All Exhibits
Experience The Awe And Wonder Of Space
Where will curiosity take you? From the actual Gemini 12 spacecraft to the second-largest fragment of the Canyon Diablo meteorite, you can travel across the universe and explore space history right here in Chicago.
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Navigating the cosmic currents? Let us be your guide with our on-site map.
Museum MapExhibits
Other Worlds
Location: Upper Level
In this exhibit, you’ll experience how diverse planets truly are, and more importantly, learn how studying worlds in our solar system and discovering exoplanets in far off places both help us better understand our Earth and how other worlds came to be.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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Doane Observatory
Location: Behind the Adler Planetarium
Hours: Wednesday nights (pending weather conditions)
Home to the largest telescope available to the public in the Chicagoland area for observing this and that! For the most timely updates, please join our Facebook Group.
Free and open to the public on Wednesdays nights
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Community Design Labs
Our Community Design Labs are flexible spaces for visitors to imagine, discover, and have fun together. Whether creating your own artwork in Star Studio or playing as a family in PlayLab, there’s a way for everyone to explore.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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PlayLab
Location: Inside Planet Explorers
The PlayLab provides hands-on activities like a block builder’s construction zone for children 6 and under, open on Saturdays (pending staff availability).
Star Studio
Location: Chicago’s Night Sky Exhibit
The Star Studio puts the “A” in STEAM, with collaging, printmaking, drawing, and more. Open Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday–Saturday, recommended for guests ages 12 and up.
Stargazers Hub
Location: Telescopes Exhibit
The Stargazers Hub offers a multisensory journey through time with a focus on historic objects for all ages. Available during open public hours (pending staff availability).
Planet Explorers
Location: Upper Level
Junior space explorers enter a world where they can climb, crawl, play, and learn what it takes to be part of a modern-day space adventure. This exhibit is great for families with children ages 3–8.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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Space Visualization Lab
Location: Lower Level
Hours: Wednesdays 6:00 pm–8:00 pm, Thursdays 11:00 am–12:00 pm, and Saturdays 11:00 am–3:00 pm
Talk to astronomers about cutting-edge research and experience awe-inspiring visualizations on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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Chicago’s Night Sky
Location: Lower Level
This exhibit will connect you—and the city around you—to the wondrous human tradition of looking up. Featuring real science and research from several of the Adler’s program initiatives, we’re finding solutions to restore and protect dark skies.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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Universe In Your Hands
Location: Lower Level
Stargazers throughout history used spectacular tools to understand the universe and to organize their daily lives. In this exhibit, travel back in time through the museum’s historic collection and get to know these curious tools, as well as the people who used them.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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Mission Moon
Location: Upper Level
In this exhibit, take a journey into space with NASA’s Captain James A. Lovell, Jr. and other trailblazing scientists that brought mankind to the Moon. Including a look inside the actual Gemini 12 spacecraft that carried astronauts Captain Lovell and Buzz Aldrin into space in 1996.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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The Universe: A Walk Through Space and Time
Location: Lower Level
In this exhibit, transport yourself to the distant corners of the cosmos and witness how the universe has evolved over 13.7 billion years, from the big bang to this morning’s sunrise.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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Telescopes: Through the Looking Glass
Location: Lower Level
Get a crash course in telescope technology and experiment with lenses to see how they bend light in different ways. In this exhibit, you can see rare and spectacular instruments spanning four centuries, as well as rare books, documents, and models showing how the telescope has shaped our knowledge of the universe.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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Historic Atwood Sphere
Location: Lower Level
A time capsule of the night sky over Chicago as it appeared in 1913 in the Atwood Sphere—Chicago’s oldest planetarium. The sphere has 692 holes drilled through its metal surface, allowing light to enter and show the positions of the brightest stars in the night sky.
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Chasing Eclipses
Soon To Be Out Of Orbit
Location: Lower Level
In this exhibit, discover how people past and present have predicted when and where to stand in the narrow corridor of totality—and prepare to chase down a total solar eclipse for yourself.
Included with Museum Entry admission
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Clark Family Welcome Gallery
Location: Upper Level
In this exhibit, walk through millions of colors and vibrant lighting, and interactive, motion sensing displays.
Included with Museum Entry admission
Learn MoreAdd On A Dome Theater Sky Show
Watch our famous (and award-winning) sky shows under our iconic dome theaters and learn more about all the immersive shows currently playing here, at Chicago’s planetarium.
Sky shows are included in many of our ticket options, including Museum Entry +1 and Museum Entry +2, but à la carte dome theater sky show tickets are also available for purchase. We recommend booking in advance, as sky shows are a popular experience and many shows sell out.
Buy An Immersive Dome Theater Show
