News

Water vapour detected on K2-18b

An international team lead by Björn Benneke has detected water vapour and clouds on the exoplanet K2-18b. This is the first time that water has been detected on an exoplanet in the habitable zone of its star: a major discovery in the search for extraterrestrial life.

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Recap of the Grande conférence de l'iREx

The iREx team had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Sarah Hörst on October 16th for the 2019 Grande conférence de l'iREx. On that evening, over 150 people took a trip to Titan, Saturn's largest moon, during her presentation entitled "Titan: Ingredients for Life".

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Welcoming new iREx members

The iREx welcomes several new members who are joining us this Fall: Daniel Thorngren (Trottier Postdoctoral Fellow, UdeM), Michael Radica (PhD with David Lafrenière, UdeM), Louis-Philippe Coulombe (MSc with Björn Benneke, UdeM) and Timothy Hallat (MSc with Eve Lee, McGill).

Solar System News

Transit of Mercury

On November 11th 2019, Mercury will pass in front of the Sun from the Earth's point of view. This phenomenon will not be visible again in Quebec until 2049! The Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan de Montreal is hosting a viewing party for the occasion where you will be able to see the transit with solar telescopes.

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Join iREx!

Trottier Summer Internship Grants

The Trottier Excellence Grants for Summer Interns at iREx competition is now open. This program is open to all Canadian undergraduate students enrolled in a physics (or related subject) program. The deadline to apply is December 1st 2019.

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Two postdoctoral fellowships available

The iREx is seeking applications for two postdoctoral positions in experimental, observational or theoretical astrophysics applied to the study of exoplanets. The deadline for the Trottier Postdoctoral Fellowship is December 2nd and the deadline for the JWST Postdoctoral Fellowship is December 15th.

Upcoming Events

CUPC 2019 at McGill

The Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference will be held at McGill University this year from November 7th to 10th. Many undergraduate physics students from all over the country will be presenting their research. The iREx will have a booth at the Graduate Studies and Industry Fair on November 9th from 11:15AM to 1:15PM. Come and visit us, we will have our virtual reality system on site!

Astronomy on Tap

The next edition of Astronomy on Tap MTL will be on WEDNESDAY November 27th. This special edition will exceptionally take place at 6PM at Les sans-tavernes. The event will be bilingual (English/French) and families are welcome!

For more information and to know the dates of all future events, see our webpage.

Journée d'initiation à la recherche

The iREx and the Groupe d'astronomie et d'astrophysique de l'Université de Montréal invite you to our 3rd annual Journée d'initiation à la recherche en astrophysique on January 17th 2020! This activity is offered free of charge by the Université de Montréal to CEGEP students. You will meet researchers who are passionate about physics and who will explain their research projects. There is no deadline to register, but the number of participants will be limited to 90. Hurry up!

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Image Credits: Header (TESS mosaic): NASA/MIT/TESS/Ethan Krusse (USRA); K2-18b: Alex Boersma; Grande conférence: Plateau Astro; Mercury transit: JAXA/NASA/PPARC; Summer internships: NAS A/Wendy Stenzel/Daniel Rutter; Postdoctoral fellowships: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/Tim Pyle/NASA/Chris Gunn; CUPC: CUPC 2019.