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Category: Astronomy 101

Header Image: Adler Planetarium with a Full Moon in the background taken by Adler Planetarium Telescope Volunteer in July 2020. Image Credit: Bill Chiu

Adler Astronomers Love Talking Space

Friday July 10th
Colleen Cesaretti

Header Image: The Adler Planetarium with a Full Moon in the background taken by Adler Planetarium Telescope Volunteer in July 2020. Image Credit: Bill Chiu You have space questions, we have answers! Astronomers are constantly discovering and uncovering new secrets about space, which we know can lead to lots of questions. Will a black hole […]

Whirlpool Galaxy taken by Adler Planetarium Telescope Volunteer Bill Chiu

You Asked, Our Astronomers Answered!

Thursday May 7th
Colleen Cesaretti

Header Image: A beautiful image of The Whirlpool Galaxy taken by an Adler Planetarium Telescope Volunteer. Image Credit: Bill Chiu Our universe is vast, mysterious, and ever expanding! Astronomers are constantly discovering and uncovering new secrets about space, which we know can lead to lots of questions. What is a black hole? When can you […]

Pocket globe by Thomas Lane (London, c. 1830), Adler Planetarium collections. This globe was symbolically taken aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1999 during the mission STS-103. 

Changing Views of the Earth

Thursday April 16th
Pedro Raposo

Header Image: Pocket globe by Thomas Lane (London, c. 1830), Adler Planetarium collections. This globe was symbolically taken aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1999 during the mission STS-103.  The conception of Earth has changed dramatically over time. It was only four centuries ago that Earth started to be widely regarded as a planet, and it […]

The spotty surface of Betelgeuse shown with two, large, bright, star spots. The spots potentially represent enormous convective cells rising from below the supergiant's surface. They are bright because they're hotter than the rest of the surface, but both spots and surface are cooler than the Sun.

Betelgeuse: A Supernova in the Works

Sunday April 5th
Bianca Anderson

Header Image: The spotty surface of Betelgeuse shown with two, large, bright, star spots. The spots potentially represent enormous convective cells rising from below the supergiant’s surface. They are bright because they’re hotter than the rest of the surface, but both spots and surface are cooler than the Sun. Image Credit: Xavier Haubois (Observatoire de […]

Pedestrians walking (during Chicagohenge) across a crosswalk while the Sun sets in the distance with the Willis Tower in view.

AstroFan: Understanding Chicagohenge

Thursday March 12th
Bianca Anderson

Header Image: Chicagohenge as seen from West Adams Street. Image Credit: Tim Hara Update: This blog is revised each year with updated dates of Chicagohenge and the equinoxes. Greetings fellow Chicagoans! It is almost that time of year when nature and architecture harmoniously come together to create the phenomenon known as Chicagohenge. For those who […]

Look Up at the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.

AstroFan: Tale of the Drinking Gourd

Tuesday February 18th
Bianca Anderson

Arguably, one of the most well-known fixtures of our night sky is the Big Dipper. But did you know that this night-sky staple once served as a beacon to freedom here in America during the time of the Underground Railroad? In the early-to-mid 19th century, countless American slaves used the Big Dipper⁠—aka the Drinking Gourd⁠—as […]

Hubble Deep Field Image

AstroFan: Galaxy Types!

Friday January 24th
Bianca Anderson

Header Caption: This Hubble Deep Field image shows a snapshot of the diverse types of galaxies in our universe. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/STScI Hubble Deep Field Team Did you know that up until the last century, humans believed that our Milky Way was the only galaxy in the known universe? Today, we now know that this […]

Adler Skywatch: January 2020

Wednesday January 1st
Karen Donnelly

Happy New Year! Though you likely won’t be able to tell the difference, Earth is at its closest to the Sun for the year this month, January 2020. Perihelion, the point in Earth’s annual orbit where it’s closest to the Sun, occurs each year in early January. This year, perihelion occurs at 1:48 a.m. Chicago time on […]

2017 Total Solar Eclipse

10 Astronomical Discoveries and Historic Space Events to Close Out the Decade

Tuesday December 31st
Colleen Cesaretti

Header Image: Total solar eclipse that occurred on August 21, 2017. Image Credit: NASA Out with the old and in with the new decade! As 2019 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on monumental astronomical discoveries and historic space events that happened over the last 10 years. We asked our stellar staff members to tell […]

This is an image of the Pleiades star cluster. You can see in this image faint clouds of bluish nebulae and dozens of bright stars scattered in the distance.

AstroFan: The Interstellar Medium and Nebulae

Saturday December 28th
Bianca Anderson

Image Caption: An example of nebulae (and the interstellar medium) can be found in this picture of the Pleiades, an open cluster consisting of approximately 3,000 stars at a distance of 400 light-years (120 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation of Taurus. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory Even the most novice of stargazers are […]

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