telescope project as he enlightens us about this highly sophisticated space instrument.

In Search of New Worlds with Dr. René Doyon, Université de Montréal

7:45 p.m. (Presentation in French only)

The search for extraterrestrial life has captivated humankind for centuries. A first step in this quest was taken in 1995 when scientists detected the first planet outside our solar system: an exoplanet similar to Jupiter. Since this discovery, over 340 exoplanets were added to the census and some have even been photographed. What have we learned from these discoveries? Are these planets rare? Is our solar system unique? Are there many rocky terrestrial planets like Earth? Can we expect to detect life on another planets? Several ambitious research projects involving large telescopes on Earth and in space are now seeking to find answers to these questions. We are opening a whole new chapter of astrophysics: the search for new worlds.