The moon and Jupiter make a rare appearace together in the night sky

That’s why amateur astronomers the world over formed astronomy clubs.  People love the mysteries of space. said Dave Reneke, writer for Australasian Science Magazine.

That was very evident earlier this week when families all across Australia ducked outside after dinner to observe the rare close pairing of the moon and Jupiter. Reactions were funny too.

The crescent moon got “ooos.” Giant Jupiter, with his cloud bands and circling moons, got loud “awesomes” and the beautiful tapestry of stars high overhead earned “ahs.”

When you look up at the stars, what do you think about? That we may be not be alone? The vastness of it all? There's a lot to wonder about space and the fact is, we don't know all the answers about it. Have you ever looked up into the night sky and wondered just how many stars there are in space? This question has fascinated people for ages.

Stars are not scattered, they’re gathered together into vast groups known as galaxies. Ours is the Milky Way and astronomers estimate it contains about 100 billion stars, probably more. There are hundreds of millions of other galaxies out there as well. And that’s just the ones we can see.

The next time you’re out star gazing remember, you’re essentially staring into history.  The starlight you presently see takes hundreds, thousands and sometimes millions of years before it makes it to earth. Once we tell the kids they’ve time travelled, that they just stepped into the past, they’re interested.

The earth you’re standing on is spinning at over 1,000 kilometres an hour. We’re also moving through space at the rate of 530 kilometres a second. In addition, our galaxy is travelling through space at the rate of 305 kilometres per second. It sounds crazy but in one minute you are about 19 thousand kilometres away from where you were. Feeling wobbly?

Dave Reneke from the Australasian Science Magazine