Header Image: Look Up to see Jupiter and Saturn are among the stars of Sagittarius the Archer throughout July 2020. With clear skies, a clear view to the eastern horizon, and good timing, you may be able to see all five naked-eye visible planets this month, July 2020. The brilliant planet Jupiter starts the show, […]

Header Image: This celestial globe from the Adler Planetarium’s collection shows the 88 constellations and their corresponding boundaries—which are the light blue lines on the surface of this globe—defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).  On January 10, 2016, I was among the millions of music fans who staggered at the news that David Bowie […]

This year’s summer solstice occurs on the 20th, at 4:44 p.m. Central Daylight Time. On that date the Sun rises just before 5:15 a.m. and doesn’t set until shortly after 8:30 p.m. Between those times, the Sun gets very high in the sky. Keep in mind this takes place in the Northern Hemisphere; those in […]

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 […]

What’s better than the near approach of a comet? How about the near approach of two comets? That’s what we’re expecting during the month of May, 2020! Comet C/2019 Y4, also known as Comet ATLAS, was discovered late last December. It will come closest to Earth on May 23rd, at a distance of about 72 […]

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 […]

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. […]

The three naked-eye-visible planets outside Earth’s orbit will appear less than 20 degrees apart in the sky this month, March 2020. The planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can be seen low in the southeast just as morning-twilight begins to lighten the sky. Jupiter is the brightest of the three, and it serves as a guidepost […]

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 […]

It’s been a year since the launch of The Adler ’Scope blog’s Chicago’s Black Women in STEAM series, and we couldn’t be more proud of how much it has grown. Whether it was a food scientist at PepsiCo creating the newest flavors for Gatorade, an astrochemist simulating the atmospheres of far away worlds, or an […]