This plaque was installed in our observatory to recognize its dedication to the memory of Professor Wonnacott.
The Department of Physics is pleased to announce that our observatory will now be known as The Earl L. Wonnacott Observatory. The naming of the observatory in honour of Professor Wonnacott recognizes his role in establishing the facility and using it to further physics and astronomy education on PEI. Professor Wonnacott’s role in astronomy education at UPEI is described on the “Our History” page of this site.
The fall of 2020 marks 40 years since the first visits of students and members of the public to the observatory and also 1 year since the passing of Earl Wonnacott. The Department of Physics felt that those anniversaries made the fall of 2020 an appropriate time for the dedication. However, due to restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our planned dedication ceremony has had to be postponed until a time when it can be held safely.
Professor Earl L. Wonnacott stands in front of the observatory structure before it is lifted to the roof of Memorial Hall by crane on January 8, 1980.
We are currently unable to host viewing events at our observatory because of public health measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. It’s not possible for people to keep two metres apart in a building that is only about 2.5 metres in diameter. When social distancing measures and other event restrictions ease and it safe to do so, we will once again welcome visitors to look through the telescope at The Earl L. Wonnacott Observatory.
As part of the 2020 CAP (Canadian Association of Physicists) Lecture Tour, UPEI Department of Physics will be hosting Professor Gregory R. Sivakoff from the University of Alberta who will give a lecture entitled: “Winds of Change Around Black Holes.” The lecture will be held on Friday, February 7, from 2:30-3:30 pm in room 104 of the Health Sciences Building (building number 3 on the UPEI campus map). The target audience for the lecture is undergraduate students of physics (so some knowledge of fundamental physics will be assumed by the lecturer); however we welcome anyone who has an interest in the topic to attend.
An abstract of the lecture and a brief biography of the lecturer are provided below (text sourced from the CAP website).
Winds of Change Around Black Holes
Abstract: Accretion disks, where matter with angular momentum spirals down through a disk, occur around objects ranging from the youngest stars to supermassive black holes. But not all of this material reaches the center of the disk. Instead, some material is accelerated away from the disk. These outflows can be ejected in a narrow opening angle (what astronomers call “jets”) or can be relatively unfocused (what astronomers call “winds”). While we do not know the precise processes that accelerate and collimate winds and jets, magnetic fields almost certainly play a key role. My team and I study black hole X-ray binaries, stellar-mass black holes accreting from a nearby star. We combine observations across the electromagnetic spectrum to learn about the physics of accretion and jets. In this talk, I will discuss how we have revealed two new windows onto the physics of inflows and outflows in X-ray binaries: fast variability measured across the electromagnetic spectrum (which provides the potential to accurately identify the accretion physics that launch relativistic jets) and the modelling of changes in the X-ray brightness of black hole X-ray binaries (which implies that strong winds from the accretion disk are universal). With the advent of new and upcoming facilities, we have a huge potential to take advantage of these winds of change in the next decade.
Biography: Dr. Gregory Sivakoff is currently an Associate Professor in the University of Alberta Department of Physics, where he has been a faculty member since 2011. He and his group’s primary research focuses on multi-wavelength observations of compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), tying together a wide range of data to better probe important physics around compact objects. These multiwavelength observations stretch across nearly the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and are made by facilities across the world and above it. Two classes of objects stand out among the wide range of compact objects he studies: X-ray binaries, neutron stars or black holes that accrete material from a nearby donor star; and the relativistic outflows (jets) from supermassive black holes that are responsible for (at least some) astrophysical neutrinos that have recently been detected. Dr. Sivakoff also has strong interests in Education & Public Outreach; in addition to his multiple pop-culture inspired public talks like, “Black Holes and Revelations” and “Fantastic Black Holes and How to Find Them”, he is a strong advocate of citizen science. This support includes sitting on the board of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, an international non-profit organization of variable star observers whose mission is to enable anyone, anywhere, to participate in scientific discovery through variable star astronomy. In 2018 he was selected as the inaugural Telus World of Science Edmonton Science Fellow, which recognizes an outstanding researcher or innovator based in Northern Alberta, and was the recipient of the University of Alberta Faculty of Science Research Award.
UPDATE (2:30PM January 25): Due to unforeseen circumstances, the public viewing this evening is cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience and disappointment to anyone who was planning to attend.
Our next public event will take place from 6:30-8:30 pm on Saturday, January 25 (weather permitting). Everyone is welcome to drop by to have a look through our telescope.
The meeting spot for this event is room 417 of Memorial Hall (get directions and parking information). Depending on how many people are attending, you may have to wait a bit for your turn to go up to the telescope.
To access the observatory, it is necessary to be able to climb a set of stairs over one storey in height.
The observatory is unheated, so you bring clothing that is warm enough to permit you to stand in outdoor temperatures for at least 20 minutes. (The waiting room is indoors and heated.)
If the sky is cloudy on the night of the event, the viewing may have
to be cancelled. This post will be updated if there are any changes to
the event status.
Our next public event will take place from 6:00-8:00 pm on Saturday, December 14 (weather permitting). Everyone is welcome to drop by to have a look through our telescope.
The meeting spot for this event is room 417 of Memorial Hall (get directions and parking information). Depending on how many people are attending, you may have to wait a bit for your turn to go up to the telescope.
To access the observatory, it is necessary to be able to climb a set of stairs over one storey in height.
If the sky is cloudy on the night of the event, the viewing may have
to be cancelled. This post will be updated if there are any changes to
the event status.
Mercury will pass in front of the Sun on November 11, 2019, allowing the planet’s silhouette to be observed with solar telescopes.
UPEI Physics will set up its solar telescopes along the Victoria Park boardwalk, near the cannons and across from the Kiwanis Dairy Bar. Everyone is welcome to stop by to get a glimpse of Mercury crossing the Sun’s face.
The location for our transit event will be the Victoria Park boardwalk near the cannons and the Kiwanis Dairy Bar (roughly marked with an X in the image above). Image is a screenshot from Google Maps.
The last Mercury transit visible from PEI in May 2016 was a blustery, partially cloudy day that made it tricky to see the planet. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this year, as there won’t be another Mercury transit visible from Charlottetown until 2049.
The sky above Charlottetown for the last Mercury transit May 9, 2016. It was 5 degrees Celsius with 60km/h wind gusts. A few hardy visitors managed to get glimpses of Mercury between breaks in the clouds.
