CHICAGO—In what the museum touted as a rare hands-on opportunity for the public to learn about the universe, the Adler Planetarium opened a new interactive exhibit Tuesday that offers guests the chance to touch a live protostar. “A lot of people in the city have never had the experience of seeing a real protostar up close, so as science educators we were thrilled to let them pet our little friend W75N(B)-VLA2 here,” said planetarium director Stephanie Kern, adding that the mass of collapsing gas and dust had become a minor celebrity after a video of the protostar ejecting hot, ionized wind at a surprised visitor went viral on TikTok. “W75N(B)-VLA2’s parent molecular cloud is always nearby, so it feels safe letting people gently pat its dusty torus with two fingers. And you can tell the kids love it. You’ll hear them giggling and saying, ‘Ooh, it feels weird!’ but before long they’re asking if they can help feed it matter. We’re hoping that the experience of touching a protostar will make these kids feel more invested in taking care of our universe as they grow up themselves.” At press time, the planetarium announced that W75N(B)-VLA2 had sadly gone supernova after an overzealous child squeezed it too hard.
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