Solar spacecraft discussed at IU Kokomo
Also, tickets on sale now for Ivy Tech's Doing the Dream banquet, featuring Sonia Sanchez
Learn more about the structure and dynamics of the sun’s corona and magnetic field at Indiana University Kokomo’s free Observatory open house this Sunday, January 12.
Patrick Motl, dean of the School of Sciences and professor of physics, will begin the open house at 7 p.m. with an update on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, a spacecraft that studies the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, and how it affects the solar system.
“This amazing spacecraft continues to explore the solar corona and has become the fastest object we have built due to its close proximity to the sun,” he said. He will also discuss the upcoming occultation of Mars by the moon, in which the first full moon of 2025 will pass in front of Mars, briefly covering it.
After the presentation, stargazers may be able to see Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the moon in the evening sky at sunset 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 9 p.m., weather permitting.
The Observatory is at 2660 S. Washington St. Free parking is available on campus.
Tickets on sale for 2025 ‘Doing the Dream’ with poet Sonia Sanchez
Tickets for Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo’s 2025 “Doing the Dream: community banquet are now on sale. The banquet, featuring renowned poet and social activist Sonia Sanchez as keynote speaker, is set for Thursday, Feb. 6, in Hingst Hall on the Ivy Tech Kokomo Campus.
This is the 21st year Ivy Tech Kokomo has presented “Doing the Dream” events designed to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s theme, “The Art That Moved the Movement,” is celebrating the art and artists who have, for generations, supported Dr. King’s commitment to justice, equity and peace. As the personification of such “artivists,” Ms. Sanchez will be sharing readings and commentary from her more than 60 years as an esteemed poet, educator, columnist, dramatist and essayist.
Tickets for the Feb. 6 banquet are $60 each and will be available until Jan. 30, unless sold out earlier. To purchase tickets, go to: link.ivytech.edu/2025DoingtheDream or contact Miriam Thomas, Ivy Tech Kokomo resource development director, at mlthomas@ivytech.edu or 765-252-5500. All proceeds support the Ivy Tech Kokomo “Doing the Dream” Diversity Scholarship.
Once again, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) is speaker sponsor for the banquet, which annually brings leaders from throughout the community together with a distinguished speaker to address issues of local, state and national importance.
DeAndra Beard-Ingram, director of Diversity, Equity and Belonging for Ivy Tech Kokomo and chair of the Doing the Dream committee, noted that Ivy Tech is privileged to bring to Kokomo an artist of the caliber of Ms. Sanchez.
Over more than six decades as an activist in the Black, women’s and peace movements, Ms. Sanchez is credited with helping to redefine American culture and politics and revolutionizing poetry by incorporating a unique performance style and collaborations with jazz musicians.
Her lengthy list of honors includes the 2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the 2001 Robert Frost Medal, The 2004 Harper Lee Award, and the National Visionary Leadership Award for 2005. She has lectured at more than 500 universities and colleges in the United States and has traveled extensively, reading her poetry in Africa, Cuba, England, the Caribbean, Australia, Europe, Nicaragua, the People’s Republic of China, Norway and Canada.