Header Image: Couple embracing while looking at the Saturn exhibit in Our Solar System, at the Adler Planetarium. Chicago is a city full of possibilities, opportunities, and adventures. But with so many options of places to go and things to see, how do you find the perfect spot for an out-of-this-world, wholesome date night?  The […]

Header Image: Adler Planetarium December 2021. Editor’s Note: Updated in September 2024 to reflect more current and updated exhibit information. As the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere (and one of the historic attractions located on Chicago’s Museum Campus) we’ve got some pretty stellar exhibits you don’t want to miss during your visit! Read on to […]

Header Image: The Adler Planetarium at night with the constellation Orion shining in the sky. Image Credit: Nick Lake If our social media mentions and DMs are any indication of public sentiment, a lot of you are wondering if the Adler Planetarium is open yet. The answer? It sort of depends on what you mean […]

Header Image: The Zeiss Mark II projector can be seen here in the Adler’s original domed theater in the 1930s. Image Credit: The Adler Planetarium Archives Written By: Mike Smail, Director of Theaters and Digital Experience In January of 1970, the Adler Planetarium de-installed our original Zeiss planetarium projector (the first one in the Western […]

Header Image: Planetarium guests attend a sky show with the Zeiss Mk II projector at the Adler c. 1955. Image Credit: The Adler Planetarium Archives When the Adler Planetarium opened in 1930 as America’s first planetarium, the centerpiece was a star projector made by the Carl Zeiss company of Germany, the Zeiss “Mark II”. This […]

By Mark SubbaRao, PhD and Colleen Cesaretti Header Image: Mark SubbaRao runs the first tech rehearsal for the 2019 November Kavli Lecture, A Universe of Surprises, in the Grainger Sky Theater. Equipped with two fulldome theaters within the Adler’s walls, global domecasting has become an innovative way that we connect with other planetariums, countries, and […]

Header Image: SUE in the brand-new exhibit at the Field Museum with the night sky display in the background When Chicago icon SUE the T. rex had a new exhibit designed, our very own Nick Lake used his expertise and Adler’s technology to map what a Cretaceous sky might have looked like in SUE’s time. […]