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Earth Needs YOU (To Join An Adler Zooniverse Earth Science Project)

Header Image: The famous Earthrise photo from the Apollo 8 mission. Image Credit: NASA

Have you been avoiding the news about climate change? Averting your eyes every time someone presents you with a terrifying graph of global temperatures over the last few decades—or worse, one of the graphs that also projects what the temperature will be over the NEXT few decades? Enjoying the unseasonably warm days while also fighting a creeping sense of doom? Friend, I can relate.

Climate change is scary.

The last few years on Earth have been among the warmest on record. Wildfires, extreme weather, and natural disasters are becoming more common. Climate change is real, it’s happening right now, and it can feel overwhelming.

But YOU can help!

Just because a problem feels big doesn’t mean it’s too big to manage. The more we know about our planet, its natural history, and all its complex, interconnected ecosystems, the better prepared we will be to take good care of it—and to adapt as it changes around us. But you don’t have to be an Earth scientist to make real contributions to this important field of research!

Adler Zooniverse connects volunteers like you from all over the world with research teams who need your help sorting through huge data sets. You don’t need any special training or skills to join an Earth science project and make a difference. All you need is your own powers of observation and the device you’re reading this on.

So take a deep breath and check out the latest Zooniverse climate science projects! The planet is counting on you not only during Earth Month, but all year long.

Recent Climate Science Projects

  • Penguin Watch: count penguin adults, chicks, and eggs in far away lands to help research scientists understand their lives and environment.
  • Sunspot Detectives: look at drawings of the Sun that were made more than 100 years ago to help astronomers understand our Sun’s past and how the star affects our planet.
  • South Coast Threatened Fauna Recovery Project: identify wildlife via images taken from the south coast of Western Australia to help researchers protect Western Australia’s rarest mammal and bird.
  • Mapping Change: transcribe hand-written museum specimen labels to help scientists map the distribution of animals, plants, and fungi in the Midwestern US.
  • Wildwatch Burrowing Owl: look at images of the western burrowing owl to help conservationists in San Diego, California better understand their ecology and behavior to protect this species.
  • Frog Find: listen to audio clips of frog sounds recorded across NSW National Parks to help scientists find and protect threatened frogs.

Learn More About Adler Zooniverse

Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research, aka citizen science! In 2024, the Zooniverse platform won the award for ‘Open Science to Advance Innovation’ from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Year of Open Science Recognition Challenge.

Researchers need volunteers (that’s you) to assist in processing large sets of data for projects across a variety of different topics like art, biology, climate, history, language, literature, medicine, nature, physics, social science, and space. You don’t need any specialized background, training, or expertise to participate in Zooniverse projects and finding a project you’re passionate about helping is easy. Just ask the other 2.7 million Zooniverse citizen scientists! All you need to contribute to real academic research is a curious mind, a willingness to learn, and a computer or phone.

Adler Skywatch: April 2024

Header image: The “diamond ring” phenomena occurs just before totality occurs, during a total solar eclipse. Image credit: Rick Fienberg/TravelQuest International/Wilderness Travel

The biggest sky event of the entire year takes place in bright daylight—or not-so-bright daylight—this month, April 2024.

Totality Awesome Solar Eclipse

The celestial event we’ve all been waiting for is finally here! The total solar eclipse will take place on April 8. For almost all of North America, a portion of the Sun will be briefly covered by the new Moon in the middle of the day. For fortunate viewers in a very narrow path running from southwest to northeast across the continent, the Sun will be fully covered by the new Moon for no longer than a few minutes, resulting in a total solar eclipse! In the Chicago area, a partial eclipse occurs from 12:51 pm–3:22 pm CDT, with maximum coverage of 94 percent at roughly 2:07 pm.

Adler Planetarium infographic showing the coverage of the Sun during the April 8, 2024 partial solar eclipse in the Chicagoland area. Text reads “Solar Eclipse Viewing Chart April 8, 2024, all times listed are for the Chicago area.” “Visit TimeAndDate.com/Eclipse for times for your location.” “12:51 pm, CDT Eclipse Begins, 2:07 pm CDT Maximum Eclipse, 3:22 pm CDT Eclipse Ends” “Do not look directly at the Sun! You must use safe solar viewing glasses to see this eclipse.”
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic showing the coverage of the Sun during the April 8, 2024 partial solar eclipse in the Chicagoland area. Text reads “Solar Eclipse Viewing Chart April 8, 2024, all times listed are for the Chicago area.” “Visit TimeAndDate.com/Eclipse for times for your location.” “12:51 pm, CDT Eclipse Begins, 2:07 pm CDT Maximum Eclipse, 3:22 pm CDT Eclipse Ends” “Do not look directly at the Sun! You must use safe solar viewing glasses to see this eclipse.”

Remember, NEVER look at the Sun without special solar viewers to prevent eye damage and potential blindness. The only exception is in the brief moments when the Sun is totally eclipsed—which it won’t be for the Chicago area and almost all other places in North America. For more information on this very special event, check out our blog, Everything You Need To Know For The April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse.

Happy Earth Day

For over a half-century, April 22 has marked the day where inhabitants of our home planet gather to celebrate Earth Day—a nationwide awareness event. Earth Day began in 1970 and is considered the start of the modern environmental movement. The official theme for Earth Day 2024 is Planet vs. Plastics in effort to reduce planet-wide production of plastics.

Night-Time Sky Observing

The Lyrid meteor shower takes place this month, with a forecasted peak of about 18 meteors per hour under very clear, very dark skies. Its radiant is not far from the bright star Vega, in the constellation Lyra—where the shower gets its name.

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the Lyrid meteor shower which peaks in the eastern sky on April 22–23, 2024. The stars Vega within the constellation Lyra, where the shower emanates from, are highlighted.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the Lyrid meteor shower which peaks in the eastern sky on April 22–23, 2024. The star Vega and the constellation Lyra, where the shower emanates from, are highlighted.

The Lyrids are expected to peak on the night of April 22 and the early-morning darkness of April 23. Unfortunately, the Moon will be nearly full on those dates and its light will blot fainter meteors from view. Try looking a couple days before the shower’s peak, when the Moon is not quite as large and will set earlier in the evening, further away from the shower’s radiant point. As always, when looking for meteors, take 20 minutes or so to get your eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The bright planet Jupiter has dominated the night sky for the past several months. However, in April it appears only briefly, low in the western sky after sunset. By month’s end, Jupiter sets in the west-northwest barely an hour after the Sun.

