Enjoy the spectacle of the starry sky as you experience Far Out Fridays at the Adler Planetarium on the first Friday of every month! Scope out the many activities including educational activities for children and families, telescope viewing of the night sky, unlimited shows in the historic Sky Theater and the world's first StarRider Theater, periodic lectures by leading space science specialists and Adler astronomers, and Doane Observatory tours.

Learn how to use your new or old telescope. Bring your scope with you and Adler staff and volunteers will help you set it up and practice using it (weather permitting). Check out activities in the CyberSpace Classroom including Who Wants to be a Martian? trivia game show.

June - Cosmic Collisions
July - Outer Planets
August - The Sun
September - Telescopes

The lectures below are included as part of Far Out Friday admission. Advance registration is not available, and lecture-only admission is not available. Seating is first come, first served.

As part of Far Out Friday, Smithsonian historian Michael J. Neufeld will present a talk on his new book "Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War", a candid look at Wernher von Braun, father of the U.S. rocketry program.

This book is the first authoritative biography of Wernher von Braun, chief rocket engineer of the Third Reich–creator of the infamous V-2 rocket–who became one of the fathers of the U.S. space program. In this meticulously researched and vividly written life, Michael J. Neufeld gives us a man of profound moral complexities, glorified as a visionary and vilified as a war criminal, a man whose brilliance and charisma were coupled with an enormous and, some would say, blinding ambition.

Handsome and likable, von Braun dedicated himself to selling the American public on interplanetary travel and became a household name in the 1950s, appearing on Disney TV shows and writing for popular magazines. But he never fully escaped his past, and in later years he faced increasing questions as his wartime actions slowly came to light.

Based on new sources, Von Braun is a brilliantly nuanced portrait of a man caught between morality and progress, between his dreams of the heavens and the earthbound realities of his life.

Copies of "Von Braun" will be available for signing immediately following the talk.

At the October 5, 2007, Far Out Friday celebrating Sputnik and the dawn of the Space Age, we asked visitors to compose a poem inspired by satellite photography. Although all the entries were excellent, these three were judged the best by Adler staff:

By Carmen M.
Satellites show me the world
Satellites bring the world closer to me
Satellites show me how small I am
and how wonderful and beautiful
our world is.
Satellite, help me show the world
Our planet is a place to be
concerned for the next generation
Satellite, satellite, show me the world

By Greg K.
In the shining light of day
before the Sun tucks itself away
I watch the sky
(not gonna lie)
for signs and stars

When the Sun leaves its lofty space
and a blanket of darkness takes over the place
Again I look to see
what the stars will offer me.
I needn't look far

By Sean M.
Human sensation reaching outward
eyes, ears, antennae all reaching out
for so long we've looked
and now we see
that which is you and me
all around us floating free
Looking closer, ever deeper
into the womb of
our universe
Since our birth we have watched her change
random chance and dynamic flux