INTRODUCTION
Astronomy is the easiest science to communicate because anybody can do it, and it is immediately beautiful; the recent displays offered by Venus, Mars and the crescent Moon in the evening sky have entranced even through the glow of city lights. As with all the sciences, however, a little knowledge makes nature more beautiful. A sky full of sparkling pinpricks and dimly luminous smudges is one thing, but a sky full of worlds is quite another. Through binoculars or a small telescope, astronomy is transformed into a powerful emotional experience. There is a feeling on seeing Saturn like a child’s sketch, or the Galilean satellites shifting nightly around pastel-banded Jupiter, or the 3D swarm of The Great Cluster that’s hard to describe, but we’ve all experienced it and it never leaves…
