Jupiter shines bigger, brighter this week: How to see it
Meteorologist
Thursday, May 10, 2018, 6:59 AM - A stunning gas giant and the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter is so massive it could fit 1,300 Earths in it! Its persistent swirling storm, famously known as 'The Great Red Spot' and over 60 orbiting moons are just a few reasons why Jupiter is a fan favourite.
Over the next few days, you have the opportunity to see this gaseous beauty shining at its biggest and brightest for all of 2018. On Tuesday night, Jupiter reached opposition but will continue to illuminate our night skies across North America.
WHAT IS OPPOSITION?
As Earth whirls around the Sun once roughly every 365 days, the outer planets whirl a lot slower. These differing orbital periods allow us to go between the Sun and Jupiter yearly (approximately every 13 months), making it appear, from Earth, that Jupiter is opposite to the Sun.
While opposition occurred on May 8th, the closest encounter to the gas giant actually occurs on May 10th - a mere 588 million kilometres away!
HOW TO SEE IT
You don't need to be a professional astronomer to witness the beauty of Jupiter - a simple pair of eyes and clear skies will do the trick.
As the sun sets to our west, look to the eastern horizon and watch Jupiter rise across the starry night sky in almost an exact opposite timeline to the Sun. To the naked eye, it will appear as a bright "star", but will graze along a path from east to west among the background of stars from dusk to dawn ... all night long!
Jupiter, on approach to Opposition in 2017 from the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA and ESA
Got a pair of binoculars? Well you're in for a real treat. With a good pair of binoculars and a steady hand, you can get a glimpse of Jupiter's Galilean moons: Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto. Look closely as they will appear as 4 tiny dots close to the planet.
The 4 Galilean moons. From left to right in order of increasing distance from Jupiter, Io is closest, followed by Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Credit: NASA/JPL/DLR
So over the next few days, do yourself a favour and look up at the night sky to enjoy the spectacular sights of Jupiter from our own planet and a view that won't be this great again until June of 2019.
Jupiter's southern hemisphere imaged from a flyby with NASA's Juno mission, arranged by Erin Wenckstern. Credit: NASA/JPL
Happy planet hunting!
For more, be sure to read our guide to Spring astronomy or check out Scott Sutherland's Out of this World blog, which features all things space!