The first two weeks of the month, the planet Mars rises in the east-southeast during morning twilight. By April 6, the planet Saturn may also be visible very low in the east-southeast, not far from Mars and just above a very slim, waning crescent Moon. The two planets are almost identical in brightness this month—a little dimmer than first-magnitude.

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the conjunction of Mars and Saturn on April 10, 2024 in the southeastern sky.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the conjunction of Mars and Saturn on April 10, 2024 in the southeastern sky.

Mars and Saturn also appear to move closer with each passing morning. Between April 9–12, they’re only about one degree apart. The planets are less than 10 degrees high in the east-southeast, so you’ll need a very clear view of the horizon to see them. As the Sun rises earlier each morning this month, the two planets are blotted from view by the third week of the month.

The planet Mercury is hard to spot this month at only about second-magnitude. You may be able to catch it on April 1–2, about 45 minutes after sunset. You’ll need both a clear sky and a view to the west-northwest horizon to see it. 

The brightest planet, Venus, is too close to the Sun this month to be observable.

Moon Phases

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the April full Moon, nicknamed the Pink Moon, on April 23, 2024. The illustration shows three bright pink flowers in the center of the full Moon with text that reads “Pink Moon”.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the April full Moon, nicknamed the Pink Moon, on April 23, 2024. The illustration shows three bright pink flowers in the center of the full Moon with text that reads “Pink Moon”.

Last Quarter Moon: April 1

New Moon: April 8

First Quarter Moon: April 15

Full Moon: April 23

Please note: these descriptions are for the Chicago area, using Central time.

Subscribe To Skywatch Wednesday This April!

Tour the sky with the Adler Planetarium’s Theaters Manager, Nick, in Skywatch Wednesday. Nick uses cutting edge visualizations, NASA images, and astrophotography to show you what you can see in the night sky throughout the year.

Check out Nick’s latest episode for your ultimate guide to spring stargazing and the April solar eclipse! Don’t miss your chance to see Orion the Hunter and learn how to find constellations like Leo, Ursa Major, Boötes, and Virgo; and more.

 

Learn From Our Astronomy Educators!

Watch exclusive live episodes of Sky Observers Hangout this April! Learn how to observe upcoming cosmic happenings, enhance your astrophotography skills, and see celestial objects through a telescope virtually with our astronomy educators.

In our latest episode, Michelle and Hunter guide you through one of the winter sky’s most famous constellations: Orion the Hunter! Explore why this constellation has intrigued humans for millennia and uncover its stellar mysteries—from belt to Betelgeuse.

Everything You Need To Know About The April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Header Image: A total solar eclipse as seen on August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon, USA. Image Credit: NASA/ Aubrey Gemignani

On April 8, 2024, starting at 12:51 pm CDT, the Moon will begin to pass in front of the Sun and a total (or partial) solar eclipse will occur.

Here’s everything you need to know to see this celestial phenomenon from Illinois or most locations in the United States.

Solar Eclipse Basics

A solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Moon, and Earth line up, and the Moon (which is between the Sun and Earth) temporarily blocks the Sun’s light. The kind of eclipse you see from your location depends on the Moon’s orbital path across Earth’s surface and how far away the Moon is from Earth and from the Sun.

The only Moon phase where the Sun-Moon-Earth special lineup can happen to create a solar eclipse is new Moon, and we don’t get a solar eclipse at every new Moon. This is because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is angled a little with respect to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Due to this angled orbit, the Moon’s shadow at new Moon usually misses the Earth. When the Sun, Moon, and Earth line up just right and the Moon’s shadow falls on the Earth, then we see a solar eclipse.

Adler Planetarium infographic showing the differences between a "Partial Solar Eclipse" a "Total Solar Eclipse" and an "Annular Solar Eclipse"
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic showing the differences between a “Partial Solar Eclipse” a “Total Solar Eclipse” and an “Annular Solar Eclipse”

There are three different types of solar eclipses: partial, total, and annular.

A partial solar eclipse is when the Moon partly covers the Sun—it usually looks like a bite has been taken out of it!

A total solar eclipse is when the Moon totally covers the Sun.

An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon appears a little smaller in the sky than the Sun, so it cannot fully block the Sun’s rays. During an annular eclipse, you’ll see a bright ring around the edges of the Moon with the Sun peeking out from behind it. The word annular is Latin and means “ring.”

Whether we get an annular solar eclipse or a total solar eclipse depends on two distances. The Earth-Moon distance varies by about 12%, and the Earth-Sun distance varies by about 3%. The result of those changing distances means that the apparent sizes of the Moon and Sun in our sky both change a little bit. Sometimes, the Moon appears large enough to fully cover the Sun and we get a total eclipse. Sometimes, the Moon isn’t large enough to fully cover the Sun, and we get an annular eclipse.

Can I See The Total or Partial Solar Eclipse From My Location?

Map view of the path of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse from “Time and Date."
Image Caption: Map view of the path of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse from “Time and Date.”

This solar eclipse will visible be across most of the North American continent, including all of the United States of America (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), parts of Latin America, Canada, Greenland, and the United Kingdom. You will be able to see either a total solar eclipse or partial solar eclipse depending on your location.

Adler Planetarium infographic showing the coverage of the Sun during the April 8, 2024 partial solar eclipse in the Chicagoland area. Text reads “Solar Eclipse Viewing Chart April 8, 2024, all times listed are for the Chicago area.” “Visit TimeAndDate.com/Eclipse for times for your location.” “12:51 pm, CDT Eclipse Begins, 2:07 pm CDT Maximum Eclipse, 3:22 pm CDT Eclipse Ends” “Do not look directly at the Sun! You must use safe solar viewing glasses to see this eclipse.”
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic showing the coverage of the Sun during the April 8, 2024 partial solar eclipse in the Chicagoland area. Text reads “Solar Eclipse Viewing Chart April 8, 2024, all times listed are for the Chicago area.” “Visit TimeAndDate.com/Eclipse for times for your location.” “12:51 pm, CDT Eclipse Begins, 2:07 pm CDT Maximum Eclipse, 3:22 pm CDT Eclipse Ends” “Do not look directly at the Sun! You must use safe solar viewing glasses to see this eclipse.”

