The Adler ‘Scope

Behind The Scenes With The Host Of Skywatch Wednesday
Meet the man behind the Adler Planetarium’s Skywatch Weekly YouTube show that gives you a weekly virtual tour of what’s up in our sky.

Space Mad Libs For Kids!
Enjoy family-friendly fun with these space mad libs for kids!

Adler Skywatch: November 2020
Header Image: The outside of the Adler Planetarium at night with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn brightly lit in the background. Image Credit: Mike Smail Many of us lost an hour earlier this year, but we get back that hour this month, November 2020! Most of the United States uses Daylight Saving time, which starts […]

Stargazing Resources: A Few Good Books
Header Image: An attendee looking through a telescope during a ‘Scopes In The City neighborhood event with the Adler Planetarium in 2018. Hi there! I’m Michelle Nichols the Director of Public Observing and an astronomy educator at the Adler Planetarium. Are you a sky observing beginner and want some recommendations on how to get started? […]

What Is A Blue Moon?
Header Image: Astrophotography picture of the Moon. Image Credit: Nick Lake What, exactly, is a blue moon, and how rare is it? This question seems like it should have a straightforward answer, but as with all things related to language, it’s complicated. Absurd, Impossible, or Rare? The phrase blue moon has been around for several […]

DIY At Home: Your Night Sky
In this hands-on activity for families, we encourage you to look up at the night sky and design a night scene inspired by your memory or your imagination.

Help Researchers Spot Suspicious Blips In Health Data With Adler Zooniverse
Image Caption: Adler Zooniverse project Health Record Hiccups analyzes graphs like this one to look for unexpected changes in health data over time. I’m not a statistician, a doctor, an elected official, or a very-recent-historian, but I would bet at least a couple of my vital organs that most of us have paid more attention to […]

Space Poetry
Image Caption: The Andromeda Galaxy taken by an astrophotographer. Image Credit: Nick Lake From galactic paintings to space poetry, everyone’s favorite out-of-this-world muse—aka our universe—inspires all kinds of stellar works of art. Our staff came together and composed a few short poems all about aspects of space that inspire them. STAGES In my youth, I […]

Adler Skywatch: October 2020
Header Image: Up close image of the Moon taken by an Adler Planetarium astronomer in June 2020. Image Credit: Michelle Nichols The “Red Planet” is at its closest and brightest for the year this month, October 2020. On the 6th, the planet Mars reaches its closest point to Earth for the next 15 years. In […]

The Adler Planetarium’s Original 1930 Zeiss Projector
Header Image: Planetarium guests attend a sky show with the Zeiss Mk II projector at the Adler c. 1955. Image Credit: The Adler Planetarium Archives When the Adler Planetarium opened in 1930 as America’s first planetarium, the centerpiece was a star projector made by the Carl Zeiss company of Germany, the Zeiss “Mark II”. This […]