Been outside at midnight lately? There’s something you really need to see. Jupiter is approaching Earth for the closest encounter between the two planets in more than a decade–and it is dazzling.
The night of closest approach is Sept. 20-21st. This is also called “the night of opposition” because Jupiter will be opposite the sun, rising at sunset and soaring overhead at midnight. Among all denizens of the midnight sky, only the Moon itself will be brighter.
It’s the closest we’ll be to Jupiter (or Jupiter to us if you prefer) until 2022. Don’t miss it — and take the kids. Kids remember things like this. You don’t have to wait until midnight. Look east after sunset; higher in the sky as the night progresses.
Thanks to Ah, Wilderness! for the link and the reminder.
UPDATE: Jupiter is really quite brilliant, even with moonlight filling the sky.
A steady hand and some good binoculars will give you a amazing view of the big guy’s attendant moons. I don’t have a steady hand so I sprang for image stabilizing technology.