KOKOMO, Ind. — Venus will be the star of the show at the Sunday, March 11 open house at the Indiana University Kokomo Observatory.
Patrick Motl, associate professor of physics, will begin the open house at 8 p.m. with a discussion on the formation of the moon.
“Larger planets in the outer solar system have many moons that likely formed along with the planet they orbit,” said Motl. “Earth is the only inner, rocky world with a sizable moon, suggesting a different history for our moon.”
Immediately following the presentation, those attending will be able to view Venus through the Observatory’s telescopes. In addition, the winter hexagon will be prominent in the sky including the great nebula in Orion, open star clusters like the Pleiades and the crab nebula in Taurus. Observation will continue until 10 p.m., weather permitting.
The Observatory’s telescopes are a six-inch Takahashi refracting telescope and a 16-inch Meade reflecting telescope mounted together. The Takahashi provides exceptionally sharp images of planets, while the Meade allows viewers to see fainter objects in the sky, due to its larger light-collecting area.
The open house is free and open to the public, 2660 Washington Street. Free parking is available on campus.
Story written by Sarah Gill. Sarah is student worker in the Office of Media & Marketing.
Indiana University Kokomo serves north central Indiana.