Invite an Astronomer

Marie-Eve Naud, our EPO Coordinator, giving a presentation on exoplanets. (Credit: M.-E. Naud)
Marie-Eve Naud, our EPO Coordinator, giving a presentation on exoplanets. (Credit: M.-E. Naud)

iREx astronomers love to bring children and adults together to share their passion for the universe! Thanks to our “Invite an iREx Astronomer” program, your daycare, school, college, seniors’ residence, library or amateur astronomy club can host one of our researchers.

 

Submit a Request

Fill out the following form to submit a request for an in-person or virtual visit from one of our astronomers. We may not be able to accommodate your request, but the vast majority of requests receive positive responses. Note that for locations outside of Montreal, our visits are generally virtual.

 

Presentation Ideas

Presentations, discussions and activities led by our astronomers will allow participants to find answers to their most pressing questions about galaxies, stars, planets, moons and life in the universe!

Here are some ideas for topics that our astronomers can present during our visit.

  • From Earth to Space – For children (grades 3 through 6). This journey starts from the surface of the Earth and takes us up into the sky until we reach space!
  • Do Aliens Exist? – For children in primary school (grades 5-6) and secondary school (1 through 3). Does life outside the Earth exist? So far, no one has discovered it, but that is not stopping us from looking!
  • The Multicoloured Universe – General public, primary school (grades 5-6), secondary school, Cégep. The celestial phenomena of the Universe do not radiate only in visible light. Learn about the entire spectrum of light studied by astronomers.
  • Black Holes – General public, primary school (grades 5-6), secondary school, Cégep. These phenomena remain one of the great mysteries of the Universe, but scientists know more about these extreme objects than ever before.
  • The Puzzle of Astroparticles – General public, secondary school, Cégep. The Universe throws billions of invisible particles at us every second that hide clues about astronomical phenomena. In order to study them, scientists have to develop surprising experiments, sometimes up to 2 km below the Earth!
  • The Mystery of Dark Matter – General public, secondary school, Cégep. Scientists understand only about 5% of the content of the Universe. The other 95% is found in dark matter and dark energy, surprising mysteries that have yet to be solved.
  • Moons and Exomoons, Hosts of Life? – General public. Visit the moons of the solar system and the moons of the exoplanets. Could life develop in such a world?
  • The Mystery of Brown Dwarfs That Are Not Brown! – General public. In the immediate vicinity of the sun, there are several brown dwarfs, which are neither stars nor planets and most importantly are not brown!
  • Searching for New Worlds! – General public, secondary cycle (4-5), Cégep. There are more than 4000 planets that revolve around a star other than the Sun. How can we discover these new worlds?
  • Astronomical Questions and Answers – For everyone. Ask us any question you have about the Universe!
  • Telescopes: a Unique Vision of the Universe – General public, primary school, secondary school, Cégep. These tools have been around for centuries, but the telescopes used by modern astronomers have impressive capabilities that teach us much more about the Universe than just taking beautiful images.
  • The James Webb Space Telescope – General public, secondary school, Cégep. This telescope, which will be the successor to the Hubble Telescope, will represent an incredible revolution in the world of astronomy and will allow us to study exoplanets, stars, galaxies and much more in detail in infrared light.
  • Virtual Tour of the Mont-Mégantic Observatory – General public, secondary school (4-5), Cégep. Come discover the largest observatory in Eastern Canada, the Mont-Mégantic Observatory, with us!