This week has been a great week celestially speaking. Not long after sunset, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus extend in a straight line from one another in the darkening sky, Jupiter toward the east and Saturn in the middle.

We’ve all seen pictures of these larger than life planets, first in school and then in advertisements for dime store telescopes that promised more than they could deliver. Although the marketing images are marvelously detailed, they cannot compare with the experience of seeing Saturn’s rings or Jupiter’s largest moons first hand. Individual understanding is no longe...