Cosmic Nights: Dark Energy

Age: 19+

Tickets

Cost: $20.00
Find tickets: here

Learn more about current missions and hot topics in astronomy and space exploration in this fun evening of science and socializing. We’ll have a custom planetarium show and guest lecturer, drinks, science demonstrations and trivia at this 19+ event.

Tickets available for 7:30pm or 9:00pm planetarium star theatre shows.

7:30 ticket holder schedule:
6:30 - check-in
7:00 - “How Can We See the Invisible” (GroundStation Canada Theatre)
7:30 - 8:30 “The Dark Side of the Universe” show (Planetarium Star Theatre)
9:00 - 9:30 “Dark Energy” lecture

9:00 ticket holder schedule:
6:30 - check-in
7:00 - 9:00 (runs every 30 mins) “How Can We See the Invisible” show (GroundStation Canada Theatre)
8:00 - 8:30 “Dark Energy” lecture
9:00 - 10:00 “The Dark Side of the Universe” show (Planetarium Star Theatre)

The bar will be open from 6:30 – 10:00pm in the Cosmic Courtyard.

________________

SHOWS:

Only planetarium shows are ticketed, all other activities are optional.

7:00pm, 7:30pm, 8:00pm, 8:30pm – “How Can We See the Invisible” (GroundStation Canada Theatre)
Astronomers use a variety of tools to help us see things beyond the visible spectrum. This short demonstration will show you a variety of techniques astronomers use, as well as some fun trivia with prizes throughout to test your observation skills!

8:00pm and 9:00pm – “Dark Energy” lecture by Dr. Gary Hinshaw
We live in an expanding universe: ever since the pioneering observations of Edwin Hubble in the 1920’s we have known that galaxies are, on average, all moving away from each other. It has long been supposed that the expansion rate is slowing down with time due to the gravitational pull of each galaxy on its neighbour, but in the last two decades we have come to learn that the expansion is actually speeding up due to something we call dark energy. Dr. Hinshaw will describe the observations that lead us to these conclusions, and efforts that are underway - including some of his own - to try and understand just what dark energy is.

Gary Hinshaw’s work at UBC focuses on the building of two new radio observatories to explore the large-scale properties of the universe: its origin, evolution and ultimate fate.

Hinshaw was an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for two decades. He has 15 years of experience in cosmic microwave background (CMB) satellite data analysis with the COBE-DMR and WMAP missions. Hinshaw also served as data analysis lead for NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, and as director of the Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis (LAMBDA), which provides CMB data to the scientific community.

7:30pm and 9:00pm – “The Dark Side of the Universe” - Planetarium Star Theatre
From Dark Energy to Dark Matter, our astronomer Rachel Wang will take us on a visual journey to help us understand things that hard to visualize, the big unknowns of the universe, and some of the not-so-crazy ideas that may help explain them.

*Choose between either the 7:30pm or 9:00pm planetarium show when purchasing your ticket.*
More info