In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the telescope, the Adler Planetarium will open a new exhibition, Telescopes: Through the Looking Glass, on May 22, 2009. The most comprehensive exhibition of its kind to date, Telescopes: Through the Looking Glass presents the technology used to gather information about the Universe. From Galileo's first observations in the 17th century to the leading-edge technology employed by the Hubble Space Telescope and to the adaptive optics used in the telescopes of today and tomorrow, the exhibition shows how these amazing instruments have changed our concepts of the Universe and of our place in it.

Featuring some of the world's most important telescopes and one-of-a-kind hands-on interactives, the exhibition will explore the extraordinary beauty and technology of these amazing instruments and the objects they enable us to discover. As science changes every day and the Universe evolves, telescopes continue to provide new views that improve our understanding of the marvelous cosmos in which we live.