In Chicago, the partial solar eclipse will occur from 12:51 pm–3:22 pm CDT. It is at its maximum coverage—when 94% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon as seen from Chicago—at 2:07 pm CDT. Most cities in Illinois and the midwest will see 85%–100% maximum coverage of the Sun during the peak of the partial solar eclipse.

Adler Planetarium infographic showing the maximum total solar eclipse or partial solar eclipse visibility in 11 cities across Illinois during the April 8, 2024 eclipse.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic showing the maximum total solar eclipse or partial solar eclipse visibility in 11 cities across Illinois during the April 8, 2024 eclipse.

In Illinois, the path of totality will go through Carbondale, Mt. Vernon, Mt. Carmel, and Metropolis. In the United States of America, many cities in the following states also lie in the path of totality: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Maine. 

To see the total solar eclipse path and figure out when this solar eclipse will be visible in your area, Check out Time and Date’s interactive map.

How Do You Safely View A Solar Eclipse?

You must always use proper solar viewing equipment when looking up at any type of solar eclipse. Homemade filters or regular sunglasses are NOT safe for viewing an eclipse, and irreversible eye damage can occur in seconds. You won’t feel eye damage until it has happened. You do not have nerve endings inside your eyes that will register pain as the damage is occurring. Certified solar viewing glasses or viewers must comply with the transmission requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard to be used to look up during any type of solar eclipse.

The only exception to the rule of never looking at the Sun is this: if you are within the path of totality and the Moon has covered 100% of the bright surface of the Sun, that’s the only time when you can safely view the eclipse without solar viewers or glasses. In fact, you need to remove your viewers or glasses to view totality directly. Why? The solar viewers are too dark! You won’t see totality! As soon as the bright surface of the Sun reappears after totality, then you will need to look away from the Sun and/or put your solar glasses or viewers back on.

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting how a pinhole projector works. Light from the Sun travels through the small hole in the foil and reflects the image o the Sun on the screen, creating a safe way to look at the Sun, especially during a solar eclipse.

If you do not have solar viewers or solar glasses, you can look at an image of the eclipse through pinhole projection! Pinhole projection means that sunlight projects through a small hole in an object onto a surface beyond, and you look at the solar image on the surface. Never look through a pinhole at the Sun.

You can use your hands as pinhole projectors. Put your back to the Sun. Put the outstretched, slightly open fingers of one hand over the outstretched, slightly open fingers of your other hand in a criss-cross or tic-tac-toe pattern. Look at your hands’ shadow on the ground. The little spaces between your fingers will be the pinholes that will project a grid of small eclipse images. You may need to adjust the spacing of your fingers a bit to see the shadows better.

Trees can also be used as pinhole projectors. Look down at the ground underneath trees. The tiny spaces between the leaves will be the pinholes that will create dozens of images of the partial eclipse.

Household materials can also be made into pinhole projectors. Punch a small hole in an index card or paper plate or piece of aluminum foil, and use that to project an image of the eclipse onto the ground. Or, find objects that have small holes in them, such as pasta strainers or pieces of pegboard. You can even try using small holes in different foods as the pinholes—try crackers!

Learn how to make a pinhole projector using a cardboard box!

Partial Solar Eclipse Timeline

Partial Solar Eclipse Starts: 12:51 pm CDT

Maximum Eclipse Coverage: 2:07 pm CDT

Partial Solar Eclipse Ends: 3:22 pm CDT

Please note these times are for the Chicago area.

Tips and Tricks For Safely Seeing This Solar Eclipse

  • Check the weather beforehand
  • Double check the time of the solar eclipse phases in your time zone leading up to maximum coverage
  • Always use proper and protective solar filtered eyewear

To stay up-to-date with all things solar eclipse, be sure to sign up for our emails and select “Eclipses Across Illinois + Solar Eclipse Info.”

Get The Tips You Need To Watch The Total Solar Eclipse From Wherever You Are

Can’t join us in person? No sweat! Learn how to see the solar eclipse from wherever you are by watching this very special episode of Sky Observers Hangout. Broadcast in front of a live audience from the steps of Shryock Auditorium at Southern Illinois University on April 7, Adler astronomy educators Michelle and Hunter will ensure that you’re fully equipped to observe the eclipse yourself, but they won’t be alone! Special guests from SIU and NASA Edge will join them on-stream, so come with all your eclipse questions in the chat!

The Top Three Multiverse Theories: Many Worlds, Bubble Universes, And Shadow Matter

Header image: The Adler Planetarium’s fulldome sky show, Niyah and the Multiverse, which explores multiverse theories like many worlds, bubble universe, and shadow matter. 

Written by Dr. Geza Gyuk, the Adler Planetarium’s senior director of astronomy.

The universe is vast, almost beyond comprehension: trillions of galaxies with billions of stars and countless planets spread out over a tapestry billions of light-years wide. It may stretch far beyond even what is visible. But if you feel small and insignificant, just wait! Even this overwhelming space may be only a tiny part of what is. Our universe may be only a fraction of a much larger multiverse, an assemblage of universes dizzying in its extent. 

In the Adler’s new sky show, Niyah and the Multiverse, we take the viewer on a wild tour of just some of the physical theories that imply that such a multiverse might exist. These aren’t Marvel Cinematic Universe-style multiverses, so don’t expect objects and people popping in and out and between them. But they are based on honest-to-goodness real science that has real evidence backing it up. These are deep waters we are wandering into. It might get a bit confusing at times, but the trip is worth it. So let’s get right to it. 

Many Worlds

Title card for the many world multiverse theory, as seen in Niyah and the Multiverse. Text reads “THE MANY WORLD THEORY” in multicolored letters seen in front of a red-orange depiction of a wormhole.
Image caption: title card for the many world multiverse theory, as seen in Niyah and the Multiverse. Text reads “THE MANY WORLD THEORY” in multicolored letters seen in front of a red-orange depiction of a wormhole.

The first multiverse idea that Niyah explores is the “many worlds” interpretation of quantum theory. 

When you are doing science, one of the most fundamental things you learn is how to go back and forth from the physical real world to the equations that describe the real world. It is basically the same thing as doing a word problem in math class. You have something happening in the real world and you have to figure out how to describe it in math/physics language. The mathematical description is called a “model.” You can use the laws of physics to predict how the mathematical “model” will change in the future, and then use the changes to the model to figure out what the real world will look like in the future. It is a powerful tool and is the basis of science.

