Adler Skywatch: What’s in the sky throughout August 2023? See Chicagohenge, the super harvest Moon, the spring equinox, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury.

Adler Skywatch: What’s in the sky throughout July 2023? See Mars, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, and the Full Buck Supermoon!

Header image: A composite of eleven pictures showing the progression of a total solar eclipse. [ Image credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani), edited by the Adler Planetarium ] An entire day is dedicated to celebrating the planet we know best this month, April 2023. Don’t forget to celebrate Earth Day on April 22; and while you’re at […]

Header Image: Astrophotography picture of the Moon. Image Credit: Nick Lake Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus are gathering again during the dark hours of early mornings, and another supermoon occurs this month, July 2022. Here’s your stargazing guide to help you look up all throughout the month! When And Where To Spot These Five Planets […]

All of the planets visible to the naked eye — and some that aren’t visible —are in or near the same quadrant of the pre-dawn sky this month, June 2022. The first planet up is Saturn, which rises in the east-southeast shortly after midnight Central Daylight time through June 14, and shortly before midnight June […]

Header Image: The Moon surface as seen via the Adler’s Doane Observatory in April 2017. It may be the warmest time of the year for the Northern Hemisphere, but the Earth actually is at its furthest point away from the Sun this month, July 2021. Aphelion—the annual point in Earth’s orbit when it’s furthest from […]

Header Image: Total lunar eclipse seen in the United States on April 15th, 2014 in San Jose, California. Image Credit: NASA Ames Research Center/Brian Day A good chance to glimpse a hard-to-see planet, a lunar eclipse during Moonset, and the closest Supermoon of the year occur this month, May 2021. Planets To Spot This May […]

Header Image: Chicagohenge Image Credit: @cdats It’s the month named for the god of war, Mars; and the planet Mars is a great focus for the month of March 2021. Last month, NASA’s Perseverance Rover successfully landed on the planet Mars. It joined the still-operating Curiosity Rover already on the Martian surface. Perseverance allows NASA […]

Header Image: Mars can be seen here during its opposition in October 2020. Image Credit: Astrophotographer Nick Lake Is that bright “star” in the sky really a star, or could it be a planet?  There’s plenty of both to look for this month, February 2021! Shortly after sunset, look high in the south-southwest skies to […]

Header Image: Night photography set up with Comet NEOWISE in the background, taken in July 2020. Image Credit: Nick Lake It’s the beginning of 2021, stargazers! Earth is in the “just-right” zone for life to form—it orbits not too far from the Sun, and not too close. However, Earth’s distance from the Sun varies slightly […]