Longtime York University astronomy professor Paul Delaney is retiring from full-time teaching, but says he has no plans to walk away from astronomy.
Delaney, a frequent 麻豆影视 contributor, has taught undergraduate and graduate students at the university since 1986.
He also served as director of the university鈥檚 Allan I Carswell Astronomical Observatory (AICO) for 30 years, stepping down in June of this year ahead of his retirement on Dec. 31.
Delaney said astronomy has been a part of his life 鈥渇rom the earliest age鈥� he can remember.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not about to stop anytime,鈥� he told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview.
There are 鈥渁lways some interesting astronomical events which are on the horizon,鈥� Delaney said. But the nice thing about astronomy, he continued, is that it 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 have to be a personal thing.鈥�
鈥淚t can be done in a group setting,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y wife and I have chased lots of different astronomical phenomena over the years 鈥� and that is not going to change.鈥�
What will change, Delaney said, is the amount of time he鈥檒l have free to travel to see some of these phenomena.
Here are a few events Delaney says he plans to wake up early for, or will be travelling to see, even after he retires.
AURORA BOREALIS
First and foremost, Delaney said he and his wife plan to 鈥渞eacquaint鈥� themselves with the aurora borealis.
鈥淭he aurora borealis are a beautiful phenomenon,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ne that we were lucky enough to witness when we lived in Manitoba.鈥�
But, Delaney said he and his wife have been living at lower latitudes in Ontario.
鈥淎nd auroras just don鈥檛 get down to latitudes like Toronto,鈥� he said, adding that he is planning a trip to Norway 鈥渟ometime soon.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping in February,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut stay tuned on that because of the pandemic.鈥�
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
Next are total solar eclipses, a phenomena Delaney said he鈥檚 been fortunate enough to see three times over the years.
鈥淭hey [are] always occurring each year somewhere on the planet,鈥� he said, pointing to one that occurred on Dec. 4, visible in Antarctica and in parts of the southern hemisphere.
Delaney said a total solar eclipse will be visible in most of southern Ontario in April 2024.
He said the line of totality swings from Niagara Falls, just misses Toronto, but then hits just over Montreal. That means for Torontonians, it will be just a couple of hours鈥� drive to 鈥渨ind up being in the line of totality.鈥�
鈥淪o chasing down total solar eclipses is also high on our list,鈥� Delaney said.
LUNAR ECLIPSE
What鈥檚 more, Delaney said, 鈥渓unar eclipses are always a nice spectacle.鈥�
鈥淭hose sorts of events you, generally speaking, don鈥檛 have to travel too far,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut you might have to be up at like 4 a.m. to see the peak of the lunar eclipse.鈥�
METEOR SHOWERS
Another thing Delaney said he鈥檇 make an effort to see are 鈥渞eally nice meteor showers.鈥�
鈥淪ome meteor showers occur with greater intensity than others, depending upon the celestial arrangement,鈥� he explained.
Delaney said if you are somewhere with a dark sky, you can witness meteor showers to their 鈥渇ullest extent.鈥�
鈥淪outhern Ontario being so bright, you tend not to be able to see as much of the event as you would like,鈥� he explained. 鈥淪o travelling a distance, being up after midnight and so on, those are the sorts of things that maximize the opportunity for the greater spectacle.鈥�
He said he鈥檚 鈥渁ll for that鈥� considering he won鈥檛 have to wake up early to teach anymore.
COMETS
Delaney said he鈥檇 also make an effort to see bright comets.
鈥淓very comet is a little bit different,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no really bright comet that is on the horizon at the moment, but that doesn鈥檛 stop comets sneaking up on you. There are some things that occur unexpectedly and you鈥檝e got to be flexible enough to jump in the car, jump on a plane or get up early to see those sorts of things.鈥�
While there isn鈥檛 a lot Delaney hasn鈥檛 already seen over his career, he said he鈥檚 looking forward to having 鈥済reater opportunity,鈥� and more time to chase down some of these phenomena.
Delaney said he plans to continue to go to the observatory with his students 鈥渁s much as is practical.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be able to have those sorts of opportunities with not a lot of responsibility,鈥� he said, laughing. 鈥淲hen something breaks down I now know that I don鈥檛 have to be the one to fix it.鈥�
鈥淚 can be with my students and we can enjoy the night sky together,鈥� he continued. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 really very, very satisfying.鈥�
