People told me that the Big Red Spot (storm) on Jupiter was big enough to fit 100 earths into it.

For years after I was scared that the earth would get sucked inside Jupiter.

Sarah

As a rather precocious youngster, I had read in an illustrated astronomy book that in 4 billion years or so the Sun would red giant and swallow up the Earth. Since I didn't really understand how much time 4 billion years is, I thought this could happen any day. I had nightmares for months, and my mom didn't believe that that was the reason for them (not something normal kids have).

Alexia

When I was little, my dad used to say that sometime we'd "sleep under the stars." I had this picture in my head of literally sleeping right up underneath a star, possibly in some kind of hammock-like-thing. In my head, the stars would be huge, bright and shiny, but perfectly cool. One day I asked my dad when we'd sleep under the stars, and he said something like, "We did, remember?" He was referring to a recent night when we'd all camped out in tents in the yard. I was a little disappointed, but I got over it.

Amy DeK

When going home at night I looked out of the window of my Mums car the moon was always there, I thought it was tied to the car with String

Shaun

After learning about 'falling stars' in school, I'd sit for hours watching some random star, waiting for it to just fall. Guess I should have payed more attention in class...

Star Gazer

My dad once told me that there was a man that went to the moon and that he got stuck. Then he said that the man wanted to tell his family he was ok, by making lumps on the moon in the shape of a smiley face (coz it looks like there is one).

Romy

When I was a child, I used to believe that humans had visited and lived on every planet in the solar system except Jupiter. I wonder-why not Jupiter?

Lark

O used to think that we lived INSIDE the world; that the blue sky was the inside of a big hollow ball. I knew that "space" was all black and full of stars, and try as they might, my parents could not convince me that the blue sky was caused by the sunlight coming through a waterbased atmosphere. Come to think of it, that still kinda sounds bunky to me. :) And don't even asked me how I thought we GOT to outer space. I think I thought we launched rockets out little windows or something. It was a while before it clicked.

Jeibear

About the time I was in pre-school, the family was riding in the car as we were moving cross country from the east coast to the west coast. On one of those days, as it passed into the night, I asked my mom what happens to the Sun after it goes down for the night. She asked me what I thought happened and I told her that after the Sun goes down it seperates into a bunch of tiny specks and becomes the stars and that by morning they gather back together into the Sun.

She responded, "That's exactly what happens."

I believed it for the next several years.

Fritz Fotovich

When I was young, I thought the sky was made out of concrete, aad that everyone painted it blue. Night came because, gradually, people painted it black again so everyone could sleep. Shooting stars were when people ran across the concrete with yellow paint. I was sitting in the middle of Science class one day, and Sir was explaining about night and day, and then I shouted out "So the sky isn't made out of concrete!" My friends have never let me live it down!

x-nicola-x

when i was 3 years old, i was driving to the store with my gradfather. it was kinda late at night and the moon was half full, i asked where the rest of the moon went, he then proceeded to tell me that cookie monster ate it. so from that point on to about the time i entered into school, where i learned better, i thought cookie monster ate the moon.

rach

When I was little I thought that the stars were the light of heaven shining through rips in the sky (think the fabric of night). When the pieces of fabric from the rips fell to earth they became violets. Good violets became amythests when the died. What's the difference between a good violet and a bad violet? Beats me.

Bear

I was positively convinced that if i ran fast enough towards the moon, i would catch up to it.
The same occurs with shadows.
I spent hours trying to do this!
I never tried to do the same with the sun because, obviously, it was too hot and i could catch on fire!

Ash

I used to point the torch to the sky and belived if i waited long enough i would be able to see the light of my torch on the sky..... silly me.....

Sunil S Rao

II used to believe as a child When I laid out under the stars at night that they made a noise when Twinkeling, for years I believed it..than one day someone told me it was Crickets... that stars did not make a noise....I could not believe it...!
Judy

Judy Neely

I was always interested in science. Somewhere I saw a textbook with a drawing of a cannon shooting a cannonball into orbit around the earth, to explain escape velocity. I was convinced that the moon had been shot out of a cannon to orbit the earth thereafter.

Lee

My dad was (and still is) an amateur astronomer. He told me about how we were all made of the same matter as stars. Me being about five at the time, I ran around looking to see if I could find "stardust" in things. I swear I saw some in a brick one time...

Drops of Jupiter

My daughter was 3 when the astronoughts landed on the moon. She believed that they got there by climbing a ladder

Cathie

My older sister had come home from school one day and she told me that htey had learnd all about a planet called pluto. She told me about how pluto was very cold because it was a long way away from the sun. Being a little kid i watched cartoons all the time, and i thought that pluto was a doghouse floating out in space with a really cold dog inside. ( Pluto the Dog, from Mickey Mouse)

Becky-Sue

until i was about 6, i was completely convinced the moon was made of pudding. i would always try to convince my mom to take me to the moon so i could try the pudding.

roy