Sky and Telescope - March 2018 - 66

Planetarium Outreach

Fox followed with, "Harvard, are you ready? Yes. Is Allegheny
ready? Ready. Illinois ready? Yes. Yerkes? Let's go."
Four sites across the country had trained their telescopes
on the star Arcturus, which at the time was estimated to be at
a distance of 40 light-years away, meaning that the arriving
photons would have left the star in 1893 - the time of Chicago's ﬁrst big fair, the Columbian Exposition. Once Arcturus
was in view, light was directed into photocells at the four

sites, and the generated current travelled to Chicago to light
up the World's Fair. A Rube Goldberg-like chain of events for
certain, but a grand demonstration of the hold astronomy has
on the hearts and minds of the public - then and now.
At the Adler, we're inspired by our founder's vision - and
our city's response to that vision - to continue the legacy
of community engagement. Thinking about the role of the
planetarium in the modern era, we look to Adler and his
founding words for guidance and translate them into modern
vernacular through - what else? - hashtags! Adler said, "The
popular conception of the Universe is too meager . . ." We say
#LookUp! Adler said, "The planets and the stars are too far
removed from general knowledge." We say #AstroEverywhere.

p CREATURE COMFORTS Attendance at public observing events at
Adler's Doane Observatory skyrocketed, jumping from 400 visitors per
year to 22,000 after a renovation project made the building more accessible and more comfortable.

66

M A RCH 2 018 * SK Y & TELESCOPE

Today, the public is much more aware of the planets and
stars than in Adler's day. A steady stream of stunning
imagery and frontier discoveries made by ground-based
observatories, satellites in orbit around the Earth and travelling through our solar system, and facilities like the Laser
Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) have
secured a special place for astronomy in our imaginations.
However, as any amateur astronomer knows, these technological breakthroughs are no substitute for interacting
directly with the sky.
As an amateur astronomer myself, it's been my experience that a telescope on a grassy patch or concrete corner is a
great attractor. While color-balanced, high-resolution images
from NASA's ﬁnest are indeed stunning, putting one's own
eyeball to the eyepiece is an experience like no other.
After a 2014 renovation to make the Adler's Doane
Observatory more accessible and friendly to the public (think
climate-controlled holding room and restrooms!), we have
seen public interest in observing at the Observatory rise from
400 people per year to more than an astounding 22,000 per
year in 2017. Despite Chicago's urban, light-polluted skyscape, we enthusiastically observe the Sun and the Moon
during the daytime, and our Doane at Dusk evening events
offer stunning views of the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and a few
other bright objects in the night sky.
Even without an observatory on site, planetariums can
help the public #LookUp by recruiting telescope volunteers, often from a local amateur astronomy society, and
by positioning a telescope or two outside their doors. They
can even take telescope outreach a step further and leave
the facility grounds altogether. That's what we did in 2015
when we launched our 'Scopes in the City program, which
sends astronomers, volunteers, and telescopes to neighborhood parks, schools, libraries, and other public spaces across
Chicago. The program grew out of an awareness that many
of our neighbors face obstacles to visiting the museum - and
our desire to share the eyeball-to-eyepiece experience with as
many people as possible. Today, 'Scopes in the City hosts free
observing events in more than 25 neighborhoods and reaches
more than 2,000 people per year.

ADLER PL ANE TARIUM

Eyeball to Eyepiece
Sky and Telescope - March 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - March 2018
