The Adler ‘Scope

An interview with Brenda G., Teen Collections Intern Many people find studying science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) or working in a science institution intimidating, but a whole other layer is added when you’re one of the first in your family to do it. I sat down with collections intern Brenda Galan to discuss her […]

Header Image: Slipping into shadow, the south polar vortex at Saturn’s moon Titan still stands out against the orange and blue haze layers that are characteristic of Titan’s atmosphere. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute On the morning of June 27, 2019, NASA announced that a mission called Dragonfly—which will send a drone to explore Saturn’s […]

A decade ago, Spencer Gore was a teen intern at the Adler, where he spent summer days designing a stabilization system for the cameras that fly on Far Horizons flights. On the long bus rides back to Union Station, he would dream up fantastical feats of engineering with Adler astronomer Geza Gyuk. Could you control […]

Header Image Caption: An artist’s rendition of Enceladus, Saturn’s 6th largest moon. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech This past weekend, the Adler Planetarium celebrated the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11⁠—a mission that brought us to a whole new world, our Moon.  It’s pretty undeniable that our Moon is spectacular. It’s our only natural satellite, it’s composed of […]

“Chicago’s Black Women in STEAM” is a series on The Adler ’Scope that highlights the awesome women of Chicago who are doing amazing things in science, technology, engineering, art, and math fields here in our own community. Meet women of varying ages, backgrounds, and interests and learn their unique stories. Miona ShortAstrophysics, B.S.Research Assistant at […]

Header Image: This is probably the first Moon rock picked up by Neil Armstrong as part of the “contingency sample.” Because the collection was so hurried and the documentation sparse, NASA scientists are not completely sure of the identification. Credit: NASA The Apollo missions sent humans to the Moon 50 years ago. Getting there required […]

In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced a seemingly impossible goal of putting a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. “We choose to go to the Moon,” he declared. Eight years later the unthinkable would be proven possible. On July 20, 1969, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission would touch down on […]

In September 2016, we—the Adler’s ’Scopes in the City team—brought a telescope to the Wrightwood-Ashburn library branch on Chicago’s southwest side and set it up in front of the library. This branch has a beautifully clear view of the sky with no tall buildings in the way. A teen involved in other library programs came […]

Setting: Tuesday, June 30, 1908, around 7:15 am. A remote forest near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia. A large fireball streaks through the sky followed by an intense wave of heat felt up to 40 miles away. A loud explosion. The ground shakes. Silence. If the playwrights of today were to write a theatrical […]

It’s night and you’re looking up into the night sky. What’s the first constellation you see? If you thought to yourself “the Big Dipper,” you’re not alone! In Western culture, it’s often one of the first things we learn to recognize in the night sky as children. For many people in the United States, this […]