If you do this process with the equations of quantum theory, you get something really, really puzzling. Imagine that you take an electron at a particular position, then model it in the equations and let time progress. You’d expect that the equations would tell you that the electron has moved to a particular other position. But they don’t!

Instead, the equations say that the electron could be in an infinite number of possible positions, each with a different “amplitude.” The standard interpretation of this is that the “amplitude” tells you the probability of the electron being in each location, but that it is really in only one of those locations. But this interpretation isn’t really based on any physics; it isn’t what the equations “say.” The most straightforward interpretation is that we were wrong to think of an electron as something that could ever be in any single place. One way to think of this is that there are actually many versions of reality, “many worlds,” and the “amplitude” tells us what fraction of the universes in the multiverse have the electron in that particular location.

Now quantum theory is one of the most precisely tested theories of physics. It makes predictions that are almost embarrassingly accurate and have been tested over and over again with exquisite precision. So this isn’t some wild-eyed conspiracy theory! And neither is it simply something crazy that happens in the realm of the ultra-small. The rules of physics still apply even for macroscopic objects.

The Adler Planetarium’s example of Schrödinger’s cat, Bast, in Niyah and the Multiverse. Bast is depicted as an ancient Egyptian style cat mummy, staying true to the show’s Afrofuturist style.
Image caption: the Adler Planetarium’s example of Schrödinger’s cat, Bast, in Niyah and the Multiverse. Bast is depicted as an ancient Egyptian style cat mummy, staying true to the show’s Afrofuturist style.

The physicist Erwin Schrödinger envisioned a thought experiment that made this very dramatically clear. Imagine, he said, a cat inside a box. The box is completely opaque. Inside the box is a device that monitors a single particle. If the particle does one thing the cat is killed, if it does another the cat is allowed to live. So the state of the cat is tied directly to the state of a single subatomic particle. If we wait and come back to the box, what can we say about the cat without looking into the box? Is it alive or dead? According to our current understanding of quantum theory, the answer is both! We have to take the Many Worlds interpretation seriously no matter how strange and hard it is to wrap our heads around. 

Bubble Universes

Title card for the bubble universe multiverse theory, as seen in Niyah and the Multiverse. Text reads “THE BUBBLE UNIVERSE THEORY” in blue and pink bubble letters seen in front of a turquoise depiction of a wormhole.
Image caption: title card for the bubble universe multiverse theory, as seen in Niyah and the Multiverse. Text reads “THE BUBBLE UNIVERSE THEORY” in blue and pink bubble letters seen in front of a turquoise depiction of a wormhole.

So at this point you are probably wondering if it can get any weirder. Well, hold on to your hat! The next potential multiverse theory Niyah explores is based on the physics of the very, very early universe right back during the big bang.

In the first trillionth of a trillionth of a second of its existence, the universe was expanding exceedingly quickly. Stupendously quickly. Even mind-bogglingly quickly! And it was very, very hot—exceedingly hot. Stupendously hot. Dare I say it? Mind-bogglingly hot! 

It turns out that this exceedingly quick expansion rate, called “inflation,” may be the natural state of the universe. If it is, then the true state of the universe is to expand so quickly that it doubles in size many trillions of times every second. So much real-estate! It is only when the universe is able to break out of its “inflationary” stage that it can cool down to become “normal” space and expand much more slowly.

But even if 99.99 percent of the universe stops inflating and becomes “normal” space, the remaining 0.01 percent will, within a tiny fraction of a trillionth of a second, expand so much that it will be far bigger than the rest of the “normal” universe. The region of “normal” space (that was, until a tiny fraction of a trillionth of a second ago, almost the entire universe), would be reduced to a tiny bubble within a vast sea of expansion. And this process can repeat over and over again, with countless bubbles of “normal” space forming within an indescribably vast expanse of inflationary space. These bubbles are huge universes themselves, small only in comparison to everything else. According to this theory, our universe is just one of these bubbles.

And what is even more incredible, is that in the process of cooling down from the insanely hot temperatures at which inflation takes place, the universe can change its fundamental laws. Different bubble universes might have different laws of physics. In one, light might not exist as we know it. In another, the familiar particles like the electron might not exist or be subtly changed.

Even as you read this, the multiverse has increased in size by trillions of times, and countless universes with varying laws of nature have been born. How’s that for mind-boggling?

Shadow Matter

Title card for the shadow matter multiverse theory, as seen in Niyah and the Multiverse. Text reads “SHADOW MATTER” in black letters seen in front of a purple depiction of a wormhole.
Image caption: title card for the shadow matter multiverse theory, as seen in Niyah and the Multiverse. Text reads “SHADOW MATTER” in black letters seen in front of a purple depiction of a wormhole.

In the third chapter of Niyah’s adventures, she briefly considers the concept of shadow matter. 

You may have heard of dark matter. Dark matter is the substance that provides the vast majority (more than 80 percent) of the matter in the universe. We can’t see it, and it doesn’t seem to interact with the normal matter in the universe except through gravity. But we know it is there by the way its gravity tugs around what we can see. For decades, astronomers have wondered what dark matter could be and have come up with many many theories to explain it. One theory suggests that at least some dark matter might be something called shadow or mirror matter. 

So what is mirror matter? Well, perhaps you have heard of electrons, protons and neutrons. It turns out that protons and neutrons can be broken down into smaller particles called “up” and “down” quarks. Along with the (electron) neutrino, the up and down quark and the electron make up the first “generation” of normal matter. Pretty much just those four elementary particles make up everything we see in the universe. 

But oddly enough, we have discovered that there are two more generations of particles! They don’t seem to have any “use,” but they exist. When the first of these were discovered, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist I.I. Rabi joked, “who ordered that?”

The second generation consists of the “charm” and “strange” quarks, the muon, and the muon neutrino. Matter made up of these particles would be called strange matter, but we don’t see any of it around in normal circumstances. The third generation includes the “top” and “bottom” quarks and the tau and tau neutrino—exotic particles that require massive particle accelerators to create.

The three generations are like copies of each other, but each a little bit different. These 12 particles, along with a few others like the photon, make up the “standard model” of particle physics.

But if there are extra copies of the first generation of particles just lying around, maybe there could be extra copies of the whole set of 12 particles? Sort of like a mirror image of the usual set! Some versions of string theory suggest exactly this. We don’t know if this is the case for sure, but it is possible! And if these extra particles exist, then they might have exactly the same properties as normal matter, just without the ability to interact with normal matter—only themselves.

