Astronomy lesson

Last night at bedtime, Dad decided to take the kids outside for an astronomy lesson.

Dad: Look at how bright the moon is tonight. Do you guys see that really bright object just a little below it?

Calvin: That's a star.

Dad: No, it looks like a star, but it's Jupiter.

Aiden: It's a star.

Dad: No, it's really Jupiter.

Calvin: Isn't Jupiter a planet?

Dad: Yes.

Aiden: Nuh-uh, it's smaller than the moon.

Dad: No it just looks smaller because it's farther away (followed by a brief lesson in perspective).

Calvin: How big is it compared to Earth?

This was followed by a 15 minute lesson from NASA.com and wikipedia on relative planetary sizes, solars systems, galaxies, and the universe. At this point everyone seemed satsified and the boys were off to bed. Calvin paused on the stairs, looked back at Dad, and said "That's kind of scary to think about." Dad said, "What, how big things are and how huge the universe is?" "No, you were talking about stars, and Jupiter, and then Mars and I started thinking about aliens." This was followed by 10 more minutes of assuring the boys that there were no aliens in our solars system or anywhere else that we know of, and yes, we do have people looking.