Spring highlights & dark energy topics of Observatory open house

How is dark energy expanding the universe?

Learn more about efforts to understand and measure its effects at Indiana University Kokomo’s free Observatory open house Sunday, April 13.

Patrick Motl, dean of the School of Sciences and professor of physics, will begin the open house at 8 p.m. with recent results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) experiment, which indicates a variable dark energy and has measured distances to millions of galaxies.

The DESI survey is being conducted on the Mayall four-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Ariz.

After the presentation, stargazers may be able to see Jupiter and Mars as well as the spring highlights – the spring galaxies in Leo, Coma, and Virgo – through the Observatory’s telescopes. They include 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.

Observation will continue through 10 p.m., weather permitting.

The Observatory is located at 2660 S. Washington St., Kokomo. Free parking is available on campus.