Shadow/mirror matter would be a form of matter that is just like our own regular matter, except unseeable and undetectable (other than by gravity). So it could form shadow galaxies and shadow stars and maybe even shadow planets and shadow life. Anything that normal matter could do, shadow matter could also do. But the two types of matter simply wouldn’t interact with each other. We could never see it. Even if it were right in our own neighborhood.

Learn More In Niyah And The Multiverse!

Audience sits in the Adler Planetarium’s Grainger Sky Theater watching Niyah and the Multiverse. Screen shows young Niyah meeting grown-up astrophysicist Niyah in the multiverse where they discuss multiverse theory in front of a blackboard with equations written on them.
Image caption: audience sits in the Adler Planetarium’s Grainger Sky Theater watching Niyah and the Multiverse. Screen shows young Niyah meeting grown-up astrophysicist Niyah in the multiverse where they discuss multiverse theory in front of a blackboard with equations written on them.

Now that we’ve emerged on the other end of multiverse theory with our minds properly boggled, come see these theories in action in our fulldome planetarium show, Niyah and the Multiverse! Explore multiverse theory with Niyah, a curious Chicago pre-teen, as her imagination guides her through the possibilities of other worlds. Get your ticket through the multiverse now!

Adler Skywatch: March 2024

Header image: the penumbral lunar eclipse as seen in Sun Valley, Idaho, on November 30, 2020. Image credit: Nils Ribi via Earthsky.org, edited by the Adler Planetarium.

Daylight Saving Time begins, spring arrives, Mercury comes out of hiding, and our evening sky prepares for the April 8 solar eclipse with a penumbral lunar eclipse at the end of the month. Check out what’s up in the March 2024 sky!

Time For A Time Change

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting a clock moving one hour ahead for Daylight Saving Time on March 10, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting a clock moving one hour ahead for Daylight Saving Time on March 10, 2024.

Daylight Saving Time starts at 2:00 am on March 10 this year. Clocks get set one hour ahead (luckily for us, most cell phones change the time for us)! We’ll lose an hour of sleep that morning, but we’ll get it back later this year when Daylight Savings ends on November 3.

Daylight Saving time plays tricks on the timing of sunrise this month. Looking strictly at the clock, the Sun rises about ten minutes later on March 31 than it does on March 1. But in actuality, the Sun has been rising earlier each day since winter started on December 21, 2023. If Daylight Saving Time didn’t move the clocks an hour ahead, the Sun would rise 50 minutes earlier on March 31 than it does on March 1.

The 2024 vernal equinox, which marks the start of spring in the northern hemisphere, occurs on March 19, at 10:06 pm Central Daylight time (CDT). The past three years, the vernal equinox fell on March 20. However, in 2020, it also fell on March 19. A major factor in this earlier start date is that both 2020 and 2024 are leap years! 

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting a bird sitting on a branch with colorful flowers around the Sun. Text reads “HAPPY SPRING”.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting a bird sitting on a branch with colorful flowers around the Sun. Text reads “HAPPY SPRING”.

Planet Spotting

From March 15–31, try to see the usually hard-to-spot planet Mercury. It’s both the smallest planet and the planet closest to the Sun, so it’s often invisible due to the Sun’s glaring brightness. But this month, Mercury’s apparent distance from the Sun becomes just far enough away to catch a glimpse of the planet. 

Start looking about 40 minutes after sunset. You’ll need a clear sight-line to the west to see it since it will be only about 7–10 degrees above the horizon. As each evening passes, it gets slightly dimmer—particularly after March 25. By the end of the month, Mercury is dimmer than a first magnitude star. Don’t get it confused with the brighter planet Jupiter, which is only about 20 degrees up and to the left of Mercury.

Jupiter’s brightness makes it highly visible—even in comparison to any bright stars near it. At the start of the month, it’s about 60 degrees high in the southwest sky during twilight. Each evening, the planet inches closer to the Sun, it appears only about 30 degrees above the edge of the solar disk by the end of March. It sets in the west-northwest around 10:30 pm Central Standard Time at the start of the month, and around 10:00 pm Central Daylight Time at the end of the month.  

The evening of March 13, Jupiter appears less than two degrees to the left of a very slim waxing crescent Moon. The next evening, March 14, the tiny but twinkly Pleiades star cluster appears to nearly sit on top of the crescent Moon’s dark edge! During the evening of March 18, the Moon will be just below Pollux, the brightest star in the constellation Gemini.

March Mornings

In the mornings, the brightest planet, Venus, will be very low in the east-southeast sky shortly before sunrise. You’ll need a clear sight-line to the horizon and probably something to block the glare of the rising Sun to see it—for example, a tree or the edge of a building. As the Sun rises earlier each day in March, it’s best to try looking for Venus earlier in the month.

What you most likely will not see in March is the much fainter planet Mars, which is positioned slightly above Venus. About mid-month, Saturn begins to move out of dawn’s glare. However, it will be very dim and likely too close to the Sun to see it, so don’t risk your eyesight attempting it! You’ll have better luck viewing Saturn in April.

Eclipses Incoming

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the penumbral lunar eclipse on March 24–25, 2024. Text reads “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: March 24–25, 2024” “Penumbral Eclipse Starts: 11:53 pm CDT March 24, Maximum Eclipse: 2:12 am CDT, March 25, Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 4:32 am CDT March 25”.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the penumbral lunar eclipse on March 24–25, 2024. Text reads “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: March 24–25, 2024” “Penumbral Eclipse Starts: 11:53 pm CDT March 24, Maximum Eclipse: 2:12 am CDT, March 25, Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 4:32 am CDT March 25”.

Excitement is building for the Great North American Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024. But did you know that eclipses of the Sun and the Moon come in pairs? When an eclipse of one occurs, an eclipse of the other happens about two weeks before or after. Because the Sun, Moon, and Earth will be in the proper orbital alignment for the solar eclipse to occur during the new Moon, it also means the alignment is right for a lunar eclipse to occur at the full Moon. Curious as to what happens during a solar eclipse? Learn more in our blog, Different Types of Solar Eclipses Explained.

In this case, a penumbral lunar eclipse occurs on the night of March 24 into the morning of March 25. This lunar eclipse is visible for all of North and South America, plus some of western Europe, western Africa, and far-eastern Asia and Australia. Unfortunately, it is not the kind of lunar eclipse that causes an intense color change for the Moon. 

