Retiring astronomy professor says he'll still chase these celestial phenomena

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 CTV News contributor, has taught undergraduate and graduate students at the university since 1986.

He also served as director of the university’s 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 “from the earliest age” he can remember.

“And it’s not about to stop anytime,” he told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview.

There are “always some interesting astronomical events which are on the horizon,” Delaney said. But the nice thing about astronomy, he continued, is that it “doesn’t have to be a personal thing.”

“It can be done in a group setting,” he said. “My wife and I have chased lots of different astronomical phenomena over the years – and that is not going to change.”

What will change, Delaney said, is the amount of time he’ll 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 “reacquaint” themselves with the aurora borealis.

“The aurora borealis are a beautiful phenomenon,” he said. “One that we were lucky enough to witness when we lived in Manitoba.”

But, Delaney said he and his wife have been living at lower latitudes in Ontario.

“And auroras just don’t get down to latitudes like Toronto,” he said, adding that he is planning a trip to Norway “sometime soon.”

“We’re hoping in February,” he said. “But stay tuned on that because of the pandemic.”

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

Next are total solar eclipses, a phenomena Delaney said he’s been fortunate enough to see three times over the years.

“They [are] always occurring each year somewhere on the planet,” 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’ drive to “wind up being in the line of totality.”

“So chasing down total solar eclipses is also high on our list,” Delaney said.

LUNAR ECLIPSE

What’s more, Delaney said, “lunar eclipses are always a nice spectacle.”

“Those sorts of events you, generally speaking, don’t have to travel too far,” he said. “But you might have to be up at like 4 a.m. to see the peak of the lunar eclipse.”

METEOR SHOWERS

Another thing Delaney said he’d make an effort to see are “really nice meteor showers.”

“Some meteor showers occur with greater intensity than others, depending upon the celestial arrangement,” he explained.

Delaney said if you are somewhere with a dark sky, you can witness meteor showers to their “fullest extent.”

“Southern Ontario being so bright, you tend not to be able to see as much of the event as you would like,” he explained. “So travelling a distance, being up after midnight and so on, those are the sorts of things that maximize the opportunity for the greater spectacle.”

He said he’s “all for that” considering he won’t have to wake up early to teach anymore.

COMETS

Delaney said he’d also make an effort to see bright comets.

“Every comet is a little bit different,” he said. “There’s no really bright comet that is on the horizon at the moment, but that doesn’t stop comets sneaking up on you. There are some things that occur unexpectedly and you’ve got to be flexible enough to jump in the car, jump on a plane or get up early to see those sorts of things.”

While there isn’t a lot Delaney hasn’t already seen over his career, he said he’s looking forward to having “greater opportunity,” and more time to chase down some of these phenomena.

Delaney said he plans to continue to go to the observatory with his students “as much as is practical.”

“It’s nice to be able to have those sorts of opportunities with not a lot of responsibility,” he said, laughing. “When something breaks down I now know that I don’t have to be the one to fix it.”

“I can be with my students and we can enjoy the night sky together,” he continued. “So that’s really very, very satisfying.”