La petite école de l’espace

The Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets in association with the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic invites your children from 3 to 8 years old to La petite école de l’espace. During these free online events, astrophysicists Frédérique Baron and Marie-Eve Naud tell space-related stories and answer your children’s questions about astronomy, the universe, galaxies, stars, planets, aliens, and everything else!

Past editions remain online on our Youtube channel and can be listened to (or re-listened to!) at any time. Short capsules where our astrophysicists answer a question are also available at the same place.

About ten days before the event, children are invited to send us their questions, in writing or in short videos (10 to 30 seconds), via an online form.

After the event, they are invited to send us a drawing or a piece of art of their choice that shows us what they have learned, via another online form. They can win a prize, which is drawn among the participating children.

Past Editions

Petite école, Webb Special – Wednesday December 22 2021 at 10AM

Missed this edition? Listen to it here! The draw took place on March 31, 2022. You can still send us your work right here: https://bit.ly/petite_ecole_Webb_dessins. We love to see what you’ve learned! To get the drawing sheet: https://bit.ly/Webb_hexagone.

Petite école #5 – Saturday May 22 2021 from 10h to 10h20

Missed this edition? Listen to it here! The drawing took place on July 20, 2021. You can still send us your artwork right here: bit.ly/petite_ecole_5_dessins. We love to see what you’ve learned!

Petite école #4 – Saturday March 20 2021 at 10AM

Missed this edition? Listen to it here! The drawing took place on April 26, 2021. You can still send us your artwork right here: bit.ly/petite_ecole_4_dessins. We love to see what you’ve learned!

Petite école #3 – Saturday December 12 2020 at 10AM

Missed this edition? Listen to it here! For the Look Up Challenge, see www.decouvertedelunivers.ca. The draw took place on January 25, 2021.

Petite école # 2 – Samedi 26 septembre de 10h à 10h30

As part of the Scientific Literacy Week, Marie-Eve and Frédérique talked about astronomy and extraterrestrial life, in a second edition that took place on September 26, 2020! Did you miss this edition? Listen to it here! The draw took place on October 16, 2020.

Petite école #1 – Saturday July 11 at 10AM

The very first edition of the “La petite école de l’espace” was held on July 11, 2020. Did you miss this edition? Listen to it here! The draw took place on July 31, 2020.

Who are Marie-Eve and Frédérique?

Marie-Eve is an astronomer🔭✨. We also say astrophysicist. Her specialty is exoplanets🌏, planets that are found around stars other than the Sun.

She works for the Institute for Research on Exoplanets at the University of Montreal. She is also very interested in the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe 👽🦠. She has two little boys who ask many (many!) questions❓and loves meditation🧘‍♀️ (when she has time to do so!).

Frédérique too is also an astronomer/astrophysicist🌠🌃. She knows a lot about exoplanets, and also about brown dwarfs🔴, slightly more massive objects that form like stars.

She works for the Institute for Research on Exoplanets, and also for the Mont-Mégantic Observatory, a great astronomical observatory that you can go see up close with your family. She has two birds🐦🐦and loves knitting 🧶🧣.