About HIA

The NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (NRC-HIA) provides first-class research facilities in observational astronomy to the national research community. Most of our activities are conducted in the context of major international agreements and partnerships that leverage the available resources.

NRC-HIA

• participates in four major international observatories in Hawaii and Chile
• operates telescopes at sites in Victoria and Penticton, BC
• assigns observing time to any scientist in Canada on the basis of scientific merit through open, peer-reviewed competition
• supports space astronomy missions through funding from the Canadian Space Agency

Approximately 40% of NRC-HIA's 145 staff are engineers and technicians who develop innovative and advanced scientific instrumentation for the partner observatories. The strong NRC-HIA teams are internationally recognized for their accomplishments, and are unique in Canada for their breadth and depth of expertise. NRC-HIA scientists and engineers play leadership roles in developing concepts for the future observatories called for in the Long Range Plan for Canadian Astronomy and Astrophysics.

NRC-HIA also operates other elements of the national infrastructure in astronomy, including a major data archiving and distribution service that serves scientists throughout Canada and the world. The Canadian Astronomy Data Centre maintains very large volumes of digital data and makes these available to astronomers in real-time over the Internet. Other services include daily measurements of solar activity levels that are used around the world.

In all of these activities, NRC-HIA collaborates closely with universities and Canadian industry. University scientists are not only major users of our facilities, but also collaborate in the development of advanced technologies. NRC-HIA is substantially intensifying efforts to transfer advanced technology developed in the demanding realm of astronomical observation to other, unrelated applications, as well as to strengthen our traditional industrial collaborations.

Our visitor centre, the Centre of the Universe, reflects our commitment to public outreach activities. Astronomy's unique fascination in the minds of the public can serve as a vehicle to introduce Canadians, especially young Canadians, to science and to Canadian scientific achievements. The excellence of Canadian astronomy, and of NRC-HIA's scientific and technological capability, is something of which all Canadians can be proud.