The Adler ‘Scope

Header Image: The outside of the Adler Planetarium in June 2019 flying the Chicago flag and Progress Pride flag. My name is Kenzie Elizabeth, and I am a LGBTQ+ filmmaker, writer, retired drag queen, and activist from Chicago, and I’m here to talk about space! And it’s June! That’s Pride month, baby! This time last […]

This year’s summer solstice occurs on the 20th, at 4:44 p.m. Central Daylight Time. On that date the Sun rises just before 5:15 a.m. and doesn’t set until shortly after 8:30 p.m. Between those times, the Sun gets very high in the sky. Keep in mind this takes place in the Northern Hemisphere; those in […]

Header Image: A beautiful image of The Whirlpool Galaxy taken by an Adler Planetarium Telescope Volunteer. Image Credit: Bill Chiu Our universe is vast, mysterious, and ever expanding! Astronomers are constantly discovering and uncovering new secrets about space, which we know can lead to lots of questions. What is a black hole? When can you […]

Happy Star Wars Day! This epic saga has been inspiring people all around the globe—including Adler Planetarium staff—since 1977. Our staff celebrated this intergalactic holiday by sharing some of their favorite Star Wars memories. May the force be with you and remember—yoda best! “I’ve loved Star Wars for as long as I can remember! Two […]

What’s better than the near approach of a comet? How about the near approach of two comets? That’s what we’re expecting during the month of May, 2020! Comet C/2019 Y4, also known as Comet ATLAS, was discovered late last December. It will come closest to Earth on May 23rd, at a distance of about 72 […]

“Chicago’s Black Women in STEAM” is a series on The Adler ’Scope that highlights the awesome women of Chicago who are doing amazing things in science, technology, engineering, art, and math fields here in our own community. Meet women of varying ages, backgrounds, and interests and learn their unique stories. Choumika Simonis Medical Student at […]

Header Image: NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center hosted a NASA Social at BLDG 703 in Palmdale, California. Over 90 attendees toured the aircraft inside the hangar as they learned about the five airborne science expeditions targeting air, land, and sea. Image Credit: NASA As my tour group entered the gigantic airplane hangar at the Armstrong […]

Header Image: Pocket globe by Thomas Lane (London, c. 1830), Adler Planetarium collections. This globe was symbolically taken aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1999 during the mission STS-103.  The conception of Earth has changed dramatically over time. It was only four centuries ago that Earth started to be widely regarded as a planet, and it […]

Header Image: Senior Writer Aubrey Henretty interviews Captain Lovell in 2016. It was the second week at home when I remembered what Capt. Lovell said about surviving Apollo 13. The first week had been a blur of stress-cleaning, stress-cardio, hyperproductivity, and Apocalypse Lentil Soup. I am an anxious person even in non-pandemic times, and I […]

Header Image: The spotty surface of Betelgeuse shown with two, large, bright, star spots. The spots potentially represent enormous convective cells rising from below the supergiant’s surface. They are bright because they’re hotter than the rest of the surface, but both spots and surface are cooler than the Sun. Image Credit: Xavier Haubois (Observatoire de […]