Jupiter is this month’s target, for three reasons. First, it’s the most rewarding planet to observe with binoculars. Even at 7x, the King of Planets is a disk rather than a point of light. But the real show is the four Galilean moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto — visible to either side (assuming they’re not hidden behind the planet). At 15x, the major cloud belts can be seen under good conditions. Once at a star party, I aimed my tripod-mounted 15x70s at Jupiter. After looking for a long time, a friend remarked, “With these, you hardly need a telescope!”
Second, it’s no exaggeration to say that observing Jupiter with binoculars is the reason I write about astronomy. Back in 2007, I picked up a stargazing guide on a…