NASA's Spirit and Opportunity missions continue to find exciting evidence of past life on Mars, but few people know the long history of Martian exploration. In this Special Topics Exhibit, compare today's images of the red planet with 16th century diagrams charting the motions of Mars and 19th century maps depicting Martian canals.

Things are not always what they seem. The Adler has one of the world's great collections of early modern astronomical instruments and rare books—but lurking within the collection are a few impostors. Many of these originated as honest tributes to the artistry and craftsmanship of an earlier age. Imitation of rare and valuable objects is a slippery slope, however. We know that our collection includes a handful of wicked forgeries—and there could well be a few that we don't know about!

Gemini means more than a space program! NASA named the two-person space missions of the Gemini program after the two-person constellation Gemini, a word that means "twins" in Latin. The brilliant stars Castor and Pollux mark the heads of twin boys in this ancient constellation. Last summer we exhibited some of the most beautiful images of the Twins from the Adler collections in a Special Topics exhibition, but we couldn't fit them all in. We hope you'll enjoy these additional pictures of the Twins from our collection!

Medieval Muslim scientists translated Greek, Indian, Persian, and Babylonian works of science and philosophy into Arabic. As they made advances in astronomy, mathematics, and other sciences, Islamic civilization spread across the Middle East, northern Africa, and through Spain into Europe. Their significant accomplishments influenced science and culture in Renaissance Europe and beyond. Magic bowls, qibla indicators, rare books, and manuscripts in this temporary exhibit supplement astrolabes and sundials on permanent display.

From antiquity to the present day, women have contributed to astronomy research and education. Generally their level of participation reflected societal views on women and their educational opportunities. Over the centuries, however, men wrote astronomy books specifically for women, and individual women learned from a sympathetic father or brother. In ancient Egypt, the female astronomer Hypatia of Alexandria rose to fame while men debated the idea of educational equality. Disagreements over the female intellect still continue in the twenty-first century.

This exhibit highlights only a few of the women who influenced astronomy as schoolteachers, popular authors, university professors, and researchers. Through their accomplishments, each has made success more feasible for future generations of women.

Visitors often wonder how a museum acquires the objects in its collection. The Adler holdings originated with Max Adler's purchase of the famous Mensing Collection. Since its founding the Adler Planetarium has quadrupled the size of that original collection. This small exhibit explores the various ways in which the Adler Planetarium has collected during its first 75 years — from purchases of individual objects to donations of entire private collections. Acquisitions emerge from a constantly–changing interplay among curatorial desires, exhibition needs, the generosity of benefactors, and even storage constraints.

When Max Adler founded the Adler Planetarium 75 years ago, he acquired a major collection of historical instruments of science from an Amsterdam dealer named Anton Mensing. Since then the Adler Planetarium has built one of the world's great collections of scientific instruments around the core of that original Mensing Collection. As the Adler celebrates its 75th anniversary, we have selected some objects from the Mensing Collection that are rarely chosen for display in the context of an astronomy museum. This small exhibit from the Mensing collection emphasizes the breadth of the Adler's historic commitment to a collection showing the human side of science.

The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum opened as the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere on May 12, 1930. Max Adler built the planetarium and acquired historical astronomical instruments because he believed that knowledge of the universe is essential to understanding humanity's place in it. Over the past seventy–five years, the Adler Planetarium has inspired Chicago and the world to look up at the planets and stars. Scientists and artists alike have contributed to our understanding of the universe. This small exhibit — including art, manuscripts, and ephemera from the Adler's past — will lead all to contemplate the majesty of the heavens.

The Muse Urania has long personified astronomy, appearing in books and on maps as an elegant symbol for celestial science. Dressed in flowing, starry robes and surrounded by instruments, scientific diagrams, and portraits of important historical men, she imparts a womanly presence to what has been perceived as a male–dominated field. This next exhibit in the series Special Topics in the History of Astronomy highlights the contributions of women to astronomy from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Rare books, photographs, and letters, both by and about women astronomers, tell the tales of these pioneering astronomers, artisans, and publishers.

