San Diego Reader

Jupiter, the "king" of the planets, appears high in the southern sky after sunset. Note its creamy yellow-white color and unblinking brightness. Aim a small telescope at Jupiter anytime during the next few weeks to see the cloud-belt-banded planet flanked by its four Galilean satellites, or moons, which were discovered by Galileo in 1609, four centuries ago. Can't see all four moons? That's possible. All you need to do is wait -- one or more of the moons could be in transit across the planet Jupiter, or hidden behind the planet, or hidden in the planet's shadow.