Adler Planetarium

The first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, the Adler Planetarium opened in 1930 on the Lake Michigan shore, founded by Chicago businessman Max Adler. Its twelve-sided Art Deco building, designed by Ernest Grunsfeld Jr. and decorated with bronze zodiac plaques by Alfonso Iannelli, is a National Historic Landmark. It sits at the end of a peninsula on Chicago's Museum Campus, with some of the city's best views of the downtown skyline across the water.

Inside, domed theaters present the night sky and space science on immersive screens, while galleries cover astronomy, space exploration and the history of how people have studied the heavens. The museum holds one of the world's most significant collections of historic scientific instruments, including astrolabes, sundials and early telescopes. The Gemini 12 spacecraft, flown by Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin, is also on display.

The planetarium suits families and anyone curious about space, and its historic instrument collection rewards visitors with a deeper interest in the history of science.