These Illinois astronomers get coveted time with the new James Webb Space Telescope

• Research
• The University of Chicago
• Northwestern University
• Space
• Astrophysics
• James Webb Space Telescope
• Astronomy
• Exoplanets
• Solar system
• Hubble Space Telescope

A Northwestern University professor will soon get a chance to monitor a part of the sky for a project studying ‘adolescent galaxies’ using the James Webb Space Telescope.

Allison Strom, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University, will use the telescope – which originally launched on Dec. 25, 2021 – to harvest data for 40 hours before her team will begin analyzing the results.

They’re using the telescope’s pioneering abilities to study the chemistry of galaxies so distant, they haven’t been explored yet. Strom and her team are hopeful that the data will demystify the process of galaxy formation, especially in the context of the early universe.

While the Northwestern team eagerly awaits use of the Webb, another Illinois astronomer’s project is fully underway. Jacob Bean, professor of astronomy at the University of Chicago, is co-leading a team of more than 100 scientists whose project just finished using the new probe to collect exoplanet data. His team will review the data for information about the composition, temperature and potential habitability of exoplanets, which may provide new insights into solar systems beyond our own.

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Improved I-74 Mississippi River Bridge wins national recognition

• Growth
• innovation
• Transportation
• Driving
• Bridge
• Infrastructure
• Mississippi River
• Quad Cities
• Accessibility
• Construction

Each year, state transportation projects are celebrated and recognized through America's Transportation Awards – and an Illinois bridge came home as a winner. The awards recognize America's best transportation projects – those that prioritize safety, maximize accessibility, utilize resources effectively and incorporate innovative elements such as green space, bike paths, technology and access to public transit.

Last month, judges for the 2022 Midwest Region awards announced that the Interstate 74 Corridor Project, which connects Iowa to Illinois via a multi-use bridge over the Mississippi River, won top honors in the Quality of Life and Community Development category.

For this project, the Illinois and Iowa Departments of Transportation teamed up to take on the task of upgrading the 86-year-old bridge, which was in need of repair. The project was completed and fully opened to traffic on Dec. 2, 2021, and now carries nearly half of all traffic in the Quad Cities region. It was the biggest construction project in the cities' history, with a budget of $981 million.

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This Illinois baseball stadium was named best collegiate summer ballpark

• Tourism
• Springfield
• Recreation
• Illinois
• Sports
• Baseball
• Central Illinois
• Stadium
• Robin Roberts Stadium
• Sangamon County
• Springfield Sliders
• Ballpark
• Baseball Stadium
• Baseball Hall of Fame

The Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park in Springfield was voted Best Collegiate Summer League Stadium last week by Ballpark Digest.

Robin Roberts Stadium went head-to-head with Newport, Rhode Island's Cardines Field in the final round of voting, where the Springfield stadium took the cake with more than three quarters of the vote.

The 2022 Best of the Ballparks contest is based on criteria like the stadium's history, geographic factors, editors' personal evaluations of the ballparks, and performance in prior fan contests.

The near century-old stadium on Springfield's north side first opened for use in 1925 under the name Reservoir Park, when the team was named 'The Springfield Senators'. The Senators played in Springfield for a number of years, ultimately retiring in 1951, leaving the Capital City without a professional baseball team until 1978, when the Springfield Redbirds came to town.

In the 1970s, the park was renamed to Robin Roberts Stadium after baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts, a graduate of Lanphier High School in Springfield who played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1950 to 1955. 

The current league was founded as the Springfield Sliders in 2008 and has been the Stadium's longest tenant. They began playing again in 2022 after a change in ownership in 2021 - now under the name 'Springfield Lucky Horseshoes'. The new name is a nod to a local favorite, the famed Horseshoe Sandwich.

Learn more about the Robin Roberts Stadium on the Springfield Park District's website here.

It’s Sunflower Season in Illinois!

Mid-July is here – making it the perfect time to see sunflowers during their peak. If you’re a sunflower lover, there are plenty of places in Illinois to explore the beautiful, yellow seasonal flower:

• Stade’s Farm and Market, McHenry, Illinois: This location features “U-Pick” and has two acres of 18 different varieties of sunflowers to choose from. You can also pick fruits ad vegetables at this McHenry-based location.
• Von Bergen’s Country Market, Hebron, Illinois: A sunflower festival is hosted here that goes on now through Sept. 5. They have over 30 acres of sunflowers to walk through.
• New Life Bible Church, Pecatonica, Illinois: Last year, this location had 13 acres of sunflowers around the church and decided to do it again this year! It is free to pick the flowers and take pictures throughout their fields.
• Kuiper’s Family Farm, Maple Park, Illinois: This sunflower farm has an attraction that opens on Aug. 27, called Kuiper’s Sunflower Experience, where visitors can walk through and pick over 20 different kinds of sunflowers among the seven acres the farm occupies.

All of these sunflower fields are worth the drive to other parts of our beautiful state. Make sure to go visit one or more of these locations while sunflowers are in full bloom!