The Moon will only pass through some of the Earth’s outer lighter shadow, called the penumbra. The amount of expected color change we’ll see on the Moon is minimal, probably only lightly shading a portion of it to appear a slightly darker gray. Depending on when you look at the eclipse, you may have a tough time even noticing a difference in shading. If you want to stay up to see this eclipse, it will occur from 11:53 pm—4:32 am, with the peak of the eclipse at 2:12 am.

Moon Phases

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting a full Moon with a pink worm on it, for the full worm micro Moon on March 25, 2024.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting a full Moon with a pink worm on it, for the full worm micro Moon on March 25, 2024.

Last Quarter Moon: March 3

New Moon: March 10

First Quarter Moon: March 16

Full Moon: March 25

Please note: these descriptions are for the Chicago area, using Central time.

Subscribe To Skywatch Wednesday This March!

Tour the sky with the Adler Planetarium’s Theaters Manager, Nick, in Skywatch Wednesday. Nick uses cutting edge visualizations, NASA images, and astrophotography to show you what you can see in the night sky throughout the year.

Check out Nick’s latest episode—AKA your ultimate guide to winter stargazing and planet spotting! Nick explains how to use the Winter Circle to find constellations and stars, and takes a closer look at famous constellations—like Orion, Taurus, and Gemini—and the full Moon.

Learn From Our Astronomy Educators!

Watch exclusive live episodes of Sky Observers Hangout this March! Learn how to observe upcoming cosmic happenings, enhance your astrophotography skills, and see celestial objects through a telescope virtually with our astronomy educators.

In our latest episode, Michelle and Hunter guide you through one of the winter sky’s most famous constellations: Orion the Hunter! Explore why this constellation has intrigued humans for millennia and uncover its stellar mysteries—from belt to Betelgeuse.

Adler Skywatch: February 2024

Header image: the traditional New Moon, the earliest visible waxing crescent, which signals the start of a new month in many lunar and lunisolar calendars. Image credit: NASA Goddard

When is a supermoon not-so-super? And why is 2024 a Leap Year? Learn all about it this month, February, 2024.

Not-So-Super Moon

Loosely defined, a supermoon happens when a full or new Moon is near perigee, or its closest point to Earth in its orbit. The next supermoon will be on February 9, but because it’s a new Moon, not a full Moon, the lunar disc will not be illuminated, making it virtually impossible to see. The new supermoon on February 9 will be roughly 224,000 miles away from Earth. By way of comparison, the average distance from Earth to the Moon is about 239,000 miles.

March’s new Moon will also be considered a supermoon. But the greatest supermoon of this year will be on April 8, when the supermoon eclipses the Sun, creating a solar eclipse! The solar eclipse may be seen from much of Mexico and the United States. In a very narrow strip of this path, a monumental total solar eclipse will occur, lasting as long as four minutes!

Planet Spotting

Like last month, the planet Jupiter dominates the darkness this month. During evening twilight, it’s about 60 degrees high in the southern sky. The evening of February 14, Jupiter appears to the left of a waxing crescent Moon, and the next day—February 15—it appears just below it. Jupiter sets in the west-northwest around midnight CST early in the month, and around 10:30 pm by month’s end.

 Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the close proximity of the planet Jupiter and a waxing crescent Moon in the sky on the evening of February 15, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the close proximity of the planet Jupiter and a waxing crescent Moon in the sky on the evening of February 15, 2024.

The first 10 days of the month, the planet Saturn shines low in the west-southwest sky about 45 minutes after sunset. The Sun sets later each day in February, and Saturn appears lower in the west-southwest—becoming more difficult to see. On February 10, there’s an extremely slim chance you could see an extremely slim one-day-old waxing crescent Moon, just below Saturn. After February 10, Saturn will appear so close to the setting Sun that it will be increasingly hard to see. 

Venus rises in the east-southeast shortly before the Sun in February—so too does the planet Mars! Mars will be dimmer than first magnitude, making it harder to see compared to Venus’s brilliance of nearly -4 magnitude. The two planets are less than half-a-degree apart the mornings of February 21–23. However, the rising Sun’s glare and Mars’s proximity to the horizon might make this conjunction really hard to spot. Conversely, Venus’s brightness allows it to be glimpsed pretty easily low in the east-southeast as dawn lightens the sky.

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the conjunction of planets Venus and Mars before dawn the mornings of February 21–23, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the conjunction of planets Venus and Mars before dawn the mornings of February 21–23, 2024.

The planet Mercury appears even closer to the Sun this month than Mars and Venus do, and so it won’t be visible to the unaided eye. Later in March 2024, you may get a chance to see the elusive Mercury after sunset, low in the western sky.

If you’re up after midnight the morning of February 1, look for a waning gibbous Moon in the southern skies very close to the first-magnitude star Spica, in the constellation Virgo.

Leap Day

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting Leap Day, which is observed on February 29, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting Leap Day, which is observed on February 29, 2024.

Don’t forget that this year we have an extra day at the end of the month! That’s because it takes about 365.25 days for Earth to orbit the Sun but our calendars have only 365 days. To make up for the extra ¼ day, we add one day—February 29—to years that are divisible by 4 (2024, 2028, and so on), and call it Leap Day—most of the time! Because that extra time also isn’t exactly ¼ of a day, we still need to adjust the calendar a bit more, so we do not add leap days to century years that are not evenly divisible by 400. For example, 2000 was a leap year, but 2100, 2200, and 2300 will not be. 

Moon Phases

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the February full Moon, known as the snow Moon, on February 24, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the February full Moon, known as the snow Moon, on February 24, 2024.

Last Quarter Moon: February 2

New Moon: February 9

First Quarter Moon: February 16

Full Moon: February 24

Please note: these descriptions are for the Chicago area, using Central time.

Subscribe To Skywatch Wednesday This February!

Tour the sky with the Adler Planetarium’s Theaters Manager, Nick, in Skywatch Wednesday. Nick uses cutting edge visualizations, NASA images, and astrophotography to show you what you can see in the night sky throughout the year.

Check out Nick’s latest episode—AKA your ultimate guide to winter stargazing and planet spotting! Nick explains how to use the Winter Circle to find constellations and stars, and takes a closer look at famous constellations—like Orion, Taurus, and Gemini—and the full Moon.

