The Adler ‘Scope

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Our Universe is filled with strange objects that even scientists have trouble classifying. Read on to learn about brown dwarfs, the celestial objects that are kind of like a star and kind of like a planet but are actually neither. A wise man once said, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes”. That […]

From moon phases to meteor showers, the Adler Planetarium has got you covered when it comes to knowing what to look for in the sky. Read our list below to get started! At all times, half of our Moon is lit by the Sun, just as half of the Earth is always lit by the […]

Meet Dr. Bryan A. Terrazas, NSF Fellow and Rackham Merit Fellow in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Michigan, at Adler After Dark: Out in Space! Dr. Terrazas will be featured in a panel discussion about the importance of having a broad range of perspectives in the scientific community. Why have you chosen […]

“One of the things I’m passionate about is bridging the culture wars,” Adler Astronomer Dr. Grace Wolf-Chase says cheerfully. In her office, Grace is rifling through a stack of bright pink foam-board posters featuring portraits of religious people who’ve made great contributions to science. She separates one from the rest. The bearded face on it […]

The evening of March 13, 1781, William Herschel was observing the sky with a fine 7-foot refracting telescope he’d made by himself, from the backyard of his home in Bath, England. At that time, Herschel was earning his bread as a musician, but he had been developing a strong interest in astronomy, sacrificing many of […]

You probably know that it takes many minds and lots of teamwork to achieve scientific breakthroughs like human spaceflight. But did you know the same principle applies to complex terrestrial feats like producing a planetarium show? The Adler’s newest show, Imagine the Moon, was a massive team effort. The Adler’s Guest Experience and Theaters teams […]

We’ve been an Adler family since our son, Hudson, picked up his first toy space shuttle and never put it down. I remember his first trip—when he was perhaps three years old—and the look of wonder on his face as it dawned on him that the rockets, the planets, the stars, and moon were all […]

Header Image Photo Credit: Mark Subbarao, Dinoj Surendran, and Randy Landsberg Hello! Welcome to our 4th AstroFan! The past few features have dealt with some of the coolest objects in space (neutron stars, our Moon, exoplanets, etc)—this feature of AstroFan is going to switch things up and focus on the actual SPACE around these objects, […]

Youth Organization for Lights Out (YOLO) is a STEM civic action program created to empower high school youth to advocate within their community about a single environmental issue: light pollution. The program began in a biology class at World Language High School located in Chicago’s South Lawndale neighborhood. It has evolved into an afterschool program […]

By Jesus Garcia (Electronics Design System Engineer and Educator) and Dr. Geza Gyuk (Astronomer). On Wednesday, April 17, 2019, the Adler sent its first mission to space! This ambitious project was a collaboration between students, scientists, and volunteers from around Chicagoland. Last spring, students from the ITW David Speer Academy, a public four-year charter high […]