The heavens above

As a child I was fascinated by astronomy, and it's something that can still captivate me. For example, this is something that I've only just learnt: "In 2003 alone, astronomers discovered 22 new moons orbiting the giant planet. Jupiter now officially has 62 moons - by far the most in the solar system." I can no longer recall how many moons we thought Jupiter had when I was growing up, but I think it was in the neighbourhood of 12. At one point I came to possess a telescope and I was easily able to see the four Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, orbiting the solar system's largest planet.

Another little known astronomical anomaly: The largest of Saturn's 31 moons, Titan, is larger in size than the planet Mercury.

Right now Venus is plainly visible in the western sky in the hours immediately after sunset. Theresa has noticed this when we are out then. Perhaps she is picking up her father's childhood interest.