Photo courtesy www.worldwidetelescope.org
Early planning has begun for a new building at the University of Toronto’s St. George campus to bolster research, teaching, and public engagement in the field of astronomy. According to the university, the new facility would put them at the forefront of astronomical discovery in Canada.
The new structure will include a mix of research facilities, classrooms, departmental offices, and a planetarium of up to 150 seats to facilitate academic and research pursuits of the proposed joint occupants, and to support community outreach.
The new facility will include a publicly accessible planetarium that will be the architectural and educational centerpiece. Trained astronomers and researchers will curate and narrate shows at the facility. Students taking astronomy classes on campus will be able to explore the cosmos in real-time, using scientifically accurate models enabled by digital projection technologies. The new planetarium will be accessible to scientists, engineers, artists, and indigenous leaders to pursue research, educational, and cultural activities.
It will also serve as an astronomy precinct on the St. George campus, bringing together under one roof the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, and the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics.