Since the dawn of time, humans have worked to define the concept of time itself. Discover the work of inspired craftsmen from centuries past, whose instruments of time were both works of art and practical tools. This exhibit of sundials, clocks, and rare books from the 16th through 18th centuries complements a wide range time–finding instruments on permanent display in The Universe in Your Hands. Part of the Special Topics in the History of Astronomy series that allows visitors to discover new gems of the Adler's collection with each trip to the museum.

Until June 8, 2004, no one alive had seen a transit of Venus — a rare phenomenon in which we can see the silhouette of Venus as the planet passes across the face of the Sun. Only five such transits have been viewed before (in 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, and 1882). Hounded by bad weather, missed opportunities, and even wars, astronomers doggedly pursued these natural events in the name of science. In this exhibit, you can see historical artifacts from the Adler's world-renowned collection that document past transits of Venus.

This exhibit provides an opportunity to look not at the "great men" of science but at the objects that more ordinary men, women, and children would hold in their hands as they attempted to learn about the universe and to improve their lot in life. It is also the story of how new discoveries and advances in science excited public imagination.

Tracing Constellations Through History highlights some of the Adler's collection of exquisite celestial maps, atlases, and astronomical instruments that date from the great age of celestial mapping from the late 1400s through the early 1900s. Using the constellations of Ursa Major (the Great Bear), which includes the Big Dipper, and the lesser-known Argo Navis (the Ship), this exhibit tracks the way artistic, cultural, and technological changes have impacted celestial charts. It also offers a fun, educational activity for creating one's own constellation.

Astronomy has had a long and rich history in Poland. Nicolaus Copernicus is perhaps the most famous astronomer of all time, but Poland has produced a number of other remarkable astronomers. Johannes Hevelius, Stanislaw Lubieniecki, Marcin Bylica, Wojciech of Brudzewo, and Jan Glogowczyk have all contributed significantly to the history of astronomy. This exhibition captures the variety of astronomical activities in Poland through 1690, primarily through a display of the books that these astronomers published.

People throughout history have looked to the sky for many reasons: to chart the heavens, to navigate the seas, to establish their place in the universe, even to divine answers and predict the future. For equally compelling but less practical reasons, people have also looked towards the heavens in awe, delighting in its spectacular beauty. The works in this exhibition are a remarkable combination of observation and imagination. Ranging from glorious to quirky, traditional to innovative, these celestial charts and astronomical illustrations capture the passion artists and artisans from the 15th through the 19th century had for astronomy. These works are significant historical artifacts that also enchant us with their elegant lines and delicate beauty while providing the contemporary viewer with insight into the development of both an art and a science over the centuries. They help us to explore the majesty of the heavens as it must have seemed centuries ago and to appreciate the wonder of new discoveries and the excitement of generations past.

The need to read and interpret the heavens has encouraged astronomy in Asia for nearly four thousand years. Astronomers tracked the complex relationships between the sun and the moon for producing calendars to mark each dynastic reign. Because ancient Chinese peoples believed that the heavens reflected events and relationships on earth, they associated heavenly bodies with earthly counterparts. Just as life on earth revolved around the emperor, the heavens turned around the pole star. The heavens signalled the time for festivals and holidays, and reflected the events of ordinary life as well. The stars informed China's people of their duties to till, sow, and harvest, and reminded them to make offerings to their ancestors. This exhibit displays both celestial and terrestrial objects in areas colored dark sky blue and jade green, respectively, to evoke these parallel realms. As you move through the exhibit, notice how the items displayed refer to heavenly or earthly domains.

Comets have always aroused wonder and excitement when they have appeared in the sky above us. They have been recorded in images and text for several thousand years in cultures as diverse as Ancient Greek, Aztec, Babylonian, Chinese, Egyptian, Islamic, and Native American. Early on they were thought to be atmospheric phenomena that predicted terrible occurrences like war, storms, and plague. Specifics of color, shape, and which constellations the comet progressed through were the keys to how their meanings were interpreted.