The Adler ‘Scope

Header Image: The JWST is being lifted into a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center before it was launched in December 2021. Image Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover In July 2022, the first images from the JWST captivated people all over the world, including here at the Adler Planetarium. This massive, collaborative effort to explore […]

Header Image: Astrophotography image of the Pleiades star cluster taken by Nick Lake.  One of the best meteor showers of the year occurs this month, August 2022. Here’s your stargazing guide to help you see as many meteors as possible—and to keep looking up throughout the month. Spot The Annual Perseids Meteor Shower What makes […]

Image Header: NASA’s Roving with Perseverance traveling exhibit in the Adler Planetarium’s Our Solar System exhibit.  If you work at the Adler Planetarium, you’ll be part of some pretty interesting things. But it’s not every day that you get to be part of a new exhibit installation, especially one from NASA! There is so much […]

Header Image: The Cosmic Cliffs in NGC 3324, also known as the Carina Nebula. This image was taken by the JWST and shows cosmic dust and gas a part of the nebula, but also previously obscured star nurseries and stars that we can now see with the space telescope’s infrared light. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, […]

Header Image: Astrophotography picture of the Moon. Image Credit: Nick Lake Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus are gathering again during the dark hours of early mornings, and another supermoon occurs this month, July 2022. Here’s your stargazing guide to help you look up all throughout the month! When And Where To Spot These Five Planets […]

Header Image: Person sitting at a desk with their laptop on Adler Zooniverse website homepage. 2022. As kids, some of us would look up at the Moon and hope one day we could step foot on it. Maybe you dreamed of blasting off into space on a rocketship as a NASA astronaut or becoming a […]

Header Image: Adler Teens venture onto Lake Michigan in 2019 looking for fragments of a meteorite! Listen. It’s been five years since a meteor crashed into Lake Michigan and a team of Adler teens, scientists, and other determined meteorite hunters decided to go after it.  The odds were stacked against them at basically every turn. […]

All of the planets visible to the naked eye — and some that aren’t visible —are in or near the same quadrant of the pre-dawn sky this month, June 2022. The first planet up is Saturn, which rises in the east-southeast shortly after midnight Central Daylight time through June 14, and shortly before midnight June […]

Header Image: Madge Webster in her element, surrounded by historical scientific instruments, and holding an astrolabe while wearing another one in a necklace (Adler archives). While to many the name “Webster” will evoke a famous dictionary, in the Adler family it resonates with collections, history of astronomy, a passion for scientific instruments, and generous support […]

Header Image: Three Tusken Raider cosplayers sitting on the steps outside the Adler Planetarium for the 2014 Adler After Dark: Geek Chic event. As we were preparing to celebrate Star Wars Day, Adler Astronomer Dr. Geza Gyuk raised a very interesting scientific question about the Star Wars universe: Why do all the aliens in Star Wars […]