Ben R. N.'s General Blog: The Adler Planetarium

Instead of going to SnowStar with my school, I chose to use today to go on an awesome father-son trip to the Adler Planetarium near Chicago, three hours away from my home.

Since the drive was so long, we put in an audiobook version of Chasing Vermeer, an amazing mystery novel by Blue Balliet. It also contains some elements that you will probably see me write about tomorrow. We continued to listen to than on the way back as well.

Upon our arrival at the planetarium, we purchased a pair of premium tickets, each good for admission to two shows. After skimming the human-to-moon history area, we went into the Welcome to the Universe! show. Narrated live by a real person, it started at the Earth and zoomed out to talk about the important features and history of the entire universe. I especially liked how it actually stopped to talk in some detail about other galaxies, such as Andromeda. From that, I learned that our Milky Way galaxy will collide and merge with Andromeda in a few billion years.

Previous to that show, my dad remarked at the reclining chairs, leaning back to demonstrate their flexibility and tipping over backwards - the chairs' backs were quite inflexible. He was alright, amused, and went on to enjoy the show.

With some time between that and the next show, we went to see the standard solar system exhibit. It was around this point we learned there were a few busloads of middle schoolers around as well. (Fortunately, they left only a few hours after we first noticed them.) Though I didn't learn anything super shocking, it was nice to see a professional presentation of those basic facts. I did learn some more about the composition of the gaseous planets.

The next show, Undiscovered Worlds, took place in the new Definiti theater. It examined the methods of discovering exoplanets, explaining how both the transit and wobble methods worked. From there, it gave examples of historically noteworthy exoplanets such as Corot 7B. This was probably the most beautifully presented show, especially the renderings of what it might be like on various planets' surfaces.

My father was happy to find out that chairs in the Definiti theater were slightly reclinable. After exiting that show, we went around to a very historically detailed telescope exhibit. From the earliest refractors to the modern superanalytical giants, it explained the respective inventors and some of how they work. There was even an interactive with lenses, mirrors, and light. Once finished walking through that, we went through a hall of the general history of the universe's formation. That one also provided a "postcard from the universe" service, which will allegedly send me a postcard "from" Proxima Centauri 4.3 years from now.

Hungry, we again went all the way up to the top of the building to the Cafe Galileo's. I expected it to be a burger-and-fries shop, but it was actually excellent Italian cuisine. They made an especially amazing horseradish/vegetable/ham sandwich.

Returning to the box office to purchase new premium tickets just in time for the next show, we ran down to the bottom floor to the old Johnson Star Theater to view a presentation of Space Junk 3D. Our speed was unnecessary; we had the theater pretty much all to ourselves. It was, however, a very thought-provoking documentary. I never before considered that the Earth's orbit is in danger of being filled with small fragments of destroyed, defunct, or departed spacecraft.

Going back to examine in more detail the exhibits we rushed through on our way down, we noticed a particularly immense part entitled "Astronomy and Culture." It contained information on old views of the universe, such as the Ptolemaic layout, and discussed how science moved knowledge ahead. There was also a medieval Europe-style "classroom" with some "letters" on how the customs of learning worked. Near that, or possibly in it, was a large section on old instruments of astronomy, such as the astrolabe, armillary spheres, the Persian all-in-one thing, and sun dial.

Back in the first (Grainger) theater, we finished our day at the Adler by viewing their current flagship show, Cosmic Wonder. Also narrated live, it talked a little about how things have been invented that allowed scientists to learn more stuff about the universe. It also discussed how the first huge group of other galaxies was seen - through a hole the size of Lincoln's eye on a penny held at arm's length. I very much enjoyed this show's detailed focus on how information about all these amazing objects was discovered.

Just before leaving, we re-read the moon area and checked out the gift shop. Since it was 4 o'clock, they were rushing us out and trying to close. We did indeed exit shortly after purchasing an exceedingly overpriced coffee cup as a souvenir.