The NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre (NRC Herzberg, HAA) is the leading

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

centre for

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

. It is based in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. The current director-general, as of 2021, is Luc Simard.

History

Named for the

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

Gerhard Herzberg Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg, (; December 25, 1904 – March 3, 1999) was a German-Canadian pioneering physicist and physical chemist, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971, "for his contributions to the knowledge ...

, it was formed in 1975 as part of the

National Research Council of Canada The National Research Council Canada (NRC; ) is the primary national agency of the Government of Canada dedicated to science and technology research and development. It is the largest federal research and development organization in Canada. Th ...

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. The NRC-HIA headquarters were moved to Victoria, British Columbia in 1995 to the site of the

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill (Saanich), Observatory Hill, in Saanich, British Columbia, was completed in 1918 by the Canadian Government, Canadian government. The Dominion architect responsible for the bui ...

. In 2012, the organization was restructured and renamed NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Facilities

NRC-HAA also operates the

Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory is a research facility founded in 1960 and located at Kaleden, British Columbia, Canada. The site houses four radio telescopes: an interferometric radio telescope, a 26-m single-dish antenna, a sol ...

outside of

Penticton, British Columbia Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley of the British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan Lake, Okanagan and Skaha Lake, Skaha lakes. In the 2021 Canadian Census, its population was 36,885, while its Census geographic un ...

and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as well as managing Canadian involvement in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope,

Gemini Observatory The Gemini Observatory comprises two 8.1-metre (26.6 ft) telescopes, Gemini North and Gemini South, situated in Hawaii and Chile, respectively. These twin telescopes offer extensive coverage of the northern and southern skies and rank among ...

Atacama Large Millimeter Array The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of 66 radio telescopes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, which observe electromagnetic radiation at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The ar ...

, the

Square Kilometre Array The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental organisation, intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square ...

, and the

Thirty Meter Telescope The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a planned extremely large telescope (ELT) proposed to be built on Mauna Kea, on the Hawaii (island), island of Hawai'i. The TMT would become the largest visible-light telescope on Mauna Kea. Scientists hav ...

, as well as Canada's national astronomy data centre. * The institute is also involved in the development and construction of instruments and telescopes. * Members of NRC-HAA are currently involved in The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. * Members of NRC-HAA are currently involved with

Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS) is a large-scale astronomical survey using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The survey is exploring the structure and content of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and its neighbour, the Triangulum Galaxy ( ...

Plaskett Fellowship

The Plaskett Fellowship is named after

John Stanley Plaskett John Stanley Plaskett (November 17, 1865 – October 17, 1941) was a Canadian astronomer. Career He worked as a machinist, and was offered a job as a mechanician at the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto, constructing appar ...

and is awarded to an outstanding, recent doctoral graduate in astrophysics or a closely related discipline. Fellows conduct independent research in a stimulating, collegial environment at the

in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Expertise in observational astrophysics is the norm, but some theoreticians were also among this distinguished group of astronomers.

Covington Fellowship

The Covington Fellowship is named after

Arthur Covington Arthur Edwin Covington (21 September 1913 – 17 March 2001) was a Canadian physicist who made the first radio astronomy measurements in Canada. Through these he made the valuable discovery that sunspots generate large amounts of microwaves at ...

and is awarded to an outstanding, recent doctoral graduate in astrophysics or a closely related discipline. Fellows conduct independent research in a stimulating, collegial environment at the institute at the

in Penticton, BC. DRAO staff expertise is in observational radio astronomy and the development of instrumentation and technology for radio telescopes. Current and past Covington Fellows are:

References

External links