The Adler ‘Scope

Chicago’s Black Women in STEAM: Meet Choumika
“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. Choumika Simonis Medical Student at […]

Ready For Launch: 5 New NASA Earth Expeditions
Header Image: NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center hosted a NASA Social at BLDG 703 in Palmdale, California. Over 90 attendees toured the aircraft inside the hangar as they learned about the five airborne science expeditions targeting air, land, and sea. Image Credit: NASA As my tour group entered the gigantic airplane hangar at the Armstrong […]

Changing Views of the Earth
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 […]

When a Crisis Hits, Remember What Capt. Lovell Said
Header Image: Senior Writer Aubrey Henretty interviews Captain Lovell in 2016. It was the second week at home when I remembered what Capt. Lovell said about surviving Apollo 13. The first week had been a blur of stress-cleaning, stress-cardio, hyperproductivity, and Apocalypse Lentil Soup. I am an anxious person even in non-pandemic times, and I […]

Betelgeuse: A Supernova in the Works
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 […]

Adler Skywatch: April 2020
Happy April, stargazers! The closest supermoon of the year takes place this month, April 2020. Supermoon is a nickname that describes a Full Moon that occurs within 10% of its closest approach to Earth. Astronomers refer to supermoons as a perigean Full Moon. The April 7th Full Moon is just under 222,000 miles from Earth. […]

Google Hangouts, Dance Parties, At-Home Clothes…Oh My!
How Adler Staff is Staying Connected During These “Unprecedented Times” Header Image: Staff members of the Adler Planetarium marketing team posing with newly branded Adler sweatshirts in January 2020. On a cosmic scale, there is very little distance between us. However, when you’re used to collaborating in person to create memorable experiences for an iconic […]

Inside Apollo 13
Header Image: Apollo 13 crew returning home after their ocean landing. Image Credit: NASA This month marks the 50th anniversary of the harrowing Apollo 13 mission, which was dangerous and unprecedented. Today, our world faces a very different kind of crisis, but one that is equally unprecedented, with the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. […]

Mapping Historic Skies with Zooniverse
Header Image: Constellation being classified from the Mapping Historic Skies project. Mapping Historic Skies Team: Jessica BrodeFrank, Pedro Raposo, Sam Blickhan, Becky Rother, and Cliff Johnson. The Adler Planetarium opened its new exhibit, Chicago’s Night Sky, in November 2019. This exhibit features real science and research from several of the Adler’s program initiatives, including Far […]

Chicago’s Black Women in STEAM: Meet Britt
“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. Britt Julious Editorial Director at […]