Looking Up

Last night we set up the telescope on the front porch and looked at Jupiter and its four major moons. (Of course our view wasn’t like the above picture at all!!)


Jupiter is closer to the earth right now than it has been since 1963, nearly 50 years ago. If you go outside after 9 p.m. tonight and look toward the East, that very bright star—the only thing brighter will be the nearly full moon—is Jupiter. If you have really good eyesight, Uranus is a dim, bluish-green star, just above Jupiter—within the same binocular field.

Last night, the moons were actually lined up in a perfectly straight line with two moons on each side of Jupiter--similar to the above photo--only better!! Emily’s eyesight is pretty good (better than mine), and she could actually see the band across Jupiter--I could see a faint shadow.

By Saturday [Friday, actually!], all four moons will be clustered on one side of Jupiter.