Header Image: Up close image of the Moon taken by an Adler Planetarium astronomer in June 2020. Image Credit: Michelle Nichols The “Red Planet” is at its closest and brightest for the year this month, October 2020. On the 6th, the planet Mars reaches its closest point to Earth for the next 15 years. In […]

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 […]

Header Image: Look Up to see Jupiter and Saturn are among the stars of Sagittarius the Archer throughout July 2020. With clear skies, a clear view to the eastern horizon, and good timing, you may be able to see all five naked-eye visible planets this month, July 2020. The brilliant planet Jupiter starts the show, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Happy April, stargazers! The closest supermoon of the year takes place this month, April 2020. Supermoon is a nickname that describes a Full Moon that occurs within 10% of its closest approach to Earth. Astronomers refer to supermoons as a perigean Full Moon. The April 7th Full Moon is just under 222,000 miles from Earth. […]

The three naked-eye-visible planets outside Earth’s orbit will appear less than 20 degrees apart in the sky this month, March 2020. The planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can be seen low in the southeast just as morning-twilight begins to lighten the sky. Jupiter is the brightest of the three, and it serves as a guidepost […]

Header Image: Graphic representation of the Winter Solstice which will occur on December 21st, 2019 at 10:19pm. The brightest planet, Venus, begins a run of many weeks’ worth of spectacular viewing in the evening skies this month, December 2019. Venus starts off the month very low in the southwest after sunset, setting only about 90 […]

Header Image: Orionid meteors appear every year around this time when Earth travels through an area of space littered with debris from Halley’s Comet. Credit: NASA/JPL The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer this month, October 2019. But the longer nights mean more night-sky objects to observe. During evening twilight this […]

Learn about what’s in the sky for the month of September 2019 from the Chicago area.