Header Image: An attendee looking through a telescope during a ‘Scopes In The City neighborhood event with the Adler Planetarium in 2018. Hi there! I’m Michelle Nichols the Director of Public Observing and an astronomy educator at the Adler Planetarium. Are you a sky observing beginner and want some recommendations on how to get started? […]

Header Image: Adler Teen Stratonaut Duncan A. Yuen presenting the team’s findings about light pollution from the trip to Little Red Schoolhouse at an Adler Planetarium event. Seeing a night sky—specifically one that is not affected by light pollution—can be life-changing! If you live in Chicago or a large city with lots of lights, those […]

Header Image: Adler Teen Alum Grace Crim is seen here working with other team members who were part of the Adler Teens Stratonauts program. Seeing a night sky—specifically one that is not affected by light pollution—can be life-changing! If you live in Chicago or a large city with lots of lights, those lights will drown […]

Header Image: Looking through a telescope at the Adler Planetarium. Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published in August 2020 and was updated in August 2024 with more current information. One question we often get at the Adler is: “I’m a beginner. What’s the best telescope for me?”  The really short answer is, “The best […]

Header Image: In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Hello stargazers! One of the best annual meteor showers of the year occurs this month, August 2020. The Perseid meteor shower is expected […]

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered if a particularly bright star was actually a planet? It can be tricky business, but with some helpful tools to equip you, you’ll be identifying planets in no time! Follow this guide to figure out if what you’re looking at is a planet or […]

If you receive a letter from me, it will likely end with my favorite call-to-action, “Keep Looking Up.” And, while some have interpreted this phrase to have optimism as its intention, I have a much more literal request in mind. Look Up. Yes, you. Right now. I’ll wait… Chances are you noticed something you hadn’t […]

Have you ever seen a comet in the night sky? I suspect most of the people reading this haven’t. It’s not that there aren’t a lot of comets in the Solar System—more than 5,000 have been discovered so far and several dozen can be spotted using very large telescopes each year—but because most comets are […]