I always had a mild interest in astronomy, and it became a strong interest in the 1990s, triggered by a homework assignment given to my ten-year-old son to go out at night and identify some constellations.  I took him away from the city lights to a park where we could see the stars emerge from twilight.  On that beautiful fall evening, we found the constellations he was looking for, and we also saw Jupiter, the brightest object in the sky.  Through binoculars, we were surprised that we could see its moons.  This caused me to wonder what else I might be able to see if I were to look a little closer.