Hey Jupiter… I saw yer moons

I saw four of Jupiter’s moons through a telescope last night. First time ever! I also got a good look at constellations Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila. I “followed the arc to Arcturus and sped on to Spica” – that’s when you follow the curve of the Big Dipper’s handle until you reach Arcturus in the constellation Bootes, then proceed to Spica, the sheaf of wheat in the constellation Virgo, which is the luckiest star in the sky.

This was on a perfectly clear night at the edge of a lake far from city lights somewhere in Indiana. The previous night I was on a pontoon on the lake with my husband’s family, pointing out constellations along the zodiac and whatever other bright spots I knew well enough to identify. (For instance, I know most but not all of the circumpolar constellations. No excuse not to learn the rest. I did know “there’s a giraffe up there somewhere.” That would be Camelopardis, which is wedged between the dipper and Cassiopeia. Its faint stars don’t seem to figure into astrology much. Though it is an animal larger than goats.)

You do go outside once in a while, don’t you? Especially at night when it’s clear and you can get away from the city’s ambient light? Because those glyphs floating around in your charts represent stuff you can really see.