Jupiter closing in

The media is saying Jupiter will soon be closer to the Earth than it has been for 50 years. AP story here.

About five years ago this was said of Mars. I remember two people I know said they planned to go out and see it. When I said it will look no different in the sky than it normally does, they scoffed. "It will be the size of a quarter." One even said he planned to make a trip to a university telescope, thinking they'd let him look through it. A university-based observatory built on top of a mountain, reserved for professional astronomers, and the guy thought he could walk in and take a peek at a "quarter-sized" Mars.

I'm not sure how people in the U.S. can make it to adulthood knowing so little. These folks can probably name five reality TV stars and name the last three winners of American Idol.

With Jupiter doing its close-up, I'm waiting to see if anyone else I know lives in a bubble.