astronomy

The show begins with an extensive selection of luxury astrolabes, a technical instrument of engraved and ornamented metal plates and dials used for timekeeping, astronomy and navigation.

The tapestry and astrolabes are with several great manuscripts in “Astral Light,” built around the study of astronomy.

"We discovered an egg-shaped cocoon closely surrounding the star," says Ohnaka, the lead author of a study reporting the observations published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

"We have found that the star has been experiencing a significant change in the last 10 years, providing us with a rare opportunity to witness a star's life in real time," says Gerd Weigelt, an astronomy professor at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany and a co-author of the study.

"Binary stars play a huge role in our universe," says lead author Steffani Grondin, a graduate student in the David A. Dunlap Department for Astronomy & Astrophysics at U of T. "This observational sample marks a key first step in allowing us to trace the full life cycles of binaries and will hopefully allow us to constrain the most mysterious phase of stellar evolution."