The Adler ‘Scope

Header Image: Adler Planetarium 24″ reflecting telescope in the Doane Observatory after installation in 2020. Did you know the Doane Observatory is home to the largest publicly accessible telescope in Chicago? Since opening in 1977, the observatory in Chicago has had several telescopes within its walls, and these telescopes have given Chicagoans the opportunity to […]

Header Image: Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) showing its green glow and three blue ion tails. Image Credit: Jose Francisco Hernández Everyone is talking about the “Green Comet”—aka Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)—right now! This cosmic fuzzball recently made its closest approach to the Sun, and has the potential to be bright enough to be seen from […]

Header Image: Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) showing its green glow and three blue ion tails. Image Credit: Jose Francisco Hernández Editor’s Note: Updated to include information about hyperbolic orbits. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), informally called the “Green Comet”, recently made its closest approach to the Sun, after having traveled tens of thousands of years from […]

Header Image: Color enhanced image of Jupiter’s southern hemisphere, taken on February 12, 2019 by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill Written by Dr. Geza Gyuk, the Adler Planetarium’s Senior Director of Astronomy and Bella Mutert, the Adler Planetarium’s Digital Marketing Specialist Have you ever found yourself wondering, “what would Jupiter taste like?” […]

Header Image: An illustration of the December 2021 Geminid meteor shower. Image Credit: NASA Editor’s Note: This blog has been updated to include information about Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) 2023 opens with Earth’s closest approach to the Sun and a potential showy meteor shower. These events and more are among the sky highlights of this […]

Header Image: Mars reappears on the right side of the moon after an occultation. Image credit: Sergio Scauso An occultation, a meteor shower, a solstice, a planet parade, and Mars’ brightest appearance of the year highlight this month, December 2022. Here’s your stargazing guide for spotting celestial events. Mars and The Moon – A Rare […]

Header Image: Kids looking through a telescope outside at the Adler Planetarium. Author: Emilse Alvarado, Virtual Field Trips Educator and Sarah Smail Picture this: It’s a crisp Tuesday morning. Your class is happily singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ as you pull up to the Adler. You walk into the group entrance and you hear […]

Header Image: Total lunar eclipse on July 7, 2018. Here’s your stargazing guide for November 2022 to help you spot planets and celestial events—including a total lunar eclipse visible in Chicago! Time To Set Your Clocks Back Daylight Saving Time ends on November 6, at 2:00 am local time. This is the day to set […]

Header Image: Hubble Space Telescope portrait of Jupiter taken on June 27, 2019. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) Jupiter and Saturn appear during evening twilight, Mars continues to get brighter, and Mercury just might be visible this month, October 2022. Here’s your stargazing […]

Header Image: This is NGC 1365, the barred spiral galaxy a part of the Fornax Cluster. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC Dark matter. What is it? Why can’t we see it? And how is it related to dark energy and the Big Bang? Every day, we (the astronomers at the Adler Planetarium) get asked curious questions about […]