Jupiter is so bright you can see it from anywhere in the UK with the naked eye TONIGHT – unless the weather gets in the way
JUPITER will be at its biggest and brightest this week as it reaches its closest point to Earth for a whole year. Weather permitting, you should be able to spot it with a naked eye from your back garden as it should outshine all the stars. Yesterday evening Jupiter reached opposition, which means it was […]
JUPITER will be at its biggest and brightest this week as it reaches its closest point to Earth for a whole year.
Weather permitting, you should be able to spot it with a naked eye from your back garden as it should outshine all the stars.
Yesterday evening Jupiter reached opposition, which means it was directly opposite the Sun from our perspective so it was lit up and visible all day long.
However, you haven’t missed out as Nasa has assured stargazers that the giant planet will still be easy to spot all month long.
The space agency said: “Jupiter reaches opposition on June 10. This is the yearly occurrence when Jupiter, Earth and the Sun are arranged in a straight line, with Earth in the middle.
“It’s the best time of the year to see Jupiter, as the planet is visible in the sky all night, and it’s around the time when Jupiter is closest to Earth.
“Although opposition takes place on a specific date, the entire month or so around opposition is an equally good time to observe the planet and its four largest moons.”
However, the Met Office has predicted a lot of cloud tonight that could get in the way of your view but hopefully Jupiter will be able to shine through.
The best time to spot it will be in the middle of the night and you should face south east and look towards the right hand side of the Moon.
How far away is Jupiter from Earth?
Learn how long it takes to get the largest planet in the solar system...
- At the closest point in their respective orbits, Jupiter and Earth are around 365 million miles apart.
- But because neither planet spins around the sun in a perfect circle, nor at the same speed, this number fluctuates dramatically.
- When they are furthest apart the planets are 601 million miles apart, more than two thirds farther away than they are at their nearest.
- As it is further away Jupiter takes 11.86 Earth-years to complete one orbit of the sun.
- While we travel around our star we catch up with the gas Giant once every 399 days, causing the gas giant to appear to travel backwards in the night sky.
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In other news, the hunt for aliens has been hit with huge setback after scientists admit major error in search for habitable planets.
And, a recent study revealed the Moon may be shrinking due to drastic changes to its surface.
Do you like stargazing? Let us know in the comments…
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