The Cosmos From Campus

IU Day. All IU. All Day. IU Day. The Cosmos From Campus.

[ Music ]

Image of the star-filled galaxy with bright points of white on splotches of red, blue, and yellow over black. On Screen Text: Look up on a clear night at IU Kokomo and you can marvel at stellar sights like these with a little help, of course.

A panning aerial video of a one-story, flat-roofed building with a domed observatory in one corner. On Screen Text: Tucked among these campus trees is the IU Kokomo Observatory.

Inside the observatory are one narrow and one wide telescope. The wide telescope is labeled Meade LX200GPS. On Screen Text: It's home to a lecture hall, a darkroom, and most importantly, this pair of super cool telescopes.

Photo of a man standing next to the telescopes that are aimed at the sky through the opening in the observatory. On Screen Text: The observatory's story traces back decades to associate professor emeritus of physics Rick Steldt.

An older photo of Rick standing next to the campus's first telescope decades earlier. On Screen Text: He purchased the campus's very first telescope in the 1970s and hosted observations on campus rooftops. As student interest grew, so did the need for an observatory.

Architectural drawing of the observatory with a classroom on one end, a lobby in the center, and a round turret on the other end that includes a darkroom on the bottom, and an observatory above it topped with a dome. Photo of the building under construction. On Screen Text: By 1984 Steldt and then-chancellor Hugh Thompson rallied enough support and the observatory was finally constructed.

Photos of children outside the observatory looking skyward at an ecclipse while wearing blue-tinted paper glasses. On Screen Text: Before long, observatory open houses were drawing community crowds eager to catch a glimpse of stars, planets, and more otherworldly wonders.

People look through the lenses of the telescopes that point up into the night sky through the dome opening. On Screen Text: More upgrades came in 2006, when the current telescopes were installed: a 6-inch refracting telescope to spot planets and a 16-inch reflecting telescope that can see fainter celestial objects.

A small view of a round planet, then a closer view of the same planet with details including brown and white stripes and swirls on the surface. On Screen Text: Compared to stargazing with a decent pair of binoculars the 16-inch telescope lets you see objects about 15 times closer and around 500 times closer than what you can see with the naked eye.

The view of the planet is brought into sharper focus. On Screen Text: In the right conditions, the 6-inch telescope provides even greater clarity. But that's not all.

Photos of a shiny metal dome on the ground being prepared for installation. The old, duller dome sits next to it. On Screen Text: The observatory got a brand-new dome in 2013. It now rotates more smoothly and quietly.

Photo of a crane lifting the new dome onto the top of the observatory. On Screen Text: And a new, reflective roof makes stargazing more eco-friendly.

Photo of children looking at the telescopes inside the observatory. View of the rough surface of a planet. On Screen Text: Now more than ever, the observatory is proof that you can have an out-of-this-world experience without leaving IU Kokomo's backyard.

IU Day. The Cosmos From Campus.