Learn From Our Astronomy Educators!

Watch exclusive live episodes of Sky Observers Hangout this February! Learn how to observe upcoming cosmic happenings, enhance your astrophotography skills, and see celestial objects through a telescope virtually with our astronomy educators.

In our latest episode, Michelle and Hunter guide you through the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and help you prepare for the next solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

Keep Up With The Night Sky On Social!

Be sure to follow us on your favorite social media channels—like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTubeto stay up to date with all of the monthly stargazing sights.

Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ Fulldome Show Extended Through The End Of 2024

Header Image: A theater with seats that has a 360 degree screen and projected onto the screen is an image of a dark night sky with white star trials, a rainbow heartbeat pulse, and three pyramids.

By popular demand, the Adler Planetarium has extended the run of legendary rock band Pink Floyd’s new fulldome planetarium show, The Dark Side Of The Moon until December 31, 2024.

This all new planetarium show was created and distributed in partnership with the band and the International Planetarium Society (IPS) to honor the 50th anniversary of the album by the same name. The Dark Side Of The Moon takes guests on a visual journey through space against the backdrop of one of the best selling albums of all time. 

The Dark Side Of The Moon plays as the last show of the day in the Adler’s Grainger Sky Theater at 3:15 pm Friday–Monday, and at 9:10 pm on Wednesday evenings during Adler at Night. 

“The show itself will be divided between the 10 tracks on the album, and in chronological order; each having a different theme; some futuristically looking forward and some a retro acknowledgement to Pink Floyd’s visual history, all relating to a time and space experience, embracing up to the minute technology that only a planetarium can offer,” says Pink Floyd album cover designer Aubrey Powell. “In the modern parlance it’s truly immersive; an all encompassing surround sound treat that will transcend reality and take you way beyond the realms of 2D experience.”

Tickets to the show are $20, must be purchased in addition to a Museum Entry ticket or as an add-on to any museum admission package. Tickets need to be purchased online in-advance. Last admission to the museum is one hour before close and there is no late seating for sky shows. The show is 43 minutes long, and viewer discretion is advised due to the explicit nature of some lyrics. Please be advised: this show may also cause motion sickness.

Adler Skywatch: January 2024

Header image: Person looking through telescope, observing two bright objects in the sky at dusk.

Planet Earth is at its closest point to the Sun for the year this month, January 2024.

Perihelion—the point in Earth’s annual orbit when it’s closest to the Sun—is ringing in the new year with us on January 2! During perihelion, Earth is about 91.4 million miles away from the Sun. At aphelion—when Earth is farthest from the Sun in its orbit—Earth is roughly 3 million miles further away from the Sun than it is at perihelion. This year, Earth’s aphelion occurs in July.

Quirky Quadrantids

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the Quadrantids meteor shower asit peaks in the late evening of January 3, 2024 into the early morning of January 4, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the Quadrantid meteor shower as it peaks in the late evening of January 3, 2024 into the early morning of January 4, 2024.

Another major meteor shower takes place in January, the Quadrantids. The last-quarter Moon will be lighting up the night sky after midnight, and the extra light will blot fainter meteors from view. This year, the best time to see the Quadrantids is during morning twilight on January 4. Those who are extra eager can also start looking the evening of January 3 before moonrise. 

The shower’s radiant is near the easy-to-spot Big Dipper asterism. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to spot the Quadrantids this year due to the brighter skies and a shorter peak duration of only 6 hours long. If this 6 hour peak doesn’t happen while it is dark where you are, or it happens while you are under a light-polluted sky, you can expect to see far fewer meteors. If you’d like to try spotting some Quadrantids, bundle up for the weather, find an outdoor spot far from extraneous light, give your eyes at least 20 minutes to get acclimated to the darkness, and look up!

Planet Spotting

The brightest planet, Venus, rises in the east-southeast nearly 3 hours before sunrise early in the month, and about 2 hours before sunrise later in the month. The morning of January 8, Venus appears near a very slim waning crescent Moon, just 3 days before the new Moon. Incidentally, that same morning, the crescent Moon is only a fraction of a degree above the first-magnitude star Antares, from the constellation Scorpius. About 40 minutes before sunrise, if you look 10 degrees below and to the left of Venus, you may be able to glimpse Mercury close to the horizon.

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Antares near a slim waning crescent Moon on January 9, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Antares near a slim waning crescent Moon on January 9, 2024.

The last week of the month, the planet Mars appears near Mercury; but Mars may be too dim and too close to the horizon to actually see. On January 27, the two planets will be ¼ of a degree apart and low to the southeast about 45 minutes before sunrise. Mercury is brighter than Mars this month, but Venus substantially outshines them both.

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the conjunction of Mercury and Mars in the southeastern sky on January 27, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the conjunction of Mercury and Mars in the southeastern sky on January 27, 2024.

The planet Jupiter dominates the night sky this month. After sunset, it comes into view in the southeast sky early in the month, and in the southern sky later in the month. The evening of January 17, Jupiter appears just to the left of a waxing gibbous Moon, and on January 18, it appears just below the Moon. In the Chicago area, look for this conjunction in the southeast sky soon after sunset. It will appear high above the southern horizon around 6:30 pm CST and low in the west shortly before midnight. Jupiter sets in the west around 1:00 am early in the month, and around 11:00 pm by month’s end.

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the conjunction of Jupiter and a first quarter Moon on January 17–18, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the conjunction of Jupiter and a first quarter Moon on January 17–18, 2024.

The planet Saturn shines at about first-magnitude this month. It appears about 30 degrees high in the south-southwest sky during evening twilight the first week of the month. But the Sun sets later each day this month; so when Saturn finally can be seen in the growing darkness, it’s lower and further west in the sky. By month’s end, it appears only about 20 degrees above the west-southwest horizon. On January 1, it sets in the west-southwest around 8:30 pm, and on January 31, it sets around 7:00 pm.

Moon Phases

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the full bear Moon, that rises on January 25, 2024.
Image caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the full bear Moon, that rises on January 25, 2024.

Last Quarter Moon: January 3

New Moon: January 11

First Quarter Moon: January 17

Full Moon: January 25

Please note: these descriptions are for the Chicago area, using Central time.

Subscribe To Skywatch Wednesday This January!

