Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum

Lonely Planet review

The first planetarium built in the western hemisphere, the Adler has seen visitor numbers soar in recent years. From the entrance, visitors descend below the 1930's building, which has 12 sides, one for each sign of the zodiac. In the newest wing, a digital sky show recreates such cataclysmic phenomena as supernovas. Interactive exhibits allow you to simulate cosmic events such as a meteor hitting the earth (this one is especially cool).

The original planetarium does a good job planning special events around celestial occurrences, be they eclipses or NASA missions. In the Sky Theater a mechanical Zeiss projector can create a huge variety of nighttime sky effects.

The Adler does a commendable job of involving visitors in astronomy, with live video links to telescopes around the world and research facilities that are totally accessible to visitors. The sky show programs last about 50 minutes. The whole place can be easily covered in less than two hours. On the first Friday night of every month - aka Far Out Fridays - the Adler's astronomers bring out their telescopes and let you view the skies along with them.

Near the entrance to the Adler, a 12ft sundial by Henry Moore is dedicated to the golden years of astronomy, from 1930 to 1980, when so many fundamental discoveries were made using the first generation of huge telescopes. About 100yd west, in the median, the bronze Copernicus statue shows the 16th-century Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus holding a compass and a model of the solar system. But the best thing about the Adler's entrance? Its front steps, which are the city's most renowned make-out spot (perhaps the romance sparks from the sexy city view).