Astronomy

WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 45

ADLER PLANETARIUM IS
the oldest such institution in the
United States, founded by Chicago
businessman Max Adler in 1930.
Built in the same year Pluto
was discovered, Adler is celebrated
for its inclusion in the Century
of Progress Exposition in Chicago
in 1933.
Each year, Adler draws more
than half a million visitors who
f lock to see exhilarating sky shows
and enormous numbers of displays
and artifacts relating to the history
of astronomy, the exploration of
the solar system, and the universe
at large. Our hosts at Adler were
the wonderful Jennifer Howell,
Michelle Nichols, Pedro Raposo,
and Mike Smail.
We experienced live demonstra-
tions of the sky theaters, including
the Grainger Sky Theater, which is
the main domed theater; the
Definiti Theater, which uses an
all-digital system; and the Samuel
C. Johnson Family Star Theater,
which can be used for 3-D presen-
tations, talks, or seminars. We also
explored the famous Atwood
Sphere, Chicago’s first planetar-
ium, dating from 1913.
The major artifacts on display at
Adler generated some of the great-
est excitement for us. We walked
through a grand spacef light gallery
centered on Apollo, called Mission
Moon, which was made possible by
the generous support of Apollo
astronaut Jim Lovell. Among the
many artifacts was the Gemini 12
capsule used by Lovell and Buzz
Aldrin on their historic 1966 flight.
And telescopes — we saw tele-
scopes. Not only the planetarium’s
working Doane Observatory, which
hosts a 20-inch scope, but historic
instruments as well. Included in the
displays are the famous Dearborn
18.5-inch Alvan Clark
refractor, a 1788

telescope made by William

Herschel, and many others.

The choicest moments at Adler

came when we visited the

Collections Department, where we

got a true behind-the-scenes tour.

Adler’s collection of antique

instruments and books relating to

astronomy is one of the greatest in

the world, we knew that. Still, what

we saw stunned us.

The treasures included a celes-

tial globe made by Gerardus

Mercator, a 1,000-year-old astro-

labe from present-day Iran, a

German pocket globe from the late

17th century, and a refracting tele-

scope from Italy, made around

1630. Pedro told us the mind-
      blower on the last one: It is believed
      to be the oldest existing telescope
      outside of Europe.
      The amazing treats continued
      when he showed us a collection of
      rare astronomical books. We saw a
      beautifully colored edition of
      Johannes Bayer’s 17th-century star
      atlas, Uranometria; Johannes
      Hevelius’ 1679 Machinae coelestis;
      and Peter Apian’s 1540 work,
      Astronomicum Caesareum. Then
      came the two jaw-droppers. The
      first was a copy of Johannes
      Kepler’s famous Ta b u l a e
      Rudolphinae, in which he laid out
      the planetary orbits accurately; it
      was inscribed by Kepler to a fellow
      mathematician, Benjamin Ursinus!
      The second amazing treasure was a
      copy of Johann Bode’s 1801 work
      Uranographia. This copy was
      owned and inscribed by the
      Herschel family — William,
      Caroline, and John!

The indoor sky

ADLER

PLANETARIUM

Adler’s Doane Observatory houses a 20-inch reflector that

ranks as the largest telescope in Chicago. In addition to offering

nighttime viewing, Doane is open between 10 A.M. and 1 P.M.

for solar observing, weather permitting. COURTESY OF ADLER PLANETARIUM

An exhibition at Adler, called Our Solar System, contains displays

of all the planets. Demonstrations and hands-on activities allow

visitors to interact with science. COURTESY OF ADLER PLANETARIUM

One of the jewels

of the Adler collection

is this Italian telescope,

dated to 1630. The instrument,

whose maker is unidentified, is

the oldest telescope outside of Europe.

COURTESY OF ADLER PLANETARIUM

Three state-of-the-art theaters educate and entertain

school groups and the general public throughout the year.

COURTESY OF ADLER PLANETARIUM