Adler Planetarium

It's spooky season, stargazers! 👻 Don’t miss out on this month’s fang-tastic celestial sights: ☄️Surprise! Comet C/2023 A3—also known as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS or Comet Purple Mountain-ATLAS—recently made its closest approach to the Sun, after having traveled from the Oort Cloud. It’s forecasted to be brightest on October 9 around magnitude -3, and around magnitude 2 on October 12 when the comet is at its closest point to Earth. Stay tuned throughout the month for comet updates! 🌕 The closest supermoon of 2024 rises this month! The hunter’s supermoon will rise on 10/17 and may appear up to 30% brighter and 15% bigger than the average full Moon. 🌟 Venus shines bright at -4 magnitude and sets shortly after the Sun, just above the west-southwest horizon. 🪐 Saturn moves south in the sky throughout each night and gets about 50 degrees high between 9pm–11pm. 🏹 Jupiter hangs out about 10 degrees above Orion the Hunter this month, outshining all the stars in the constellation’s famous belt! ✨ Mars sits near Pollux and Castor—bright stars in the Gemini constellation—but will appear much dimmer than the nearby Jupiter. 🔭 Uranus is theoretically possible to see this month under extremely clear, dark skies. Grab some binoculars and a star chart to help you find it! Learn more about skywatching this month on our blog: bit.ly/4erDPMK [ 📷 : Nick Lake ] #AdlerPlanetarium #Skywatch #Stargazing #Comet #Planets #Supermoon

As Mariah so notably sings: IT’S TIIIIIMEEE!!! 🎶 While it’s not time for Christmas just yet, it IS time for one of Chicago’s coolest phenomena—Chicagohenge! The autumnal equinox is just around the corner and we’re already starting to see the stunning celestial feat known as Chicagohenge. On 9/19–9/22, catch the Sun rising and setting directly in line with any east/west facing street in the city! 🌆 Chicago was famously built on a grid system, meaning most of our streets run directly east/west or north/south. On both the autumnal and spring equinoxes, the Sun rises and sets directly east and west due to the tilt of the Earth. 🌎 Look due east at sunrise and west at sunset to catch our favorite star framed by Chicago’s skyscrapers. But remember, don’t look directly at the Sun! 🙅♀️ #AdlerPlanetarium #Chicagohenge #AutumnalEquinox

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Today, 9/17, many countries around the world celebrate the harvest Moon, our connection to the cosmos and each other. To celebrate, we’re showing off one of our favorite Chinese celestial globes from the 1800s. ✨ How are you celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival? 🌝 #AdlerPlanetarium #HarvestMoon

Oh Moon, how we love you. 🥹 We know we ask you to look up at the Moon a lot. But today especially, we encourage you to take a moment to appreciate the wonder that is our Moon. When you stop to think about it, it’s pretty incredible that this beautiful ball of debris got caught in our planet’s gravity and illuminates the sky each and every night. 🌕 Happy International Observe The Moon Night! 💛 [ 📷: Nenad Spasojevic ] #AdlerPlanetarium #InternationalObserveTheMoonNight #Astronomy

From Chicago to beyond Earth’s atmosphere, Dr. Mae Jemison has shown us that anything is possible if you set your mind to it! ✨ 32 years ago today, on 9/12/92, Dr. Jemison traveled to space on the space shuttle Endeavour, becoming the first African-American woman in space. 🚀 #AdlerPlanetarium #WomenInSTEM

BIG NEWS, STARGAZERS! This year’s harvest Moon is going to be extra special—it will be partially eclipsed! Here’s what you need to know: 🍁 The harvest Moon is the full Moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox. This year, it rises on 9/17! 🌔 The harvest Moon will be partially eclipsed beginning at 9:12 pm CDT. 🌎 As this is a partial eclipse, don’t expect to see a fully covered, dark red Moon like during a total lunar eclipse. Instead, 10% of the Moon (the top sliver) will be covered by the Earth’s shadow, making it appear slightly darker. 🌕 The partial eclipse will reach maximum coverage at 9:45 pm and conclude by 10:15 pm. ⭐ BONUS! The harvest Moon is also a supermoon, meaning the Moon will be closer to Earth than usual in its orbit. It may appear slightly brighter and/or bigger in our night sky. Don’t miss out on this spectacular welcome into the autumn season! ✨ #AdlerPlanetarium #LunarEclipse #Astronomy

Did you know that in our newest exhibit, Other Worlds, you can contribute to real scientific research and maybe even discover a brand new planet?! Plus, you can even continue the planet hunting fun at home at adler.zooniverse.org! 🪐 #AdlerPlanetarium #Zooniverse #CitizenScience

We’ve all been there, right? 🤔 This eclipseometer from the 1680s was used to effectively predict lunar and solar eclipses for 200 years! But this isn’t a tool of magic or divination, rather, it’s a mathematical tool made by understanding how the Moon, Earth, and Sun move in space. 🌕 🌎 ☀️ Even though its predictive tools ended in the 1800s and it couldn’t predict the partial lunar eclipse coming in September 2024, we’re still obsessed with this beautiful—and useful—piece! 🥰 #AdlerPlanetarium #Collections #LunarEclipse

Tom Skilling—Chicago's favorite former WGN meteorologist—needs your help raising $35K (and time is running out). 💛 For only the next two days, Tom Skilling's Great Space Challenge is helping us raise money in support of our museum's online and in-person programming.* 🚀 Make a donation to Tom Skilling's Great Space Challenge today: https://lnkd.in/g52ZHDUk #AdlerPlanetarium #Chicago #TomSkilling #ChicagoNonProfit

EXTRA EXTRA! Read all about how Adler Zooniverse is using #CitizenScience to support humanitarian aid workers in Sudan, as published by Lancaster University. 🗞️ ⭐️ Read now: https://lnkd.in/grCWPAgu #Zooniverse #AdlerPlanetarium