Tour the sky with the Adler Planetarium’s Theaters Manager, Nick, in Skywatch Wednesday. Nick uses cutting edge visualizations, NASA images, and astrophotography to show you what you can see in the night sky throughout the year.

Check out Nick’s latest episode—AKA your ultimate guide to winter stargazing and planet spotting! Nick explains how to use the Winter Circle to find constellations and stars, and takes a closer look at famous constellations—like Orion, Taurus, and Gemini—and the full Moon.

Learn From Our Astronomy Educators!

Watch exclusive live episodes of Sky Observers Hangout this January! Learn how to observe upcoming cosmic happenings, enhance your astrophotography skills, and see celestial objects through a telescope virtually with our astronomy educators.

In our latest episode, Michelle and Hunter guide you through the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and help you prepare for the next solar eclipse on April 8, 2024!

Breaking Down Barriers To STEAM—A Note From Our President And CEO

In my high school physics class, I often greeted my teacher with a never-ending stream of questions about parabolic motion, acceleration and velocity, or engineering the perfect spaghetti-noodle bridge. My classmates were not as enchanted by my overflowing curiosity as I was, and they made sure I knew it. “Stop asking questions,” they said. “You’re wasting our time.”

I didn’t stop, of course—that’s how I became a scientist! But I never forgot what it felt like to be told that my questions didn’t matter.

At the Adler Planetarium, we create spaces where people of all backgrounds and abilities (and their questions!) are welcome. Our focus on personal connections, meeting people where they are, and making complex ideas understandable is core to our work of breaking down the barriers that keep people from participating in science.

When more people feel welcome in scientific spaces, we get to explore wonderful questions like, “Why can’t I see the Milky Way from my neighborhood?,” “Where did that meteorite land?,” and “What’s that strange object I can see underneath that distant galaxy?” These questions have led Adler teens, scientists, staff, and volunteers to conduct studies and participate in community activism around light pollution, to find an invasive species (and some micrometeorites) at the bottom of Lake Michigan, and to discover the ghost remnant of a supermassive black hole.

None of this would be possible without generous financial support from people like you. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today to help us create a world where everyone’s curiosity is a cause for celebration—and exploration.

– Michelle B. Larson, PhD, President and CEO

Adler Skywatch: December 2023

Header Image: A winter landscape where the Sun shines through branches of a frozen tree, during sunset on the winter solstice.

We’ll get the shortest days and longest nights of the year this month, December 2023.

Winter Solstice

Adler Planetarium graphic illustrating a snow covered pine tree, a large Moon, and text that reads “HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE”.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium graphic illustrating a snow covered pine tree, a large Moon, and text that reads “HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE” “#LookUp”.

In December, the Sun is up for fewer than 10 hours a day in the Chicago area. It rises as late as 7:18 am, and sets as early as 4:19 pm. That’s because the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere occurs this month, on December 21 at 9:27 pm. 

The winter solstice is the day when the Sun’s daily arc across the sky is as low as possible, so it’s not in the sky as long. On that date, the Sun is in the Chicago sky for only about nine hours and eight minutes. But take heart—by December 31, the Sun is up for a few minutes longer than it was on the solstice, and will keep gaining time above the horizon over the next six months. 

Bright In The Winter Night Sky

Shortly after the Sun sets, the bright planet Jupiter may already be visible in the east, shining in early-evening twilight. At the start of the month, it’s low in the east, but later in the month it gets about 40 degrees up in the east-southeastern sky at sunset. The evenings of December 21–22, Jupiter will appear near a waxing gibbous Moon. Jupiter sets in the west-northwest around 4:00 am early in the month, and around 2:00 am by month’s end.

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the planet Jupiter near a waxing gibbous Moon on December 21–22, 2023.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the planet Jupiter near a waxing gibbous Moon on December 21–22, 2023.

Furthermore, about 40 minutes after sunset this month, look about 35 degrees up in the southern skies to see the planet Saturn. At the start of the month, it’s nearly due-south. As the evenings pass, Saturn moves further west, and by month’s end, it will appear closer to the southwest sky. The night of December 17, a waxing crescent Moon appears very close to Saturn. It sets in the west-southwest around 10:00 pm at the start of the month, and around 8:30 pm by month’s end.

The brightest planet, Venus, is low in the east-southeast around 4:30 am in December. Its brightness may make it visible as high as 30 degrees in the southeast sky just before the Sun rises. 

Mars and Mercury appear too close to the Sun in the sky to be readily visible in December 2023.

Get Ready For The Geminids

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the Geminid Meteor Shower which peaks in the eastern sky at 10:00 pm CST on December 13, 2023.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the Geminid meteor shower which peaks in the eastern sky at 10:00 pm CST on December 13, 2023.

If you don’t mind being outside in the nighttime cold, the Geminids meteor shower is one of the most prominent of the year. This year, it peaks the evenings of December 13–14, right around the new Moon, which allows for darker skies and better chances to see meteors! 

The radiant—the point where the Geminid meteors appear to emanate from—is near Pollux and Castor, the two brightest stars in the constellation Gemini. But keep in mind that Geminids will go all over the sky from the radiant point. Under very dark, very clear skies, up to 100 meteors per hour can be expected (with far fewer in light-polluted locations). To get the best possible view of the Geminids, find a spot far from light, face east, and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to get acclimated to the darkness. You’ll likely want to bundle up in layers, too!

Moon Phases

Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the full Moon on December 26, 2023, nicknamed the Cold Moon.
Image Caption: Adler Planetarium infographic depicting the full Moon on December 26, 2023, nicknamed the Cold Moon.

Last Quarter Moon: December 4

New Moon: December 12

First Quarter Moon: December 19

Full Moon: December 26

Please note: these descriptions are for the Chicago area, using Central Standard time.

Subscribe To Skywatch Wednesday This December

Tour the sky with the Adler Planetarium’s Theaters Manager, Nick, in Skywatch Wednesday. Nick uses cutting edge visualizations, NASA images, and astrophotography to show you what you can see in the night sky throughout the year.

Check out our latest episode for your 2023 guide to stargazing this autumn!

Learn From Our Astronomy Educators

Watch exclusive live episodes of Sky Observers Hangout this December! Learn how to observe upcoming cosmic happenings, enhance your astrophotography skills, and see celestial objects through a telescope virtually with our astronomy educators.

In our latest episode, Michelle and Hunter guide you through the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and help you prepare for the next solar eclipse on April 8, 2024! 

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