White House Stars are the Stuff of Dreams

I have this vision of First Lady Michelle Obama looking into the telesceope last night.

Was she thinking about today's publication of details of her long-ago roots in the form of a young slave girl named Melvinia Shields? Or had she read the astounding news that not only have scientists discovered a new ring on Saturn, but the ring is so mammoth that it can hold one billion earths.

Here's POTUS presenting a night of stronomy at the White House, attended by Sally Ride, America's first female astronaut.

The White House star party — which may be a first for the president's home, according to U.S. Naval Observatory spokesman Geoff Chester — is part of a worldwide emphasis on astronomy. This year marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first observations of Jupiter and its moons with a telescope, and has been designated the International Year of Astronomy. People around the world are being encouraged to look at Jupiter and the moon this month. And NASA is purposely crashing a probe into the moon, shown live on the Internet Friday morning.