The Adler Planetarium is a public museum dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1930 by Chicago businessman Max Adler. Located on the northeastern tip of Northerly Island on Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois, the Adler Planetarium was the first planetarium in the United States and is part of Chicago's Museum Campus, which includes the John G. Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum. The Planetarium's mission is to inspire exploration and understanding of the universe. The Adler Planetarium opened to the public on May 12, 1930.Its architect, Ernest A. Grunsfeld Jr., was awarded the gold medal of the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1931 for its design.In 1987, it was declared a National Historic Landmark. The Adler has three theaters, space science exhibitions, including the Gemini 12 space capsule, and a collection of antique scientific instruments and print materials. In addition, the Adler Planetarium hosts the Doane Observatory, a research-active public observatory. The planetarium is surrounded by sculptures including: Man Enters the Cosmos by Henry Moore (1980); Spiral Galaxy by John David Mooney (1998); and America's Courtyard by Ary Perez and Denise Milan. In 1913, Oskar von Miller of the Deutsches Museum commissioned Carl Zeiss Works to design a mechanism that projects an image of celestial bodies onto a dome. This was achieved by Walther Bauersfeld and the invention became known as a planetarium when it debuted in 1923. Its popularity quickly spread, and by 1929, there were fifteen planetariums in Germany, two in Italy, one in Russia, and one in Austria.Max Adler, a former executive with Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Chicago, Illinois, had recently retired to focus on philanthropic endeavors, primarily on behalf of musical and Jewish communities. However, after listening to a friend describe a Munich planetarium, Adler decided that a planetarium would fit in well within the emerging Museum Campus in Chicago. Adler visited the Munich planetarium with his cousin, architect Ernest Grunsfeld Jr., whom Adler commissioned to design the Chicago structure.He also learned about a sale of astronomical instruments and antiques by W. M. Mensing in Amsterdam, which he purchased the following year. The Mensing Collection became the focus of the Astronomical Museum.Adler offered $500,000 in 1928 for the construction of the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere. The planetarium was originally considered for part of the Museum of Science and Industry, an endeavor led by Adler's brother-in-law Julius Rosenwald. Rosenwald was determined to convert the former Palace of Fine Arts of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition into a museum, but was struggling to manage the many required renovations. The delays caused Adler to look elsewhere for a location.The South Park Commissioners, the precursor to the Chicago Park District, had just completed Northerly Island, the first of five intended (but otherwise never executed) recreational islands that were to be consistent with Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomical Museum opened on Adler's birthday, May 12, 1930. The Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects awarded Grunsfield a gold medal for his design.The planetarium hosted the 44th meeting of the American Astronomical Society later that year.
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