Jupiter

We got back from the cinema the other night, and I saw what I thought was a sky lantern at first - but then, it looked too high in the sky, and too large. I then had a moment of panic when I thought it might be that satellite we were expecting to crash down! Eek! On closer inspection though, it didn't seem to be moving, so we decided it was probably ok after all! At this point I remembered what the astronomer at the Greenwich observatory had told us last week - Jupiter has returned to the night sky! Sure enough, the iPhone stargazing app confirmed it. It is amazingly bright, but then again, it is a huge planet. We got out the binoculars, and managed to see it a bit closer, we even got a glimpse of all the colours!

Apparently Jupiter and the Earth will be as close as they get to each other all year on 29th October. It's definitely worth a look!

In the absence of a photo (maybe I'll take one when it gets dark..), take a look at the Best Astronomy Photos of 2011 from National Geographic! There are some lovely ones. It makes me want to get a nice telescope! Or maybe I need an observatory..