Header Image: The Sun glowing in the sky, with foliage accenting the bright orange and yellow sky. Image credit: Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash Will the Sun stop moving? That’s actually a trick question, since the Sun’s east–west “movement” in the sky each day is due to the Earth’s rotation, not the Sun itself moving. However, […]

Adler Skywatch: What’s in the sky throughout May 2023? See Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, the Hare Moon, and learn where Mercury went!

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: The 2013 spring equinox, as seen from space. Image Credit: Nasa/ Earth Observer, edited by the Adler Planetarium Possibly the most photogenic planetary pairing of the year kicks-off this month, March 2023. Here’s your stargazing guide to view the Venus-Jupiter Conjunction, the spring equinox and other celestial events.  Venus and Jupiter Conjunction Just […]

Header Image: An illustration of the December 2021 Geminid meteor shower. Image Credit: NASA Editor’s Note: This blog has been updated to include information about Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) 2023 opens with Earth’s closest approach to the Sun and a potential showy meteor shower. These events and more are among the sky highlights of this […]

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: Total lunar eclipse seen in Chicago.  Header Image Credit: Nick Lake  Eclipses don’t happen often. When they do, they come in pairs about two weeks apart. A partial solar eclipse on April 30 overshadows only a small portion of the Southern Hemisphere–but the eastern half of the U.S. gets the chance to see […]

Header Image: Hubble’s new portrait of Jupiter. Header Image Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley). Before dawn breaks each morning, take a look at what is rising before the Sun this month, April 2022.   The first week of the month, the brightest planet, Venus, and […]

Header Image: Adler Planetarium’s Lookup graphic depicting the spring and fall celestial event, Chicagohenge It’s time to “spring forward” and experience one of Chicago’s most picturesque sky highlights this month, March 2022. Daylight Saving time for 2022 starts March 13, at 2:00 am local time. On this morning we “spring-forward” by setting our clocks ahead […]