Monthly Meeting - August 2026

🤖✨🪐🔭 Interested in AI & Astronomy ?

Attend our August Monthly Astronomy Meeting – hosted by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Winnipeg Centre.

ℹ️ This meeting is open to the public. Free attendance; no registration required.

📅 Friday, August 14, 2026
🕖 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
📍 Launch Coworking (Southside)

Meeting Agenda – TBA

Featured Presentation: AI In Astronomy (Gord Tulloch)

Artificial Intelligence is transforming how we explore the night sky. This month, RASC Winnipeg’s Corporate Secretary Gord Tulloch pulls back the curtain on what that really means for astronomers – professional and amateur alike. Starting from the ground up, Gord demystifies the jargon everyone’s hearing, but few can define: Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Generative versus Predictive AI, and the Large Language Models (LLM) behind today’s AI-powered chatbots. You’ll come away finally understanding the difference between the “narrow” AI we use every day (which he terms “Emulated Intelligence”) and the “general” intelligence that’s still the stuff of science fiction.
From there, Gord explores how professionals, including at the Vera Rubin Observatory (which will capture tens of terabytes every single night) are leaning on AI to tame an unprecedented flood of data, from scheduling observations to catching fleeting cosmic events. Closer to home, he showcases the AI-powered image processing tools amateurs are already using to enhance their astrophotos, and he’ll also share his own projects, including a Machine Learning-based system that watches all-sky camera images to decide when his robotic observatory should open or close. Gord will even demonstrate how real astronomy software can be built with AI assistance – including tools for variable-star targeting and FITS file management. Gord will make the case for “sovereign” privacy-respecting AI deployment you can run on your own computer, including a demonstration of Gord’s own AstroLlama local AI Assistant operating a real telescope.
But this is no uncritical cheerleading session. Gord takes an honest look at the risks: “astrofakes” produced by Generative AI, the confident-sounding “hallucinations” that make fact-checking essential, and the hard truth about where AI genuinely helps versus where it leads you astray. Whether you’re AI-curious, AI-skeptical, or somewhere in between, this is a lively, plain-language look at one of the most important shifts in modern astronomy – with plenty of practical takeaways for how AI impacts your own observing and imaging practices. Bring your questions; there’ll be time for them.

Speaker Professional Bio:
Gord Tulloch is an avid variable star observer, telescope maker, and builder of robotic observatories. A member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) Winnipeg Centre for more than 40 years, he has served the Centre in a variety of volunteer and leadership roles, including Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, Vice-President, and currently Secretary. Professionally.
Gord has spent his career in software development and technology leadership, working across the manufacturing, transportation, government, healthcare, and education sectors. For the past 15 years he has served as ICT Director for a Manitoba school division, where he leads technology strategy and develops innovative solutions in cybersecurity, systems integration, and artificial intelligence.
Combining his passions for astronomy and technology, Gord has designed and constructed several robotic observatories, and develops software and AI-powered tools that support astronomical observing, automation, and education. He is particularly interested in applying modern computing technologies to make astronomy more accessible and productive for both amateur astronomers and researchers.


🍺🍹🍻🥨🍕 Following the main meeting, please join us to socialize at Launch Coworking Southside. Everyone is welcome to come, relax, enjoy drinks & snacks and discuss Astronomical AI ideas !


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